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Home , Botulinum toxin, Diphenylcyanoarsine, Enterotoxin type B, Ethyldichloroarsine, Methyldichloroarsine, Phenyldichloroarsine

US intelligence warns of the spread of poison gas, , "gas gangrene," camel pox, and other evils. Horror Weapons

By Bill Gertz

N FUTURE conflicts, US forces may Biological arms are preferred by From Ypres in World I well come face to face with a developing countries who see them War Ito Khafji in the sickening array of biological and as a "poor man's atom bomb." For a Persian Gulf War, soldiers have had to chemical weapons. sense of what might await US forces prepare for an enemy's At least twenty countries either in the future, one need look no fur- use of "special possess or are developing weapons ther than the special weapons pro- weapons." Some of mass destruction. The Pentagon gram recently uncovered in Iraq. nations perceive biological weapons as and the CIA identified five of these Iraq managed to conceal the true the poor man's atom as being especially dangerous threats: extent of its biological weapons pro- bomb, and some North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and gram from the end of Operation military planners see Syria. Desert Storm until late last year, when lasers, radiological No fewer than fifteen nations have Baghdad finally revealed it. It fea- weapons, and sound- wave guns as emerg- offensive poison gas programs, ac- tured some of the deadliest patho- ing dangers. cording to a white paper prepared by gens known to man. US intelligence agencies and released late last year. However, biological Iraq's First Germs warfare (BW) weapons are inherently Iraq's program the more toxic type of armament and began with the development of bac- can affect vast battle areas or civilian teria strains in 1986. The two key population centers. Known biological agents being developed were anthrax weapons agents include anthrax, botu- and botulinum —both extremely lism, , plague, and Q-. deadly, -causing material. These pathogens, such as , takes only three days to viruses, and fungi, are widely recog- incubate. Experts have reported that nized as having military utility. is 100,000 times "They are incredibly lethal," warns more deadly than nerve gas, John Holum, director of the US Arms the type allegedly released by reli- Control and Disarmament Agency. gious fanatics in Japan's sub- "They are also not that difficult to way last year. make, so I think we have to antici- Minute quantities of bacillus an- pate a very high risk of these being thracis could kill a person in a week. more widely available." Quantities of several hundred pounds

44 AIR FORCE Magazine / January 1996 AIR FORCE Magazine! January 1996 45 of anthrax spores dispersed from air- can take up to ten days to affect thecene , such as T-2 and craft could cause thousands of deaths. victims and are anywhere from five DAS. The mycotoxins cause , An outbreak of pulmonary anthrax to fifty percent fatal. vomiting, , and skin irritations. in 1979 killed hundreds of residents A United Nations report, released toxin, derived from the com- of the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk, now October 11, 1995, states that the Iraqi mon castor bean, also was being de- renamed Ekaterinberg. The Sverd- military conducted tests of BW agents veloped. This poison causes bleed- lovsk tragedy sprang from an acci- on sheep, donkeys, monkeys, and ing pneumonia. dent at a Soviet military BW facil- dogs and that weapons field trials ity, where dry virulent anthrax spores were held in 1988. Production began Production of Viruses were released into the air. Victims in 1989, with Iraqi producing Iraq also developed three distinct suffered from the sudden onset of their first 1,500 liters of anthrax viral agents: hemorrhagic conjunc- very high fever and respiratory dis- agent. The UN report adds that in tivitis virus, rotavirus, and camel tress that led to death. 1990, Iraq produced 6,000 liters of pox virus. US intelligence agencies that have concentrated botulinum toxin and The first of these experimental examined the effects of anthrax, which 8,425 liters of . agents causes a disease whose symp- is weaponized as spores and can be Iraq also worked on a new agent— toms are extreme pain and temporary sprayed from a truck or aircraft, say perfringens—which caus- blindness, resulting from bleeding the spores are inhaled or ingested and es "gas gangrene." This malady fea- eyeballs. The second causes severe cause pulmonary anthrax. tures the rotting of flesh commonly diarrhea that can lead to dehydration It is highly lethal because by the seen in war casualties, requiring the and death. The third causes fever time the first flu-like symptoms amputation of affected limbs. This and skin rash. Camel pox, endemic caused by the bacteria appear, enough BW agent, when placed within artil- to Iraq, also causes pus-filled skin have been produced to kill a lery or mortar rounds, would be eruptions. Iraqis appear not to be person, even if the bacteria are killed spread by shrapnel and would cause affected, though the malady is lethal off with high doses of antibiotics. wounds to develop gas gangrene. for foreigners. According to the CIA, anthrax Another BW agent studied by the BW viruses are submicroscopic proves fatal in eighty percent of cases. Iraqis was —a poison com- infective agents made up of DNA or Plague affects its victims in one to mon to fungus-contaminated food RNA that need living cells to repro- three days and is ninety percent fa- grains and known to cause liver can- duce. These agents can produce a tal, says the CIA. Less lethal bugs cers—which they loaded into bombs. range of afflictions with varying include tularemia and cholera, which The Iraqis also studied other tricho- degrees of toxicity and incubation

