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===[[Tom G. Palmer]]===
[[Image:Dressing the Wounded during a Gas Attack (Austin O Spare).jpg|thumb|260px|''Dressing the wounded during a gas attack'' by Austin O. Spare, 1918.]]
This article was clearly written by Tom G. Palmer himself, as is evident by visiting his website, [http://www.tomgpalmer.com TomGPalmer.com]. While I applaud Mr. Palmer on his various achievements, including that he, "''smuggled books, photocopiers, and fax machines from an office in Vienna, Austria and traveled throughout the region to hold seminars''", I find him lacking notability for the encyclopedia. Further, his page violates the [[Wikipedia:Vanity page]] guideline. [[User:Alterego|Alterego]] 15:39, July 16, 2005 (UTC)
'''Chemical warfare''' is [[warfare]] (and associated military operations) using non-explosive chemical agents to kill, injure or incapacitate the enemy. Chemical weapons are classified as [[weapon of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]] by the [[United Nations]], and their production and stockpiling was outlawed by the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] of [[1993]].
* '''Delete''' Agree with above, clearly a vanity page.{{unsigned|Evomutant|10:05, July 16, 2005}}
*'''Delete''', vanity cv, self promotion. [[User:Wyss|Wyss]] 16:19, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
*'''Do Not Delete''', presents useful information and links to significant articles by a significant figure in libertarian movement {{unsigned|Laidbacklibertarian|10:34, July 16, 2005}}
*'''Keep''' Seems notable, though needs cleaning up certainly. [[User:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|☺]] 17:32, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
*'''Refactor or delete''' Sufficiently notable for some sort of page, but better nothing than something so shamelessly self-promotional [[User:dfranke|--Dfranke]] 17:48, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
*<s>'''Keep''' Palmer's been involved with libertarianism since the movements real beginnings in the 70s. Edit maybe, but keep the bulk of the article. --[[User:Merkanleveller|Merkanleveller]] 17:55, 16 July 2005 (UTC)</s>
** Possible [[Wikipedia:sockpuppet]], ([[special:contributions/Merkanleveller]]) - discount vote, [[User:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|☺]] 18:23, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
*<s>'''Delete''', Palmer is of minor importance in the libertarian movement, but his ego is enormous, as witness this obviously self-written panegyric. [[User: jriggenbach]]</s>
** Not by [[User:Jriggenbach]] (there is no user registered by that name), but by {{user|64.81.69.94}} [[User:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|☺]] 18:26, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
==== Comments ====
* NOTE: See vendetta campaign launched by "Stephan Kinsella" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Votes_for_deletion/Stephan_Kinsella page deleted some time ago] at this ___location [http://ancapistan.typepad.com/the_palmer_periscope/2005/07/palmers_vanity_.html], located on a site maintained by Kinsella for sole purpose of stalking Palmer (including obscene sexual comments, etc.)' {{unsigned|Laidbacklibertarian|10:34, July 16, 2005}}
* Stephan Kinsella does not maintain the [http://ancapistan.typepad.com/the_palmer_periscope/ Palmer Periscope] webpage. He posts there, but did not create and does not maintain the website. He has used that web-page as a place to counter some of the outrageous libel against Hans-Hermann Hoppe that comes from Palmer's webpage.
The offensive use of living organisms or their toxic products (such as [[anthrax disease|anthrax]] or [[botulin toxin]]) are not considered chemical warfare: their use is instead labelled [[biological warfare]].
* Furthermore, aforementioned "obscene sexual comments" were just comment spam which Palmer falsely portrayed as being written by Kinsella. [[User:Dfranke|--Dfranke]]
== Chemical warfare agents ==
{{WMD/Chemical}}
The chemical used is called a ''chemical warfare agent'' (''CWA''), and is usually [[gas]]eous at room temperature, or is a liquid that evaporates quickly and generates toxic fumes (such liquids are said to be ''volatile'' or have a ''high [[vapor pressure]]''). The phrase "poison gas" is often used to describe a chemical weapon deployed in gaseous form.
*Come on this is a campaign by Kinsella to get rid of a Wiki entry! Has the man got nothing better to do?
