WMD Iran's Weapons of Mass Essay

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Anthrax

When we think of warfare and terrorist attacks, we tend to think of large destructive pieces of machinery -- nuclear missiles and/or bombs, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and even the still-too-recent memory of massive airplanes being turned from passenger vehicles into weapons. Not all forces of mass death and destruction come in large packages, however. In the years following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, several small, standard envelopes were also used in an attempt at terrorist action. Though these attempts were not successful, they highlight an important part of the battle against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Biological agents can be delivered in small and hard to catch ways -- via the U.S. mail in what appear to be normal envelopes, for instance -- and if the agent is contagious enough the effects of biological warfare can be completely devastating and almost impossible to control. Blowing up a building is certainly one way to cause massive deaths, but once the incident is over, it is over. With many contagious types of biological weaponry, the first instance of the attack is really just the beginning of all the trouble.

The small envelopes filled with white powder that were sent to several people in the immediate wake of the September 11th attacks were actually a form of biological weaponry, used not as part of a war per se but in an act of terrorism. Anthrax, the disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, is one of the most potentially dangerous organisms identified for use in biological weapons.

The type and severity of symptoms varies significantly depending on the delivery method of the agent, which adds to the unpredictability of the agent.

Anthrax is most commonly passed on cutaneously (through skin-to-skin contact with an infected individual or animal). The type of infection caused by cutaneous infection is easily identified and treated, however, making it rarely fatal.

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Since 1976, there has not been a single reported case of inhalation anthrax infection in the United States, but despite the difficulty this illustrates in producing an infection this way, it is believed that making anthrax spores airborne is the most likely method of a biological attack.

The disease is far more fatal when the bacteria are inhaled, killing between twenty and forty percent of those that catch the disease, and severely incapacitating many others with respiratory ailments.

Anthrax actually responds very well to antibiotics in most cases, but it must be identified first, and that is difficult.

Symptoms might not appear for two weeks to two months, and the right strain could cause an epidemic before anyone even knew they were sick.

This makes it an ideal disease for use by terrorists or in covert military biological attacks -- the attackers' exposure could be limited and mitigated through the use of preventative treatments, while the population being attacked would be caught unprepared -- human cases of anthrax have become so rare that treatments aren't even available to the general public.

The good news is that a single case raises instant suspicion, and catching it early is the best defense.

Global Security. (2006). "Weapons of mass destruction: Nuclear weapons." http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iran/nuke.htm

Ibid.

Strategy World. (2006). "Iran's chemical arsenal." http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htchem/articles/20060324.aspx

Ibid.

Inglesby et al. (2002). "Anthrax as a biological weapon." Journal of the American Medical Association, 287(17), pp.

Federation of American Scientists. (2008). "Anthrax fact sheet." http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/bio/factsheets/anthraxfactsheet.html

Ibid.

Inglesby et al.

Federation of American Scientists.

Inglesby et al.

Ibid......

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