Chemical Warfare Agents

Agent Class Agent Persistence Rate of Action Nerve Low Very rapid Sarin Low Very rapid Moderate Very rapid GF Moderate Very rapid VX Very high Rapid Sulfur mustard Very high Delayed Moderate–very high Delayed oxime Low Immediate High Rapid Low–moderate Rapid Moderate Delayed Low Rapid Choking Phosgene Low Delayed Low Variable Blood Low Rapid chloride Low Rapid Low Delayed (vomiting) Diphenylchloroarsine Low Rapid Low Rapid Low Rapid Riot control () Chloroacetophenone Low Immediate Low–high Immediate Bromobenzylcyanide Moderate–very high Immediate 0-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile Low–high Immediate Psychochemicals 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate High Delayed

Source US intelligence agencies

46 AIR FORCE Magazine/January 1996 Biological Warfare Agents

Disease Causative Agent Incubation time (days) Fatalities (percent) Anthrax Bacillus anthracis 1-5 80 Plague Yersinia Pestis 1-3 90 Tularemia Francisella tularensis 1-10 5-20 Cholera Vibrio cholerae 2-5 25-50 Venezuelan equine encephalitis VEE virus 2-5 less than 1 0-fever Coxiella burnetti 12-21 less than 1 Botulism toxin 3 30 Staphylococcal enterotoxemia type B 1-6 less than 1 (food poisoning) Multiple organ toxicity Dose dependent Dose dependent