The main types of chemical warfare agents are as follows:
I find Palmer to be a figure of not enough significance to be mentioned in an encylopedia. He is not a key figure in libertarian thought. There are libertarians of much more significance than Mr. Palmer who do not have a Wikipedia entry, or who have a shorter entry than Palmer's.
* [[Blood agent]]s, usually based on [[cyanide]], that prevent the normal use of oxygen by the body tissues, resulting in chemical [[asphyxiation]].
* [[Vesicant]]s (or ''blister agents''), such as [[mustard gas]] and [[Lewisite]], that cause blistering of the skin. They are designed to incapacitate rather than kill, with the goal of overloading the medical facilities of the region.
* [[Pulmonary agent]]s (or ''choking agents'', ''lung toxicants'') that impede a victim's ability to [[Respiratory_system|breathe]], resulting in [[Asphyxia|suffocation]]. Examples include [[chlorine]] and [[phosgene]]. These were commonly used in [[World War I]], but were rendered mostly [[obsolete]] by the more effective nerve agents.
* [[Nerve agent]]s, such as [[sarin]] and [[VX]], inhibit the breakdown of the [[neurotransmitter]] [[acetylcholine]] in the victim's [[nerve]]s. Nerve agents are hundreds to thousands times more lethal than blister, pulmonary or blood agents.
* [[Incapacitating agent]]s are less-lethal agents that produce temporary physiological or mental effects in their victims, making them unable to perform organized actions. An example is [[3-quinuclidinyl benzilate|BZ]], which produces massive hallucinations in those exposed to it.
* [[Lachrymatory agent]]s that sting and irritate the eyes to cause pain and temporary blindness, such as [[tear gas]] and [[pepper spray]]. In recent decades these agents are usually used for riot-control purposes, therefore they are also often called ''[[riot control agent]]s''.
Not considered to be chemical weapon agents are:
* [[Defoliant]]s that destroy vegetation, but are not immediately toxic to human beings.
* [[Virus]]es, [[bacterium|bacteria]], or other organisms, or their [[biotoxin|toxic product]]s. Their use is classified as [[biological warfare]].
===Chemical weapon designations===
Most chemical weapons are assigned a one to three letter "[[NATO]] weapon designation" in addition to, or in place of, a common name. [[Binary chemical weapon|Binary munition]]s, in which precursors for chemical weapon agents are automatically mixed in shell to produce the agent just prior to its use, are indicated by a "-2" following the agents designation (for example, GB-2 and VX-2).
Some examples are given below:
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
| '''''Blood agents:'''''
* [[Cyanogen chloride]]: AC
* [[Hydrogen cyanide]]: CK
|| '''''Vesicants:'''''
* [[Lewisite]]: L
* [[Mustard gas|Sulfur mustard]]: H, HD, HS
|-
| '''''Pulmonary agents:'''''
* [[Phosgene]]: CG
|| '''''Incapacitating agents:'''''
* [[BZ|Quinucidinyl benzilate]]: BZ
|-
| '''''Lachrymatory agents:'''''
* [[Pepper spray]]: OC
* [[Tear gas]]: CN, CS, CR
|| '''''Nerve agents:'''''
* [[Sarin]]: GB
* [[VX]] (no common name)
|}
==Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare==
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" align="right"
! bgcolor="#FFDEAD" | <center>ARMIS BELLA NON VENENIS GERI</center><br/>
<center>"War is fought with weapons, not with poisons"</center>
|}
While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in [[China]], the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it).
One of the earliest reactions to the use of chemical agents was from [[Rome]]. Struggling to defend themselves from the Roman [[legion]]s, [[Germanic]] tribes poisoned the wells of their enemies, to which Roman jurists are recorded as declaring "armis bella non venenis geri," meaning "war is fought with [[weapon]]s, not with [[poison]]s."
