A Look at Chemical Warfare
By Conner Worley
In the aftermath of the atrocities of the Great War, the nations of the world convened in Geneva to negotiate an agreement to ban the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare. The result of their summit was the Geneva Protocol of 1925. The Protocol prohibited “asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices” and “bacteriological methods of warfare.”
The nature of chemical warfare changed fundamentally in the 1950s. Previously, chemical weapons were anti-personnel weapons, however, the British government found a use for the chemical trioxone, better known as Agent Orange, in their fight against communist insurgents in the Malayan Peninsula. Clustered in the rural rainforests of Malaysia, the British found it difficult to locate and combat the guerillas. The government sprayed trioxone from helicopters and modified fire engines to thin the jungle and destroy the food supply of the insurgents. According to Toxic Remnants of War, the British government was aware of the line they were dancing along with the use of trioxone. The domestic media accused them of violating the Geneva Protocol by using chemical weapons in their war against the guerrillas. The government defended itself by saying that the Malayan emergency was a domestic issue because Malaysia was a colony, and therefore, its use of trioxone was comparable to riot control gas, not chemical warfare. The British government has been tight-lipped about its use of trioxone, so no major studies have been done on its effects on the soldier who handled or were victims of the chemicals.
Unfortunately, Malaysia wasn’t the only use of Agent Orange, more famously, the chemical was used as part of Operation Ranch Hand by the United States during the Vietnam War. Throughout Operation Ranch Hand, five and a half million acres of Vietnamese forests and crops, nearly 20% of the country, were sprayed with various herbicides – mostly Agent Orange. The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates over one million people have disabilities related to Agent Orange. The Vietnamese government puts the number as high as three million individuals. Military personnel who handled Agent Orange have increased risks for Hogdkin’s lymphoma, leukemia. The risk of skin cancer increased 73% for those who were exposed to the chemical. Harvard biologists also found that the areas affected by Agent Orange saw dramatic decreases in plant and animal biodiversity.
In response to the destruction of Vietnam’s people’s lives, homeland, and the atrocious side-effects on military personnel, the international community convened yet again in Geneva to discuss chemical warfare. The result of their summit was Environmental Modification Convention of 1978 wherein the signatories vowed to not use weapons of war that would severely or lastingly alter the environment.
Though the treaty was a monumental achievement in getting the nations of the world to limit their destructive capacity, the convention hasn’t been followed by all the signatories. In its War on Drugs, the United States has repeatedly sprayed or attempted to spray herbicides across the globe. According to the New York Times, in the late 1970s, right after the Environmental Modification Convention, the United States sprayed marijuana fields in Mexico with paraquat herbicides. Starting in the 1980s, as a part of Plan Colombia, the United States sprayed glyphosate on cocoa plants to stem the production of cocaine. This spraying continued for decades. From 2001 to 2002, the Colombian Ombudsman received over 6500 claims of crop damage or physical harm from the use of glyphosate on Colombian lands and peoples as reported by Environmental Law Quarterly. Most recently, in 2007, the New York Times reported that the United States lobbied the Afghan government to allow the spraying glyphosates on poppy fields in Afghanistan. President Karzai declined the offer over the fear of how it would affect the nation’s rural farmers’ food supply and assist in Taliban propaganda efforts.
Recently, in the journal Nature, prominent scientists from across the globe called for the deliberate destruction of the Earth’s biota during war to be classified as a war crime. Lobbying pushes such as these show that the fight to preserve the Earth from destructive conflicts, including the use of herbicides, is still going strong and a worthwhile endeavor.
Conner Worley is an arms control fellow at Peace Economy Project.