Source: US intelligence agencies

periods. They are introduced into dicator that other nations may seek immune responses. An intelligence victims through contact with the skin, such arms as a relatively easy way to community report points out that such eating or breathing, or as a result of develop their own version of strate- chemicals could short-circuit and dis- breaking the skin with agent-coated gic weapons. rupt these bodily functions and kill shrapnel, for example. The list of "There may be some that already the affected victims. potential BW agents is long and in- have done that," he notes. The Iraqi "Exploited in such a way for mili- cludes the deadly Ebola virus that program, in just five years, showed tary purposes, they could potentially broke out in Africa last year. remarkable progress and demon- cause such effects as rapid uncon- Iraq' s final deployed BW arsenal strated how easy it is for a rogue sciousness, heart failure, paralysis, included at least 19,000 liters of con- nation to develop these types of arms, hypotension or hypertension, or psy- centrated botulinum toxin-10,000 he says. chological disturbances," the report liters of which were loaded into warns. munitions—and 8,500 liters of con- Snakes, Insects, Nature's own killer bugs are bad centrated anthrax toxin, with 6,500 Toxins are poisons derived from enough, but advancing technology liters loaded into munitions. plants or animals and can be devel- could increase their lethality. Russia Some 2,200 liters of concentrated oped into BW agents capable is known to have genetically engi- aflatoxin were deployed, with 1,580 of acting on specific receptors in the neered biological weapons. A So- liters in munitions, according to the human body. Toxin weapons are rela- viet biologist involved in Moscow's UN report. tively unstable and can be affected offensive biological arms program "Given the Iraqi claim that only by heat or other environmental fac- defected to Britain in 1990 with new five years had elapsed since [the BW tors. Developers rely on a variety of information about the germ warfare program' s] declared inception in sources for toxins, including mi- program. The defector revealed that 1985, the [program's] achievements crobes, snakes, insects, spiders, sea a secret Soviet program known as . . . were remarkable," the UN con- creatures, and plants. "" was working on a va- cludes. Toxins can also be derived from riety of bioarms, including bacteria Dr. Richard Spertzel, a US bio- fungi. Algal toxins, for example, are capable of causing a "superplague" logical weapons expert who is part highly poisonous and difficult to halt able to wipe out entire cities. of the UN team that investigated the with vaccines or other medical treat- Scientists suspect that biological Iraqi program, says the weaponiza- ment. They are also very difficult to arms can be made deadlier by creat- tion effort may not have produced detect. Another toxin, , is ing antibiotic-resistant strains of ideal weapons, but they would have produced from marine algae and af- bacteria or by growing benign micro- been effective had they been used in fects nerve cells, eventually causing that are genetically engi- the Persian Gulf War. the victim to stop breathing. neered to produce toxins, , "They could have been used against Weapon experts also are looking or bioregulators within the body. US troops," Dr. Spertzel says. "These at the possibility that bioregulators- Science can develop viruses with weapons . . . were not designed for organic chemicals that regulate cell increased resistance to vaccines. tactical situations; they were for stra- processes—and physiologically ac- There are also fears among military tegic purposes, deployed in both tive catalysts and will be officials that BW producers could bombs and Al Hussein missiles." weaponized for BW use in the fu- make deadly bacteria able to with- The weapons were armed with ture. stand exposure to air and the envi- impact-fuze detonators—not an ideal Bioregulators are produced in small ronment. way to disseminate BW agents but quantities by the body and are essen- one that clearly would have produced tial for controlling normal bodily func- Easy to Make casualties, Dr. Spertzel says. tions, such as breathing, blood vessel To build these nasty bugs, a na- He contends that the Iraqi BW dilation, , blood tion does not need special facilities. program should be viewed as an in- pressure, heart rate, temperature, and Three levels of production have been

