Lauren Wilhelm

Prof. Mark Shirk

October 22, 2013

GVPT 200

Chemical Weapons

           

            Since the end of World War 1, issues dealing with chemical weapons have wavered in and out of people’s minds, but they have been brought to the public’s attention once again this time with force due to the mass genocide occurring in Syria presently. Humanitarians have advocated the destruction of chemical weapons for many years because of the painful death they inflict upon those unfortunate enough to fall victim. When the public learned Bashir Assad was using them against his own people, murdering innocent civilians in the process they began to push policy makers to enforce the permanent ban and total destruction of chemical weapons, which had been put into effect in 1997. Chemical warfare is destructive, cruel and barbaric and should be put to an end. The situation in Syria is opening the current generations eyes and hopefully this time something will be done to completely end it.

The first chemical attacks recorded were between the French and the Germans during WW1, but these gases were not designed to kill, simply incapacitate. However this quickly escalated and a mere year later chlorine gas was used to kill. Since then, chemical warfare waged until a ban was placed on the use of it in 1925. This was due to the fact that aside from killing tens of thousands in the war, it permanently damaged those who were exposed but did not die and caused then to have to live the rest of their lives in suffering. Yet the ban did not prevent the manufacturing of chemical weapons and did not regulate possession and use. The ban did not hinder anyone from using chemical warfare again because less than fifteen years later it was being used once more in WW2. Countries at war have used chemical bombs in battle for decades, but when a malicious dictator is using it as a desperate attempt to stay in power or to push their own agenda, people pay attention.

              Sadly, the situation in Syria is not the first time something like this has happened. During the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980’s it was known that chemical weapons such as mustard gas were used. The public was not made as widely aware at the time, which is why the Syrian genocide has caused such an uproar. Hopefully the Syrian crisis will make the world conscientious of the need for chemical weapons to be destroyed, because of what they can be used for. The effects of these weapons are too cruel to use in the present especially when other WMD’s are manufactured that don’t induce suffering before death. War and killing of any kind is undesirable but it would be better to do it swiftly with bombs that cause death on impact as opposed to nerve agents and chemicals that shut down bodily functions resulting in death. Using these weapons outside of war is an even more heinous crime especially when they are used to take the lives of innocent civilians. This is why all chemical weapons must be destroyed so that situations such as the one occurring in Syria currently never happen again.

Since the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons went into effect, more than 70 percent of the world’s chemical weapons, nerve agents and biological weapons have been destroyed. This accomplishment appears to be something to celebrate until one remembers that there are still situations where chemical weaponry is being used, like in Syria today. While many countries such as Russia, Japan, India and Iraq have joined the OPCW, they have also mass-produced chemical weapons in the past and until it is confirmed that they are wiped out, they remain a threat to international relations. The organization is a large first step in helping to assure situations like Syria and chemical warfare in the first Persian Gulf War don’t happen again, but it can only be certain once they are totally gone.

             International laws against chemical weapons may make it illegal to synthesize and maintain these arms, however it cannot completely stop use of them. This is why the only solution is to completely destroy all chemical weaponry and anyone who attempts to produce more must be held accountable with the U.N. The OPCW is attempting to make sure this happens but can’t without the cooperation of other countries. This is why it is so important that the public be made aware of what can occur when a corrupt leader is in power and that the situation in Syria can happen anywhere as long as chemical weapons are still in existence. The knowledge on how to construct these weapons can’t be wiped from people’s minds however the longer they are eradicated and it is overseen that they aren't made, the less likely this information will pass on and eventually they will no longer be an imminent threat to states.