It is perhaps because of this view that in [[Europe]], before the [[World War I|First World War]], the use of poisonous chemicals in battle was typically the result of local initiative, and not the result of an active chemical weapons program. There are many reports of the isolated use of chemical agents in individual [[battle]]s or [[siege]]s, but there was no true tradition of their use outside of [[incendiary|incendiaries]] and [[smoke]]. Despite this tendency, there have been several attempts to initiate large-scale implementation of poison gas in several wars, but with the notable exception of the World War I, the responsible authorities generally rejected the proposals for [[ethics|ethical]] reasons.
For example, in [[1854]] Lyon Playfair, a [[British]] chemist, proposed using a [[cyanide]]-filled [[artillery]] shell against enemy [[ship]]s during the [[Crimean War]]. The British Ordnance Department rejected the proposal as "bad a mode of warfare as poisoning the wells of the enemy." Ten years later, during the [[American Civil War]], a [[New York City]] school teacher by the name of John Doughty unsuccessfully proposed the battlefield use of [[chlorine]], envisioning an artillery shell filled with 2 to 3 [[quart]]s of liquid chlorine that, when released, would produce many cubic feet of chlorine gas.
This general concern over the use of poison gas manifested itself in [[1899]] at the [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)|Hague Conference]] with a proposal prohibiting shells filled with asphyxiating gas. The proposal was passed, despite the single dissenting vote the [[America]]n representative Naval Capt. [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]], on the grounds that "the inventiveness of Americans should not be restricted in the development of new weapons."
After extensive use of chemical weapons in World War I, the popular view of chemical weapons grew from distaste to disgust, such that their use had become the ultimate atrocity in the minds of most people at the time. So much so, in fact, that in [[1925]], sixteen of the world's major nations signed the [[Geneva Protocol]], thereby pledging never to use gas biological methods of warfare again. Notably, in the [[United States]], the Protocol languished in the [[United States Senate|Senate]] until [[1975]], when it was finally ratified.
===Efforts to eradicate chemical weapons===
{{Template:CW_Proliferation}}
* [[September 4]][[1900]] : The [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)|Hague Conference]], which includes a declaration banning the "use of projectiles the object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases," enters into force.
* [[August 27]][[1874]] : The [[Brussels Declaration]] Concerning the Laws and Customs of War is signed, specifically forbidding the "employment of poison or poisoned weapons."
* [[February 6]][[1922]] : After World War I, the [[Washington Arms Conference Treaty]] prohibited the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases. It was signed by the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy, but France objected to other provisions in the treaty and it never went into effect.
* [[September 7]][[1929]] : The [[Geneva Protocol]] enters into force, prohibiting the use of poison gas and bacteriological methods of warfare. As of [[2004]], there are 132 signatory nations.
* [[May]] [[1991]] : President [[George H. W. Bush]] unilaterally commits the United States to destroying all chemical weapons and to renounce the right to chemical weapon retaliation.
** The [[United States Congress]] has since passed legislation requiring the destruction of the entire stockpile by [[December 31]][[2004]]. Offical U.S. policy is to support the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] as a means to achieve a global ban on this class of weapons and to halt their [[proliferation]].
* [[April 29]][[1997]] : The Chemical Weapons Convention enters into force, augmenting the Geneva Protocol of 1925 by outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.
===Chemical weapon proliferation===
:''Main article'': [[Chemical weapon proliferation]]
Despite numerous efforts to reduce or eliminate them, many nations continue to research and/or stockpile chemical weapon agents. To the right is a summary of the nations that have either declared weapon stockpiles, or are suspected of secretly stockpiling or possessing CW research programs. Notable examples include [[China]] and [[Israel]].
According to the testimony Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research [[Carl W. Ford]] before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, it is very probable that China has an advanced chemical warfare program, including research and development, production, and weaponization capabilities. Furthermore, there is considerable concern from the [[US]] regarding China's contact and sharing of chemical weapons expertise with other states of proliferation concern, including Syria and Iran.
As of December 2004, Israel has signed but not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, and according to the Russian Federation Foreign Intelligence Service, Israel has significant stores of chemical weapons of its own manufacture. It possesses a highly developed chemical and petrochemical industry, skilled specialists, and stocks of source material, and is capable of producing several nerve, blister and incapacitating agents.
