Throughout the history of warfare attempts have been made to use chemical agents as weapons of war. Most attempts were unsuccessful until the growth of the chemical industry during the latter-half of the 19th century. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the first military chemical agents were already in the arsenals of the major powers.

The entry into force of the Africa’s Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty or the Treaty of Pelindaba in July 2009 and the first conference of parties on November 4, 2010 is a big step towards making the African continent free of the scourge of nuclear weapons. The Treaty of Pelindaba seeks to ensure that nuclear weapons are not developed, produced, tested or otherwise acquired or stationed anywhere on the African continent or its associated islands. At the same time the treaty provides for the promotion of cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy on the African continent. Though Sub Saharan Africa is free of nuclear weapons programmes, many African countries have peaceful nuclear facilities and radioactive sources.

Since its independence in 1948, Myanmar has consistently taken stance against all kinds of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It has been a signatory to various international protocols and conventions against biological as well as chemical weapons, including the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare; the 1972 Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxic Weapons Convention; and Chemical Weapons Convention or CWC (1993).

The US Army’s decision to use controlled detonation through EDTs could complete the destruction task earlier than the current methods allow. EDTs are the appropriate supplements to current methods of neutralization followed by bio-treatment. US Army requires working in close cooperation with resident groups by effectively demonstrating them the technology that could address their concerns over environment and safety.

President Obama’s Nuclear Posture Review1 has raised hopes of universally fine-tuning nuclear deterrence; using it ‘fundamentally’ against the nuclear threats. This article attempts to underline the issues involved in de-linking Chemical and Biological weapons’ threats from nuclear use.

Chemical weapons make premeditated use of the toxic properties of chemical substances to inflict death or harm to human beings and are known as weapons of mass destruction along with Nuclear and Biological weapons.1 The United States was part of Hague Conventions which were held in 1899 and 1907.

The execution of Chemical Ali might enliven the debate on chemical warfare. It should inspire the global community to revisit the threat from chemical weapons and renew cooperation to ensure chemical agents remain inaccessible to the non state actors like the al Qaeda and the Taliban. These militant groups are irresponsible and are forever looking for ways and means to induce maximum damage to innocent lives across the globe.