Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

History of the Chemical Threatbe able to deter a chemical attack against us or ourallies. And without a modern and credible deterrent,the prospects for achieving a comprehensive banwould be nil. 29(p23)In 1985 Congress passed Public Law 99-145 30authorizing production of chemical weapons,and in 1987 President Reagan certified to Congressthat all the conditions had been met tostart binary chemical weapons production. Theproduction of the M687 binary projectile beganon December 16, 1987, at Pine Bluff Arsenal,Arkansas, despite public resistance incited byenvironmental and safety concerns. To resolvepolitical concerns, the M20 canisters were filledand stored at Pine Bluff Arsenal, while the M21canisters were produced and filled at LouisianaArmy Ammunition Plant. The filled M21 canistersand shell bodies were then stored at Tooele ArmyDepot, Utah. The parts would be combined whennecessary to provide the Army with a chemicalretaliatory capability. 31In addition to the M687 round, developmentcontinued on the BLU 80/B Bigeye bomb and theXM135 multiple-launch rocket system binary chemicalwarhead. The Bigeye bomb was compatible withAir Force, Navy, and Marine Corps fixed-wing aircraft.The bomb dispersed persistent nerve agentVX after mixing two nonlethal chemical agents,NE and QL. The XM135 binary chemical warheadwas designed as a free flight, semipersistent, nerveagent–dispersingsystem. The XM135 was fired fromthe MLRS, a 12-round rocket launcher mounted ona tracked vehicle. 31The 1990s: The Threat MaterializesDespite Iraq’s chemical warfare use in the 1980s(see Chapter 2), operations Desert Shield and DesertStorm were free of tactical chemical warfare operations,although an accidental chemical exposure occurredin the Army’s 3rd Armored Division (see Chapter3). Counterterrorism agencies also attempted to usesome of the items developed by the Chemical Corpsin the civilian world. In 1993 the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI) decided to use a riot control agentto attack the Branch Davidian compound in Waco,Texas. Fires broke out, destroying the complex andkilling 80 occupants, though whether the fire wasstarted from the inside or was the result of FBI tacticsremains unresolved. 32After Waco, many state and local officials told Congressthat they did not have the training or equipmentto combat a chemical act of terrorism. Senator SamNunn of Georgia expressed his concerns, saying, “I,like many of my colleagues, believe there is a high likelihoodthat a chemical or biological incident will takeplace on American soil in the next several years.” 33After the Aum Shinrikyo attacks of 1995 and otherterrorist incidents that will be described in the nextsection, the use of chemical weapons for terrorismbecame a key concern of the Army. In 1996 Congressresponded by passing a new antiterrorism training billto prepare the United States for future chemical terrorismincidents. In addition to using military expertsto equip and train local chemical response teams, thebill provided funding for former Soviet republics todestroy their own chemical weapons to keep them outof the hands of terrorists. 33,34HISTORY OF chemical TERRORismDefinition of TermsThe term “terrorist” can be traced back to the FrenchRevolution’s “Reign of Terror” in the late 18th century,when the French government executed 12,000 peopleas enemies of the state. After World War II, colonies beganto fight for independence, and acts of “terrorism”were one method of attacking the government. In the1960s and 1970s several terrorist organizations becameactive, such as the Basque separatists in Spain, the IrishRepublican Army in Ireland, Marxist groups in Africaand Latin America, the Baader-Meinhof Gang in WestGermany, the Red Brigades in Italy, and the JapaneseRed Army. A number of terrorist organizations in theMiddle East began operations, most attempting tocarry out attacks against Israel and its allies followingthe Arab-Israeli conflict of 1973. Many Middle Easterngroups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda,have strong religious connections with extreme Islamicfundamentalism.The DoD defines terrorism as “the calculated use ofunlawful violence or the threat of unlawful violenceto inculcate fear; intended to coerce or intimidategovernments or societies in the pursuit of goals thatare generally political, religious, or ideological.” 35 Terroristsoften target noncombatants to show that no oneis safe and to cause the greatest amount of fear. TheState Department defines “noncombatants” as civiliansand military personnel who are not deployed in a warzone or a war-like setting. 36 In addition, military lawdefines specific members of the armed forces, suchas chaplains or surgeons whose duties lie outsidecombat, as noncombatants. Definitions are importantto distinguish true terrorist activities from those of125