The Pros And Cons Of Chemical Warfare

The Inhumane Weapons of Warfare Chemical warfare is a barbaric weapon of war that should be banned from any war situation. Chemical Warfare is using any chemical or chemical mix that can physically or mentally harm a human being. It has been killing people for over 2600 years and was created by Spartans. “They grabbed burning sulfur pitch and threw it over the walls of Athens attempting to fill the city with toxic gas.”[6] They tried this because they had a small army that was trying to take over Athens but knew brute force would not work out in their favor. WWI contained the most chemical warfare that has ever happened. France was the first country to use chemicals as a weapon at their disposal. They used tear gas in an attempt to not kill
One of the most deadly chemical weapons is sarin gas. Five hundred times more lethal than cyanide, sarin attacks the nervous system and has been known to kill people less than one minute after coming into contact with the gas.”[3] In combat the UN has identified 70 situations that can cause someone to use chemical warfare properly. Today the US still has 8 military bases stockpiled with chemicals used or usable in war situations including some potent blister agents causing severe skin or eye irritation. “Military leaders around the world have stated publicly that chemical weapons pose one of the biggest threats to soldiers in modern combat”[3] and almost all countries have eliminated chemical warfare from the ways these countries wage war on others but there have been many “unconventional threats.”[3] The US and other countries are trying to end all chemical warfare up to the point where they threaten “the Syrian regime with dire consequences if chemical weapons are used against rebel forces.”[7] Syria is not a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention prohibiting the development, possession and manufacture of chemical arms. “However, since 1968, Syria has been a party to the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of War, better known as the Geneva Protocol. This forbids nations from using chemical (and biological) weapons against other nations.”[9] The UN has been asked on multiple occasions to deal with violations to the treaty concerning Syria and the UN is wondering “whether Syria had taken steps to prepare its chemical arsenal for imminent use by filling and otherwise readying munitions, deploying them to weapon systems (artillery batteries and missile-launch areas) near areas of conflict, and sending specially trained and equipped troops to such