AIR FORCE Magazine / January 1996 47 identified in proliferating countries— Beyond Biological and Chemical laboratory scale, pilot scale, and in- dustrial scale. Laboratory-level pro- Chemical and biological weapons are only the best-known types of special weapons likely duction could be sufficient to produce to confront US armed forces. Also in store are less-developed types of unconventional weapons, such as blinding lasers, radiological weapons, and ultralow-frequency sound- strategically significant amounts of wave guns that can cause severe intestinal distress. BW agent for military uses. "The emerging dangers are in the kinds of weapons that pose a somewhat less It is relatively easy to create organ- cosmic threat but are much more accessible, easier to make, easier to conceal," says isms suited for germ weapons. All John Holum, director of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. that is needed are special containers Military planners believe that the US will have to deal with the threat of some type of radiological weapon, possibly one with a conventional explosive mixed with radioactive capable of fermenting whole cellular material, such as plutonium. Radiological arms can spread nuclear contamination over organisms or the toxins they produce. large areas, dispersing enough radiation to sicken troops. It can debilitate a force without Then, through the use of centrifuges, a nuclear blast, yet cause radiation sickness. the deadly bugs or toxins can be "What it comes down to is a dirty, low-yield bomb," Mr. Holum says, "a weapon that in a military sense would be called a fizzle but in the sense of immediate impact, a very gleaned for use as weapons. dangerous weapon." "Virtually any known disease-caus- Blinding lasers are another emerging unconventional threat. At an arms exhibition ing agent can be manufactured in the last year, 's North Industries Corp. unveiled a "portable laser disturber" capable laboratory, and many can be produced of injuring eyesight. on an industrial scale," the intelli- Laser weapon research programs reportedly are under way in France, Britain, gence white paper says. "With ge- Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and Germany. netic engineering, new possibilities have emerged, which could allow for in aerial bombs, artillery rockets and can kill, and they pose a long-term the design of new pathogens, more shells, grenades, mines, missile war- contamination danger to the territory virulent strains of organisms, or or- heads, and mortar rounds, and they and equipment they are used against. ganisms with characteristics tailored kill or incapacitate in a number of Also on the horizon is the poten- to specific military requirements." ways, including damaging eyes and tial use of "vomiting agents" in com- Samples of deadly viruses needed lungs and blistering skin. bat. These -based chemicals for starting BW programs can be Choking agents, like those used in cause great discomfort and can force obtained on the international black , affect the lungs and troops to remove protective masks. market. US counterproliferation of- cause victims to choke on their own With masks removed, a second- ficials are especially concerned that mucus. Blood agents are inhaled and wave attack could then be launched BW starter cultures could be smug- block the body's ability to absorb oxy- using highly lethal nerve agents. gled out of the territory of the old gen into cells, causing rapid damage Another possibility being explored Soviet Union by scientists looking to tissues. by military planners is the attack by to make money. Military analysts maintain that a various psychochemicals. These in- Unlike chemical weapons pro- military force engaged in chemical clude the well-known LSD (lysergic grams, which require the use of large- warfare would use blood agents in acid diethylamide) and two other scale industrial equipment and pos- areas they hope to occupy quickly. chemicals, known in the intelligence session of precursor chemicals, BW The reason: Blood agents dissipate community as BZ (3-Quinuclidinyl weapons do not need to be stock- quickly and therefore pose less of a benzilate) and benactyzine. The chem- piled. Nations can keep small quan- threat to advancing forces. icals alter the nervous system and tities or even sample cultures on hand create visual and aural hallucinations, in freeze-dried form. Cultures can Chemical Agents a sense of unreality, and changes in be mass produced at any time. More advanced chemical weapons thought processes and behavior. Iraq's chemical arms program also include the G-series nerve agents Psychochemicals have a dual ca- was found to be larger and more ad- tabun (GA), soman (GD), and sarin pability and could be used to inacti- vanced than Baghdad ever admitted, (GB). These highly lethal agents at- vate both civilian and military per- specifically with production and stor- tack the nervous system and are simi- sonnel for relatively short periods. age of an advanced , VX. lar in chemical structure to . Highly advanced communications Experts say the nerve agent is so deadly German chemists discovered the three are putting such weapons know-how that one drop can kill a person. agents accidentally while developing in the hands of anyone with a com- began in 1915 new pesticides in the 1930s. puter and modem. "The ingredients when Germany fired large clouds of The more advanced nerve agents for sarin and other chemical weap- the choking agent on French that pose a greater threat to US sol- ons are easily accessible over the troops. Both sides eventually resorted diers include V-series nerve agents, Internet," said Sen. Sam Nunn (D- to the use of choking and blistering such as VE, VG, VM, VS, and VX, Ga.), the senior Democrat on the agents, and by the end of the conflict developed in the 1950s by British Senate Armed Services Committee, more than a million soldiers had been scientists. They are more toxic and "as is information about biological killed or wounded in chemical attacks. linger longer than the G-series chemi- weapons and even instructions on Chemical warfare agents are clas- cals do. Small amounts on the skin how to make a nuclear device." • sified by their physical and chemical properties, such as lethality, mode of action, speed of action, toxicity, Bill Gertz covers national security affairs for the Washington Times. His most persistence, and state. recent Air Force Magazine article, "Toward a Thin Missile Defense," appeared These weapons can be dispersed in the July 1995 issue.

48 AIR FORCE Magazine/January 1996