The Other Gas Crisis - Chemical Weapons: Part 2
Abstract
It now becomes necessary to explore the nature and meaning of the threat posed by the chemical warfare capability of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. To put it very bluntly, the present Warsaw Pact advantage in chemical weapons increases the risk that someday a President of the United States might have to choose between acceptance of defeat or nuclear war in the event of a Soviet-Warsaw Pact attack into NATO Europe. As will be shown, this candid assessment derives both from the nature of chemical weapons and the role they would likely play in the event of a major NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation. Modern chemical agents, the so-called "nerve agents," can kill or disable. Their effects can occur within minutes of exposure to casualty-producing dosages (very small amounts in the case of the more toxic nerve agents). Other less-volatile agents can effectively contaminate terrain, materiel, buildings, or other objects upon which they settle. These latter, referred to as "persistent" agents, cause casualties either by inhalation or by penetration of the skin or eyes, and thus can present a lethal contact hazard of fairly long duration. The danger that these chemical agents pose is heightened because they can be odorless and invisible and, in volatile form, can penetrate structures, fortifications, armored vehicles, or anything else that is not completely airtight.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA515991
Entities
People
- Charles H. Bay
Organizations
- United States Army War College