In [[1974]], in a hearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, General Almquist stated that Israel had an offensive chemical weapons capability. In [[1992]], an [[El Al|El Al Airlines]] plane bound for [[Tel Aviv]] [[Bijlmerramp|crashed]] outside [[Amsterdam]]. In the course of investigation into the crash, it was revealed that among the plane's cargo was fifty gallons of dimethyl methylphosphonate, a chemical that can be used in the production of the nerve agent sarin, bound for the [[Institute for Biological Research]] in [[Nes Ziona]], a top secret military installation outside Tel Aviv that was also responsible for producing the poison used in a September 1997 assassination attempt on a leader of the terrorist organization [[Hamas]]. According to Israeli officials, the substance was only for defensive research purposes, to test filters for gas masks.
==History==
===Chemical warfare in ancient and classical times===
Chemical weapons have been used for millenia in the form of poisoned arrows, but evidence can be found for the existence of more advanced forms of chemical weapons in ancient and classical times.
Dating from the [[4th century BC]], writings of the [[Mohist]] sect in [[China]] describe the use of bellows to pump smoke from burning balls of mustard and other toxic vegetables into tunnels being dug by a beseiging army. Even older Chinese writings dating back to about [[1000 BC]] contain hundreds of recipes for the production of poisonous or irritating smokes for use in war along with numerous accounts of their use. From these accounts we know of the [[arsenic]]-containing "soul-hunting fog", and the use of finely divided lime dispersed into the air to suppress a peasant revolt in [[178|178 AD]].
The earliest recorded use of gas warfare in the West dates back to the [[5th century BC]], during During the [[Peloponnesian War]] between [[Athens]] and [[Sparta]]. Spartan forces besieging an Athenian city placed a lighted mixture of wood, pitch, and sulfur under the walls hoping that the noxious smoke would incapacitate the Athenians so that they would not be able to resist the assault that followed. Sparta wasn't alone in its use of unconventional tactics during these wars: [[Solon]] of Athens is said to have used [[hellebore]] roots to poison the water in an aqueduct leading from the [[Pleistrus River]] around [[590 BC]] during the siege of [[Cirrha]].
===The rediscovery of chemical warfare===
During the [[Renaissance]], people again began to consider the use of chemical warfare. One of the earliest such references is from [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who proposed a powder of sulfide of arsenic and [[verdigris]] in the [[15th century]]:
:''throw poison in the form of powder upon galleys. Chalk, fine sulfide of arsenic, and powdered verdegris may be thrown among enemy ships by means of small mangonels, and all those who, as they breathe, inhale the powder into their lungs will become asphyxiated.''
It is unknown whether this powder was ever actually used.
In the [[1600s]], it was a common practice during [[seige]]s to attempt to start fires by launching [[Incendiary device|incendiary]] [[artillery|shell]]s filled with [[sulphur]], [[tallow]], [[rosin]], [[turpentine]], [[saltpeter]], and/or [[antimony]]. It was quickly observed that even when fires were not started, the resulting smoke and fumes would provide, at the very least, a considerable distraction. Although the primary function as fire starters was never abandoned, a variety of fills for shells were developed that were intended to maximize the effects of the smoke.
In 1672, during his siege of the city of [[Groningen (city)|Groningen]], Christoph Bernhard van Galen, the Bishop of Münster, employed several different explosive and incendiary devices, some of which had a fill that included [[belladonna]], intended to produce toxic fumes. Just three years later, [[August 27]][[1675]], the [[France|French]] and the [[German]]s concluded the [[Strasbourg Agreement]], which included an article banning the use of "perfidious and odious" toxic devices.
In 1854, [[Lyon Playfair]], a [[British]] chemist, proposed a [[Blood agent|cacodyl cyanide]] artillery shell for use against enemy ships as way to solve the stalemate during the siege of [[Sevastopol]], a proposal backed by Admiral [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Thomas Cochrane]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. It was considered by the British Prime Minister, [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]], but the British Ordnance Department rejected the proposal as "bad a mode of warfare as poisoning the wells of the enemy." Playfair’s response was used to justify chemical warfare into the next century:
:''There was no sense in this objection. It is considered a legitimate mode of warfare to fill shells with molten metal which scatters among the enemy, and produced the most frightful modes of death. Why a poisonous vapor which would kill men without suffering is to be considered illegitimate warfare is incomprehensible. War is destruction, and the more destructive it can be made with the least suffering the sooner will be ended that barbarous method of protecting national rights. No doubt in time chemistry will be used to lessen the suffering of combatants, and even of criminals condemned to death.''
