Ever since the devastating results of the use of chemical weapons in World War One, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has set up a convention to prohibit chemical weapons. 100 out of the 106 countries on our planet have signed this convention. One of the six countries that has yet to sign this convention is Syria. Syria has been the recent target of chemical weapon controversy, after a sarin gas attack in Damascus on its own citizens on the morning of August 21st, 2013. “1,429 innocent citizens including 426 children” were killed in this attack (BBC News). Syria’s stockpiling and transportation of chemical weapons has forced the hand of the United States executive branch. This forced foreign policy of the US is the “red line” that US can not back down from. The United States foreign policy with Syria is effective because Syria is following through with the destruction of its chemical weapons on the …show more content…
Obama stated in his UN speech “the United States of America is prepared to use all elements of our power, including military force” (Cassidy). One reason this policy was implemented is because of the historically proven dangers and cruelty of the use of chemical weapons—“chemical weapons are inhumane and a horrific way to die—and that's why the most of the world has outlawed them” (Kordunsky). Bashar Al-Assad, Syria’s president, used his chemical weapons on his own people. He crossed a red line and culturally damaged his country. Syria is an example of political corruption as well. “President Obama for the first time Thursday called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, while announcing a new set of sanctions against the regime” (Obama Calls on Assad). Syria’s people want change, and Assad is getting in the way and trying to sustain his power with force and torture through these treacherous
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There have been many wars and battles fought with different weapons, but chemical weapons used in these wars are the worst kind. These weapons cause mutations and horrible deceases to a state in which some deceases even exist many years after the incident. These chemical weapons were unfortunately used by Iraq during the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq: 1980–1988. Iraq started using these chemical weapons excessively after 1984, until the end of the war even though countries are not allowed to use chemical weapons in any cases. However, Iraq got confirmation from The United States.
On 18 April 2013 American allies Britain and France provided letters to the United Nations claiming possession of evidence that chemical weapons have been utilized multiple times in the time ncluding in and around the cities of Aleppo, Homs and possibly Damascus.
Chemical warfare has been used in war for thousands of years as a means to lethally fight the battle. Just to give a few examples of the devastation, chlorine and phosgene gases were used during World War I and were dispensed from canisters causing around 90,000 deaths and over one million casualties during war (Mass, 2013). Apparatus for dispensing these weapons developed tremendously during the first half of the twentieth century, increasing these weapons’ alarming ability to kill. The United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War maintained massive stockpiles of chemical weapons enough to eliminate a large amount of the human race and animal life on Earth. In 1980, Iraq used chemical weapons on Iran during war and in 1988; Iraq used mustard gas and nerve agents on the Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq. Pictures of the horrific attack on the Kurdish civilians were released and the world was stunned by the horrendous devastation.
The average person does not think about nerve agents, how it affects people and the environment they live in. To be quite honest, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that people choose not to think about this type of agent or any agent for that matter simply because they are fully aware of the fact that the consequences of encountering this substance are deadly and no matter which way you look at it the outcome will almost never be a positive one. There’s also a major concern about nerve agents especially when it comes to terrorist’s using them as Weapons of Mass Destruction. There’s a large supply of nerve agents and if for some reason they fell into the wrong hands for example into a terrorist’s hands then this agent could be used as a bomb, explosive, rocket or spray tank. My plan for this paper is to teach and explain to others how to identify what the specific signs and symptoms of nerve agent exposure actually are.
This article is useful for my research due to giving details of how the Germans used their first poison gas during the Second Battle of Ypres and new gases after. It explains how the poison gases such as mustard gas, phosgene, and chlorine affected their victim. The article is helpful due to each type of gas having there own paragraph and explaining what the gases inflict on their victims and how it impacts them after. The paragraphs of each gas also give detail of what injuries the gases cause. This article is useful due to explaining what each gas does to a person and how it originated from and the dates it was used.
The night before the anniversary of 9/11 in 2013, Barack Obama delivered a speech to the United States of America on the subject of Syria’s inhumane use of chemical weapons on its own citizens. The United States’ intelligence analysts estimated that more than 1,400 civilians were killed due to the chemical warheads that were launched on the area right outside of Damascus. In President Barack Obama’s address to the nation on Syria, he attempts to persuade the American people to support his plan of a targeted air strike on Syria. By describing the victims of Syria, giving reasons for the inhumanity of the Syrian government, and reinforcing his credibility,
Chemical weapons have been used in many occasions in war, including Ancient Times, The Middle Ages, World War I, and World War II and so on throughout time. Many kinds of chemical weapons have been used but modern chemical weapons started on April 22, 1915, with the Germans use of Chlorine gas on the Allie troops in WWI. In this incident 6,000 cylinders of the gas were released by 2 battalions along a 6 kilometer of the front, and the wind dispersed the clouds of gas killing 5,000 soldiers and putting 1,500 more out of the war. This caused great panic because nothing like this had happened before and wasn't expected by the allies. Previous to this event in the Middle Ages they used such things as arsenic and more natural things as chemicals which were as powerful as the chlorine gas ended up being in WWI. Chemical weapons were used many times after the Germans used chlorine gas in WWI, chlorine, phosgene, benzyl bromide, hydrogen cyanide, and then mustard gas in 1917. Mustard gas became the worst and most popular chemical weapon used when it came out because of how harmful it was to the enemies; in addition it was figured that 1,300,000 soldiers were killed by the chemical weapons by the end of WWI. This essay stated that: "If the first World War had continued for yet another year it would indeed have been called the first Chemical War" (A Short History of Chemical Weapons) In WWII the use of chemical weapons decreased a lot and was only used in the Far East.
Have you ever wondered what weapon is the worst in the world? Well, I think I have the answer. Chemical weapons. They are harmful to us and the environment. Firstly, many people think these weapons are extremely dangerous and life-threatening. Look at Syria, 500,000 people have died from them. It’s so bad that people use it to kill prisoners for their actions. Secondly, nature can be taken out so easily. It wouldn’t be hard to get rid of all the nature in the world. People used it to uncover their enemy’s soldiers and take out their vegetation. Thirdly, they are way too easy to make and way too hard to get rid of. If you think about it, these things are one of the worst weapons in the world. This is why we must get rid of them.
Chemical warfare is the most terrifying and debilitating way to gain the advantage over your enemy or adversary. The use of chemical warfare dates back to World War I; although it is believed that Spartan and Greek armies used a type of chemical warfare dated back to 82-72 BC. Chemicals were used in combat during World War I. Some of the chemicals being used were chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas. The Chemical Warfare in World War I began as the Germans used chlorine gas, and threw it into the trenches where the troops and most of the defensive positions were located.
“The Geneva Protocol, is an International treaty which prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare. Signed into International Law at Geneva on June 17, 1925 and entered into force on February 8, 1928, this treaty states that chemical and biological weapons are "justly condemned by the general opinion of the civilized world.” (Text)
The impact of the war was soon to leave a mark in history. The use of chemical weapons adversel...