Small Pox: The Perfect Weapon

Chemical/Biological weapons are not as destructive as nuclear weapons but definitely are destructive in their own way. They have the ability, if used correctly, to wipe out a significantly large amount of people in a relatively short amount of time. Not as quickly as a nuclear weapon, but still quite quickly. Producing chemical or biological weapons is also much cheaper than producing nuclear weapons, mainly because the main ingredient, the organisms within the weapon, is self-producing and only small quantities are needed. (Barnaby 2004) The agent that is to be discussed is taking the smallpox virus and creating a weapon version of it to use against the masses. The threat that this would pose to the general public, would be detrimental, especially if it was released without the knowledge of those it is infecting. The governments of the world, including the United States of America, would have to have an contingency plan in the unfortunate event of the release of this agent.

First, something to go into about is, just what is smallpox and how could it be used as a weapon for terrorists groups or even hostile governments looking to not cause widespread destruction but instead attack the population as a whole. Smallpox is caused by a virus that goes by the name of variola and just one strain of it has a 30% morality rate. (Barnaby 2004) “A global campaign, begun in 1967 and administered by the World Health Organization, eradicated smallpox by 1977.” (Barnaby 2004) On top of this, according to Barnaby, it was suggested by the WHO that all samples or the smallpox virus should be kept under lock and key in the CDC and the Institute of Virus Preparations in Moscow, but the fear is that some of the samples were never collected or that s...

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...t amount of time. Therefore the plan to treat those who were exposed to the virus, must be swift and very efficient. Which the United States has done since 2001 to push for and get a team ready to go at any point and time. Smallpox could be and possibly is the most dangerous biological weapon that any military or terrorist group could obtain, and thus use on anybody of people, innocent or other military personnel.

Works Cited

• Barnaby , Frank. How to Build a Nuclear Bomb and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction. New York: Nation Books, 2004.

• FUHRMANN, MATTHEW. ATOMIC ASSISTANCE HOW "ATOMS FOR PEACE" PROGRAMS CAUSE NUCLEAR INSECURITY. Cornell University Press, 2012.

• Altman, Lawrence K. "U.S. Sets Up Plan to Fight Smallpox in Case of Attack." The New York Times, November 3, 2001. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/04/national/04CDC.html (accessed March 30, 2014).