THE DANGERS OF CHEMICAL WARFARE
By Jason Sibert
Technology allows man to live a safer and more bountiful life. Many today enjoy comforts that previous generations would only dream about.
However, technology also gives man the ability to kill on a mass scale. The thought of a nuclear war strikes fear in the hearts of many all over the world, but the threat of chemical weapons shouldn’t be forgotten.
Humanity came to know the horrors of chemical warfare in World War I. Three types of chemicals were used in the war: chlorine gas, phosgene, and mustard gas. The horrors these weapons created led to them being outlawed in the use of war. In 1925 the League of Nations adopted the Geneva Protocol which outlawed the use of chemical weapons in war.
The League of Nations failed to prevent another world war, as World War II broke out in 1939. Italian Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini used chemical weapons against the African nation of Ethiopia. Chemical weapons were used by the Germans in concentration camps and by the Japanese in the Asian front.
The United States used Agent Orange in Vietnam, Egypt used them in the war against Yemen (1963-1967), and Iraq used them in the Iran-Iraq War. The multi-lateral Chemical Weapons Convention arms control treaty went into force in 1997 and outlawed the development, production, and possession of chemical weapons. This took the idea of the Geneva Protocol even further. Syria did use chemical weapons in 2013, but the country relinquished these weapons after the United States threatened airstrikes.
The CWC has been a success in some regards. One-hundred ninety-three countries have signed onto the pact since its beginning, and 96 percent of the world’s chemical weapons have been destroyed. American writer Mark Twain said that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” The League of Nations tried to prevent chemical warfare, but these weapons reappeared in different time periods. The League faded away in the late 1940’s and the United Nations was born.
Today’s politics is like the 1930’s in some ways with various forms of nationalism breaking out in various countries, although analogies to 1930’s era Fascism fall short. Hopefully, nothing like World War II is on the horizon. However, if the world’s nation-states continue to grow apart, treaties the like CWC could be forgotten and chemical weapons could be used again.
There are many differences in the world’s nation-states – various political systems, nationalities, religious and histories – the world should be able to come to an agreement that chemical weapons are horrific and should be used. Can the world confront such a problem?
Jason Sibert is the executive director of the Peace Economy Project
