Chemical weapons: America will destroy its chemical weapons by September

President Biden announced under pressure from Russia, Japan’s chemical weapons near China that America will destroy its chemical weapons by September.

US President Joe Biden has announced that he will destroy all his chemical weapons by September 2023. In fact, only last month Russia and China issued a joint statement pressurizing America to destroy chemical weapons. The statement said that the US is the only member of the Chemical Weapons Convention that has not been eliminated.

The White House said that the US and CWC members would gather for a conference next week. In this, it will be discussed to free the world from chemical weapons. We are leading the world by example. The United States will always oppose the accumulation of such dangerous weapons. We should also encourage other countries to work with the CWC.

Chemical weapons destroyed in Russia

Russia says that it destroyed all its chemical weapons in 2017. However, after the start of the Ukraine war, the US and Britain expressed apprehension that Russia might use these against Ukraine. At the same time, Russia had earlier accused America of making chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine.

Chemical Weapons in China

China says that it has never made chemical weapons. However, during World War II, Japan had left a large stockpile of chemical weapons in China. Those who are now being asked to be destroyed.

Deadliest ‘chemical weapons

• Nerve agent: The deadliest chemical weapon. A small dose can kill in a moment.
• Deadly Elements: VX, Sarin, Tabun
• Choking Agent: A chemical weapon that suffocates. Millions of people were killed by the use of chlorine, and phosgene in the first world war.
• Deadly elements: Phosgene, chlorine, chloropicrin, diphosgene.
• Blood Agents: Attack blood cells, and suffocate them.
• Deadly elements: hydrogen cyanide, arsine
• Blistering agent: Blisters form on the body, and the person becomes blind and also can die.
• Deadly Elements: Sulfur Mustard, Nitrogen Mustard, and Lewisite.
• Riot control agents: These are less lethal. But causes irritation in the eyes, mouth, skin, and lungs. They are also used to control the crowd.
• Tear gas: Bromoacetone.
• Pepper spray: Capsaicin.

What is the chemical weapon?

According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),  these are weapons in which toxic chemicals are used to intentionally kill people also harm them.

Military equipment that can weaponize dangerous chemicals may also be considered chemical weapons.

Chemical weapons are so deadly that they can put thousands of people to sleep in a moment and can also force them to die from the effects of various diseases.

They are different from biological weapons. Biological weapons use bacteria and viruses to kill or make people sick. And they fall under the category of weapons of mass destruction.

 CWC and OPCW

CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention )

• This is an agreement on the control of chemical weapons.
• It was signed in 1993, and implemented in 1997.
• It bans the use of chemical weapons in war.
• Egypt, Israel, and 193 countries are associated with CWC.

OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons)

• The OPCW is an organization of the governments of the member states, and it was formed in 1997 to manage the CWC.
• The Headquarters of OPCW is located in the Netherlands city of the Hague.
• North Korea and South Sudan are not connected.

When were chemical weapons used in modern times?

• There is less since World War I, including the two Gulf Wars (Iraq- Iran Wars). It has been used in at least 12 battles.
• The Iraqi army used these weapons against Iran during the first Gulf War in the 1980s, killing at least 50,000 Iranians.
• In 1988, on the instructions of dictator Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi army used deadly mustard and nerve agent chemical gases against the Kurds of their own country. About one lakh Kurds were put to death.
• During the 2013-17 Syrian civil war, President Bashar al-Assad reportedly used these weapons against his country’s rebels several times with the help of Russia.
• Terrorists in Japan had carried out a chemical attack with sarin gas in the 90s, killing 7 people in 1994 and 12 people in 1995 in the Tokyo Metro.
• According to the UN, at least 25 countries developed and stockpiled chemical weapons during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, although they were rarely used after World War I.

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