Later, during the [[American Civil War]], a [[New York]] school teacher named John Doughty proposed the offensive use of [[chlorine]] gas, delivered by filling a 10-in. artillery shell with 2 to 3 quarts of liquid chlorine. When released, such a shell would produce many cubic feet of chlorine gas. Doughty’s plan was apparently never acted on, as it was probably presented to Brigadier General James W. Ripley, Chief of Ordnance, who was described as being congenitally immune to new ideas.
[[Image:Poison gas attack.jpg|right|thumb|360px|A [[use of poison gas in World War I|poison gas attack]] in [[World War I]].]]
===Chemical warfare in World War I===
''Main article: [[Use of poison gas in World War I]]''
The first full-scale deployment of chemical warfare agents was during [[Use of poison gas in World War I|World War I]], originating in the [[Second Battle of Ypres]], [[April 22]][[1915]], when the [[German]]s attacked [[France|French]] and [[Algerian]] troops with [[chlorine gas]]. Since then a total 50,965 tons of pulmonary, lachrymatory, and vesicant agents were deployed by both sides of the conflict, including chlorine, [[phosgene]] and [[mustard gas]]. Offical figures decare about 1,176,500 non-fatal casualties and 85,000 fatalities directly caused by chemical warfare agents during the course of the war.
To this day unexploded WWI-era chemical ammunition is still frequently uncovered when the ground is dug in former battle or depot areas and continues to pose a threat to the civilian population in [[Belgium]] and [[France]]. The French and Belgian governments have had to launch special programs for treating discovered ammunition. The United States has a non-stockpile chemical materials program to identify former chemical weapon burial sites within the United States and to excavate, transport, and dispose of old chemical munitions.
===Chemical warfare in the interwar years===
After the First World War, the [[United States]] and many of the [[European]] powers attempted take advantage of the opportunities that the war created by attempting to establish and hold colonies. During this interwar period, chemical agents were occasionally used to subdue populations and suppress rebellion.
Following the defeat of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in [[1917]], the Ottoman government collapsed completely and the former empire was divided amongst the victorious powers in the [[Treaty of Sèvres]]. The [[Britain|British]] occupied [[Mesopotamia]] (present-day [[Iraq]]) and established a [[colonialism|colonial government]].
In [[1920]], the [[Arab]] and [[Kurd]]ish people of [[Mesopotamia]] revolted against the British occupation, which cost the British dearly. As the Iraqi resistance gained strength, the British resorted to increasingly repressive measures, and [[Winston Churchill]] himself, in his role as Colonial Secretary, authorized the use of chemical agents, mostly mustard gas, on the Mesopotamian resistors. Mindful of the financial cost of supressing the dissidents, Churchill was confident that chemical weapons could be inexpensively employed against the Mesopotamian tribes, saying ''"I do not understand this sqeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilised tribes."'' [http://www.informationwar.org/state%20terrorism/Britain_using_chemical_weapons.htm] Although opposition to the use of gas and technical difficulties prevented the gas from being used in Mesopotamia, the records of British consideration of poison gas, including Churchill's enthusiasm, were suppressed for many years until the records were released in [[1980]]. [http://www.countercurrents.org/chomsky2.htm].
Chemical weapons had caused so much misery and revulsion in the First World War that their use had become the ultimate atrocity in the minds of most people at the time. So much so, in fact, that in [[1925]], sixteen the world's major nations signed the [[Geneva Protocol]], thereby pledging never to use gas or bacteriological methods of warfare. While the United States signed the protocol, the Senate did not ratify it until 1975.
In [[1935]] [[Fascist]] [[Italy]] used [[mustard gas]] during the invasion of [[Ethiopia]]. Ignoring the [[Geneva Protocol]], which it signed seven years earlier, the Italian military dropped mustard gas in bombs, sprayed it from airplanes, and spread it in powdered form on the ground. 15,000 chemical casualties were reported, mostly from mustard gas.
