Chemical and Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction

According to a 1969 United Nations report, chemical warfare agents are "substances, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which might be employed because of their direct toxic effects on man, animals and plants." Agents used as chemical weapons can be volatile or persistent, lethal or incapacitating. Some act directly on the skin, lungs, and mucous membranes; others are absorbed into the body. Chemical weapons are typically nerve agents, such as the sarin gas used by Aum Shinrikyo in Tokyo or mustard gas used in World War II. Recent press has brought the chemical ricin to the nation's attention.
 

A case of chemical terrorism: In 1995, the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo contaminated Tokyo subways with sarin nerve gas, killing 12 people and injuring 5,000 more.

Symptoms of exposure to a chemical agent occur nearly instantaneously. Typical indications of exposure to a chemical agent include

  • tears
  • choking
  • difficulty breathing
  • coughing
  • itchiness
  • dizziness.

Sarin: Nerve agents, like sarin, are man-made chemicals and the most rapid acting of all the chemical weapons. Originally created in Germany as a pesticide in the 1930s, sarin was used in two terrorist attacks in Japan and may have been used in the first Persian Gulf War of the 1980s. Sarin is a liquid that can also be evaporated into a gas/vapor.

Nearly every route of exposure will have some effect: skin or eye contact, inhalation, food and drink, and coming into contact with water contaminated with sarin will expose a person. Clothes contaminated by a sarin exposure continue to release the gas for 30 minutes and can expose others.

Symptoms of exposure to sarin can occur as rapidly as seconds following exposure to 18 hours. Some of the symptoms associated with sarin exposure include

  • runny nose and watery eyes
  • drooling
  • cough and chest tightness
  • rapid breathing
  • weakness
  • confusion
  • drop or rise in blood pressure.

Excessive exposure can result in loss of consciousness, seizure, paralysis, and respiratory failure.

In the event of an exposure, remove clothing (avoid pulling clothing over the head) and place in sealed plastic bags. Wash with plenty of soap and water any skin exposed to sarin. Rinse burning or watery eyes with cool water for 10 to 15 minutes. Then seek emergency medical treatment.

Ricin: A poisonous powder made from the "mash" of castor beans, ricin can be breathed when aerosolized, mixed in with food or liquids and swallowed, or mixed with liquid and injected. If inhaled or injected as little as 500μg (micrograms) — about the size of a pinhead — would be fatal to an adult. More would be necessary for a fatal dose if ingested.

Ricin prevents cells from producing proteins necessary for survival. If the dose is fatal, death occurs within 36 to 72 hours. Symptoms for inhalation ricin occur within eight hours; symptoms for ingested ricin occur within six hours.

Symptoms of inhaled ricin include difficulty breathing, cough, fever and other lung-related symptoms resulting in respiratory failure. Ingested ricin will cause gastrointestinal symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and can cause organ failure.

Nuclear Weapons

Atomic or nuclear explosions are the result of a forced splitting of atoms causing intense radiation. Following atomic weapons development in the US during WWII, the former Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and China each developed their own nuclear arsenal. It is believed that other nations, such as Pakistan, India, and Israel, currently store or have the ability to manufacture atomic weapons easily.

It is known that various terrorist groups, in particular the al Qaeda, are actively attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. Given the difficulties of acquiring nuclear weapons, a common goal among the more organized terrorist groups is the acquisition of so-called "dirty" bombs. A dirty bomb would consist of radioactive waste attached to conventional explosives. Upon detonation, the explosives would spread the radioactive material over a large area.

The likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used in a terrorist attack is small.

While with state-sponsored terrorism the funds to obtain nuclear weapons are available, it is unlikely that control of nuclear weapons use would be placed in the hands of terrorists who cannot really be controlled by the state.

The Suitcase Bomb: Recent media has discussed the so-called "suitcase bomb" as a future method of WMD terrorism. During the Cold War both the US and the former Soviet Union developed mini nuclear devices compact enough to fit into a duffle bag or suitcase. Each device had an explosive capacity of one kiloton (1000 tons of TNT) that when activated, could destroy everything within a half-mile radius and killing as many as 100,000 people. Rumor has it that as many as 100 of the Soviet suitcase bombs are as yet unaccounted for.

State-Sponsored Terrorism
"State-sponsored terrorism" is a term that indicates that government funding supports the terrorist acts. Whether the terrorist group is plotting an assassination, kidnapping, bombing, or hijacking, it receives financial support from a government.