Show M In The Controversy Over Poison Gas Warfare Blister Gases: First developed a few hours during World War I Germans unleashed 168 tons of poison gas creating 15000 casualties In only Bij Ernest Volkman was a warm early evening in the mud and trenches erf the tyres salient on April 22 1915 when the guns suddenly fell silent on the German tide The British Canadian and French manning the Allied trenches on the other tide of the bloody battleground peered curiously over the top Then it began There was a tght hissing noise from the direction of the German trenches and a low greenish mist began to move slowly toward the Allied tide The men who were hit first by the mist were convulsed in agony as chlorine gas tore their lungs thousands of apart soldiers threw down their weapons and fled to the rear trying to escape It Panic-stricke- n the choking gas In several hours of horror unsurpassed in the history of warfare 168 tons of chlorine were released by the Germans tearing a gap in the Allied lines Over 5000 men were killed outright and another 10000 were blinded or injured Poison gas was used for another three years in World War I but worldwide revulsion over such honors as that scene in tyres led to international agreements prohibiting the use of poison gas ever again in warfare Except for several isolated instances and despite another world war the genie of poison gas war has remained e FAMILY WEEKLY May 1M1 dur- these gases initially attack the eyes then the skin causing huge painful Misters if inhaled the gases are lethal The most virulent blister agent is known as HN3: it has the misleading odor of geranium flowers Again gas masks and other protection will help but if blister gases hit any exposed part of the body the effects are horribly painful Harassing Gases: Anyone who has ever gotten a whiff of tear gas — considered a mild harassing gas — knows how nasty these gases can be While they are not designed to kill their effects — coughing sneezing and nausea — leave victims incapacitated The most horrible of such gases is a type called CS for which there is no known defense since it attacks a human's mucous membranes Spread in large clouds harassing gases can incapacitate the most powerful army in minutes Incapodtant Gases: These are the most modem gases and they seem like something out of Buck Rogers: In effect they are massive doses of hallucinatory drugs The most virulent such agent for example is called BZ Capable of being sprayed over thousands of miles in mist form it slows all mental activity then induces disorientation and hallucinations Its victims can literally be driven insane There is no known defense against such gases which are odorless and invisible ing World War Soldiers training today: But sometimes there is no defense ’ capped inside its terrible bottle But almost precisely 66 years after that horrible evening in tyres a major controversy is now shaping up over whether the United States should fully prepare for chemical and biological warfare now known as CBW On one side of the argument are those who claim that the Soviet Union has been building a massive CBW capability far outstripping our country's But others argue that to begin a CBW race with die Russians is the height of folly and would lead inevitably to the temptation to use such weapons in a war with incalculable consequences for the human race Both sides agree however that scientific advances in the past several decades make the events of World War I seem like a Sunday school picnic For one thing science has perfected an entire Pandora's box erf biological weapons — fatal diseases that can be bred and spread artificially — unheard of during that time Here is a brief overview of some of the more deadly chemical and biological weapons now in the American arsenal (the Soviets have similar weapons stockpiled): The chlorine gas that caused such panic in April 1915 is crude compared to some of the really frightening gases developed since then Nerve Gases The deadliest of all nerve gases first affect the eyes tighten the chest then cause nausea and uncontrollable twitching — and finally death within 30 minutes The most virulent nerve gas is a type called VX an odorless and tasteless gas that affects victims in a matter of seconds Gas masks and other defensive measures (such as rubber decontamination suits) can be effective but there's no margin for error: Only a few drops of nerve gas on the skin are fatal Nerve gases can be spread over hundreds of square miles in droplet form sbskesmm I Germ Warfare mm Even more dangerous than the above gases are the assorted “biological agents” as they are known in Pentagon ese Actually they are germ warfare weapons virulent diseases that can be produced in prodigious amounts and then spread over thousands of square miles by virtually any means PtasteureOa Pestis: The most lethal bacterium known to man it causes pneumonic plague — known as the Black Death during the Middle Ages It kills 100 percent of its untreated victims and strikes with such extraordinary speed that doctors often get their first clue of its presence when the patient dies Rickettslas: These are tiny microorganisms that among other diseases cause typhus a dreaded fever that once infected and exterminated an entire Spanish army of 17000 men in 1489 Spread by infected body lice typhus is prevented only by killing the microorganisms Pulmonary Anthrax: Known also |