===Chemical warfare in World War II===
[[Image:sarin.png|right|frame|The chemical structure of [[sarin]] [[nerve gas]], discovered by [[Germany]] in [[1938]].]]
During [[World War II]], chemical warfare was revolutionized by [[Nazi Germany]]'s accidental discovery of the [[nerve agent]]s [[tabun]], [[sarin]] and [[soman]]. The Nazis developed and manufactured large quantities of several agents, including the newly discovered nerve agents, but chemical warfare agents were not extensively used by either side. Recovered Nazi documents suggest that during that time, [[Abwehr|German intelligence]] incorrectly thought that the [[Allies#World War II|Allies]] also knew of these compounds, interpreting the lack of discussion of these compounds the Allies' scientific journals as evidence that information about them was being suppressed. Germany ultimately decided not to use the new nerve agents against Allied targets, fearing a potentially devastating Allied retaliatory nerve agent deployment.
Although chemical weapons were not deployed on a large scale during World War II, there were some recorded uses of them by the [[Axis Powers]], when retaliation wasn't feared:
*The [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] used [[mustard gas]] and the recently-developed [[blister agent]] [[Lewisite]] against [[China|Chinese]] troops. During these attacks, the Japanese also employed [[biological warfare]] by intentionally spreading [[cholera]], [[dysentery]], [[typhoid]], [[plague]], and [[anthrax]].
*In [[1944]], the [[Grand Mufti]] of [[Jerusalem]], [[Haj Amin el-Husseini]], the senior [[Islam]]ic religious authority of the [[Palestine|Palestinian]] [[Arab]]s and close ally of [[Adolf Hitler]], sponsored an unsuccessful chemical warfare assault on the [[Jew]]ish community in [[Palestine]]. Five parachutists were supplied with with maps of [[Tel Aviv]], canisters of a German–manufactured "fine white powder," and instructions from the Mufti to dump chemicals into the Tel Aviv [[well|water system]]. District police commander Fayiz Bey Idrissi later recalled, "The laboratory report stated that each container held enough poison to kill 25,000 people, and there were at least ten containers." [http://www.wymaninstitute.org/articles/2003-03-chemical.php]
*The Nazis used the [[insecticide]] [[Zyklon B]], which contains [[hydrogen cyanide]], to kill large numbers of victims in [[concentration camp]]s such as [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] and [[Madajnek]] during the [[Holocaust]].
===Chemical warfare during The Cold War===
After World War II, the [[Allies]] recovered German artillery shells containing the three German nerve agents of the day ([[tabun]], [[sarin]], and [[soman]]) prompting further research into [[nerve agent]]s by all of the former Allies. Although the threat of global [[thermonuclear]] annihilation was formost in the minds of most during the [[Cold War]], both the [[Soviet]] and Western governments put enormous resources into developing chemical and biological weapons.
A [[UN]] working group began work on chemical disarmament in 1980. On [[April 4]], [[1984]] U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] called for an international ban on chemical weapons. U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Soviet Union]] leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] signed a bilateral [[treaty]] on [[June 1]], [[1990]] to end chemical weapon production and start destroying each of their nation's stockpiles. The multilateral [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] (CWC) was signed in 1993 and came into effect in 1997.
====Developments by the Western governments====
In [[1952]], researchers in [[Porton Down]], [[England]] invented the [[VX]] nerve agent, but soon abandoned the project. In [[1958]] the British government traded their VX technology with the [[United States of America]] in exchange for information on [[thermonuclear weapons]]; by [[1961]] the US was producing large amounts of VX, and performing its own nerve agent research. This research produced at least three more agents; the four agents ([[VE (nerve agent)|VE]], [[VG (nerve agent)|VG]], [[VM (nerve agent)|VM]], [[VX]]) are collectively known as the "V-Series" class of nerve agents.
