Chemical Weapon

                                              

 Chemical weapon is the most dreadful of all weapons of mass destruction. Its power and devastating input could be seen and be very much aware of in Iran and Iraq. Its overwhelming impact on human body was reported and acknowledged in 1984. Early 1980s Iran and Iraq were fighting over the land and domination over the ideology and oil fields – somewhere in the middle were civilians and soldiers who were about to find out what the chemical weapon may do, its destructive notion was irreversible and inevitable – avoided and prevented. The soldier was a victim of the chemical weapon – one can only dream of in nightmares. He was wounded by a heavy smoke emitted from the artillery shells. He was very badly wounded, His skin began to itch, his eyes burned, the body was gradually covered with blisters. A couple days later his skin on neck, chest and back stated to peel off. It left horrific scars.

It was not a first case people were exposed to chemical weapon, the Great War and World War II had cases of such exposure, before. The UN began its investigation, the organisation examined the cases of usage of weapon of mass destruction, including mustard gas, a Tabun – also known as a nerve agent. By the end of the war more than ten of thousand of chemical weapons' casualties had been officially acclaimed. Iraq broke the Geneva Protocol. CIA watched and recorded Iraqi policies and politics all time long. It was known that since 1980 Iraq had been storing and developing the weapon of mass destruction, its biological counterparts, as well. Iraq was not a sole country which broke an international law; there were other countries such as South-Africa, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Sudan.

In 1925 the Geneva protocol was set up and ratified by 149 countries. It prohibits only the first use of chemical and biological weapons. It had been thoroughly explained in the amendment in 1972 during Biological Weapon Convention. The convention renounced germs weapons, entirely, including their development and stockpiling. In 1993 another convention was open for signature in Paris, in 1997 111 countries ratified it.

By 'chemical weapons' we understand and take into consideration munitions and other devices using toxic chemicals for industrial, agricultural, research, medical, pharmaceutical, or other peaceful purposes, or purposes related to protection against chemical weapon and law enforcement including domestic riot control, riot control agents, such as, SC Gas.

Each state agrees and undertakes to destroy within 10 years its chemical stockpiles, production facilities, that can produce more than one ton of chemical weapons per year. The international body which deals with the law and monitors the whole procedure is called – The Organisation of Chemical Weapons and it is headquartered in the Hague.

 Bibliography

M. Mazurek, Broń chemiczna zatopiona w Morzu Bałtyckim - materiały z sympozjum naukowego 22 kwietnia 1997 r., Akademia Marynarki Wojennej, Gdynia 1998, s. 20

 T. Kasperek, Broń chemiczna zatopiona w Morzu Bałtyckim, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 1999, s. 118

 Abrams, Michael (September 29, 2011). "ANCDF completes chemical munitions mission". www.army.mil. Retrieved June 27, 2016.

 "Geneva Protocol reservations: Project on Chemical and Biological Warfare". www.sipri.org. Retrieved September 14, 2013.