The protracted sectarian conflict in Syria has brought focus on its chemical and biological weapons capability. The West contemplated that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria might use chemical weapons to gain an upper hand on the rebels in case the conventional strength was weakened.
In the new world of advanced science and technology, the nature of terrorism has assumed its worst manifestation. The 2008 Mumbai attack proved that terrorists aim at creating havoc and panic using unconventional means. Under such circumstances,probability of chemical or biological attack against innocent civilians can not be ignored by defence planners.
Chemical weapons can cause large scale death and destruction. To give an example, a pinhead size drop of nerve agent can kill an adult within minutes. In a country like India which has a large density of population, a large scale attack is almost impossible to prepare against. Chemical weapons are ideal for terror seekers because they are cheap and easily accessible. They are also easy to transport.
In 22nd April, 1915, during the First World War (WWI), German forces used Chlorine gas for the first time, killing thousands of French troops in the battlefields in Ypres, Belgium.1 This incident introduced the era of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the history of modern warfare. Since then, chemical agents have become the only WMDs to be used repeatedly in conflict situations.
While the attack on the chemical warehouse in France and the accident in the Taiwanese park are not cases of chemical terrorism in a classical sense, they can be analysed against the backdrop of a ‘chemical incident’.
The Montreal Protocol has been regarded as the most of effective international treaty mechanism of all time and it has been successful in handling the question of ozone depletion with the help of mechanisms like Multilateral Fund.
Egypt has for long possessed chemical weapons (CW) and biological weapons (BW), and was unable to make much progress in the nuclear weapons (NW) domain, at least as yet, Qaddafi's Libya on the other hand produced CW, developed BW, neared nuclear capacity as well, eventually, but shifted to total deproliferation in due course.
The most significant aspect of the CWC is the provision for a Challenge Inspection (CI) mechanism, to address any possible concerns of any member state regarding the possible non-compliance to the provisions of the CWC by any other member state.
It is not so much because of the use of chemical weapons that will unleash US fire-power, but the fact that the Assad regime might be winning the civil war in conjunction with its Iranian and Hezbollah allies.
Recent ‘Chemical Incidents’ in France and Taiwan
While the attack on the chemical warehouse in France and the accident in the Taiwanese park are not cases of chemical terrorism in a classical sense, they can be analysed against the backdrop of a ‘chemical incident’.