Between [[1967]] and [[1968]], the U.S. decided to dispose of obsolete chemical weapons in an operation called [[Operation CHASE]], which stood for "cut holes and sink 'em." CHASE disposal operations also included several shiploads of conventional munitions. As the name implies, the weapons were put aboard old Liberty ships that were sunk at sea.
During the [[1960s]], the U.S. explored the use of psychedelic [[incapacitating agent]]s. One of these agents, assigned the weapon designation [[3-quinuclidinyl benzilate|BZ]], was allegedly used in the [[Vietnam War]].
In [[1969]], 23 U.S. servicemen and one U.S. civilian stationed in [[Okinawa, Japan]] were exposed to low levels of nerve agent sarin while repainting the depots' buildings. The weapons had been kept secret from [[Japan]], sparking a furor in Japan and an international incident. These munitions were moved in 1971 to Johnston Atoll under Operation Red Hat.
====Developments by the Soviet government====
Due to the secrecy of the former [[Communist]] regime of the Soviet Union, very little information was available about the direction and progress of the Soviet chemical weapons until relatively recently. After the [[Cold War (1962-1991)#The_end_of_the_Cold_War|fall of the Soviet Empire]], a [[Russia]]n chemist named [[Vil Mirzayanov]] publishing articles that revealed illegal chemical weapons experimentation in Russia. In [[1993]], Mirzayanov was imprisoned and fired from his job at the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, where he had worked for 26 years. In March of [[1994]], after a major campaign by U.S. scientists on his behalf, Mirzayanov was released.
Among the information related by Vil Mirzayanov was the direction of the Soviet research into nerve agents toward the development of even more toxic agents, which saw most of its success during the mid-[[1980s]]. Several highly toxic agents were developed during this period; the only unclassified information regarding these agents is that they are known in the open literature only as "Foliant" agents (named after the program under which they were developed) and by various code designations, such as A-230 and A-232.
According to Mirzayanov, the Soviets also developed agents that were safer to handle, leading to the development of the so-called binary weapons, in which precursors for the nerve agents are mixed in a munition to produce the agent just prior to its use. Because the precursors are generally significantly less hazardous than the agents themselves, this technique makes handling and transporting the munitions a great deal simpler. Additionally, precursors to the agents are usually much easier to stabilize than the agents themselves, so this technique also made it possible to increase the [[shelf life]] of the agents a great deal. During the [[1980s]] and [[1990s]], binary versions of several Soviet agents were developed, and are designated as "Novichok" agents (after the Russian word for "newcomer").
====Chemical warfare in the Iran-Iraq War====
The [[Iran-Iraq War]] began in [[1980]] when [[Iraq]] attacked [[Iran]]. Early in the conflict [[Iraq]] began to employ mustard gas and tabun delivered by bombs dropped from airplanes. Approximately 5% of all Iranian casualties are directly attributable to the use of these agents. Iraq and the [[United States]] government alleged that Iran was also using chemical weapons, but independent sources were unable to confirm these allegations.
Shortly after war ended in [[1988]], the Iraqi [[Kurd]]ish village of [[Halabja]] was exposed to multiple chemical agents, killing about 5,000 of the town's 50,000 residents. After the incident, traces of mustard gas, and the nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX were discovered. While it appears that Iraqi government forces are to blame, some debate continues over the question of whether Iraq was really the responsible party, and whether this was a deliberate or accidental act. (see ''[[Halabja poison gas attack]]'').
During the [[Persian Gulf War]] in [[1991]], Coalition forces began a ground war in Iraq. Despite the fact that they did possess chemical weapons, Iraq did not use any chemical agents against coalition forces. The commander of the Allied Forces, [[Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.|Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf]], suggested this may have been due to Iraqi fear of retaliation with [[nuclear weapon]]s.
===Chemical weapons and terrorism===
For many [[terrorism|terrorist]] organizations, chemical weapons are an ideal choice for a mode of attack: they are cheap, relatively accessible, and easy to transport. Most chemical agents can be readily synthesized by a skilled chemist if the precursors are available.
The earliest successful use of cheamical agents in a non-combat setting was in [[1946]], motivated by a desire to obtain revenge on [[Germany|German]]s for the [[Holocaust]]. Three members of a [[Jew]]ish group calling themselves [[Dahm Y'Israel Nokeam]] ("Avenging Israel's Blood") hid in a bakery in the Stalag 13 prison camp near [[Nuremberg, Germany]], where several thousand [[SS|SS troops]] were being detained. The three applied an arsenic-containing mixture to loaves of bread, sickening more than 2000 prisoners, of which more than 200 required hospitalization.
In July of [[1974]], a group calling themselves the [[Aliens of America]] successfully firebombed the houses of a judge, two police commissioners, and one of the commissioner’s cars, burned down two apartment buildings, and bombed the [[Pan Am]] Terminal of [[Los Angeles International Airport]] killing three people and injuring eight. The organization, which turned out to be a single resident alien named [[Muharem Kurbegovic]], claimed to have developed and possessed a supply of sarin, as well as 4 unique nerve agents named AA1, AA2, AA3, and AA4S.
Although no agents were found at the time he was arrested in August of 1974, he had reportedly aquired "all but one" of the ingredients required to produce a nerve agent. A search of his appartment turned up a variety of materials, including precursors for [[phosgene]], and a drum containing 25 pounds of [[sodium cyanide]]. [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3070093]
The first successful use of chemical agents by terrorists against a general civilian population was on [[March 20]], [[1995]]. [[Aum Shinrikyo]], an apocalyptic group based in [[Japan]] that believed it necessary to destroy the planet, [[sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway|released sarin into the Tokyo subway system]] killing 12 and injuring over 5000. The group had attempted biological and chemical attacks on at least 10 prior occasions, but managed to affect only cult members. The group did manage to successfully release sarin outside an apartment building in Matsomoto in June [[1994]], this use was directed at a few specific individuals living in the building and was not an attack on the general population.
In [[2001]], after carrying out the attacks in [[New York]] on September 11, the organization [[Al Qaeda]] announced that they were looking to acquire radiological, biological and chemical weapons. This threat was lent a great deal of credibility when a large archive of videotapes was obtained by the cable television network [[CNN]] in August of [[2002]] showing, among other things, the killing of three dogs by an apparent nerve agent.
==See also==
* [[Area denial weapons]]
* [[Biological warfare]]
* [[Chemical Weapons Convention]]
* [[USAMRICD]]
* [[Weapons of mass destruction]]
==References==
<!-- Reference style as per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cite_sources -->
* CBWInfo.com (2001). [http://www.cbwinfo.com/History/History.html A Brief History of Chemical and Biological Weapons: Ancient Times to the 19th Century]. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2004.
* Cordette, Jessica, MPH(c) (2003). [http://www.want2race.net/hper/Chemical_Weapons_of_Mass_Destruction.ppt Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction]. Retrieved Nov. 29, 2004.
* E-Medicine. (Jun. 30, 2004). [http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/8733-2.asp eMedicine Health – Types of Chemical Weapon Agents]. Retrieved Oct. 23, 2004.
* Heller, MAJ(P) Charles E., U.S. Army. (September 1984). [http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Heller/HELLER.asp Chemical Warfare in World War I: The American Experience, 1917 - 1918]. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2004
* Korn, Benyamin (Mar. 2003). [http://www.wymaninstitute.org/articles/2003-03-chemical.php Arab Chemical Warfare Against Jews – in 1944]. ''The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies''.
* Robertson, Nic (Aug. 19, 2002). [http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/08/19/terror.tape.chemical/ Disturbing scenes of death show capability with chemical gas]. ''CNN''.
* Robertson, Nic (Aug. 19, 2002). [http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/08/18/terror.tape.main/ Tapes shed new light on bin Laden's network]. ''CNN''.
* Smart, Jeffery K., M.A. (1997). [http://www.usuhs.mil/cbw/history.htm History of Biological and Chemical Warfare]. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2004.
* U.S. National Library of Medicine. (Sep. 30, 2004). [http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/Tox/ChemWar.html Classes of Chemical Agents]. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2004.
* United States Senate, 103d Congress, 2d Session. (May 25, 1994). [http://www.gulfweb.org/bigdoc/report/riegle1.html The Riegle Report]. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2004.
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