Chemical, biological and radiological weapons have been termed as the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) because of just how noxious and detrimental they can be when deployed. Chemical weapons in entirety are referred to as toxic chemical material or substances that have the potential to result in loss of life, incapacitation, different forms of injury, or irritation. Any machines or munitions that are used to deliver these weapons are also termed as weapons. Biological weapons, or also known as germ weapons refers to disease-causing agents such as fungi, bacteria or toxics, that are used to attack and cause harm to another human being. Radiological weapons are equally as injurious when put into use. These weapons use radioactive elements to either cause disruption or inflict pain or even kill.
The potency of these weapons is an issue that has even the world’s largest superpowers at the edge of their seats. Some of these countries are putting up measures to ensure they are prepared just in case an attack was launched against them (Spindlove & Simonsen 2010). President Obama addressed the issue on terrorist threat and said that the terrorist groups and their weapons continue to be one of the greatest threats to the US. Terrorist experts have gone ahead to say that the terrorist groups continue to gain interest in the weapons as they are aware of how powerful they can be if they had such weapons in their possession. Even though lately there hasn’t been any major attack by a terrorist group using the weapons of mass destruction, the government is not leaving anything to chance. Currently, terrorist groups seem to be more focused on gaining publicity and recruiting new members (Cragin & Daly 2004) than in weapon acquisition. This should however not deter us from the fact that if these groups have both the numbers and weapons on their side, they are going to be almost invincible.
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When it comes to weapons of mass destruction, what makes combating it challenging is the fact that when they are used in an attack, their presence is difficult to detect. This makes it hard to decipher when the weapons were originally deployed, or the location. The US possessed three of these types of weapons, biological, nuclear and chemical weapons. Currently, they have land-based, air-based and sea-based nuclear arsenal deployed already. If the terrorist groups manage to get a hold of the weapons, it would be very easy for them to launch an attack on the United States or any other country for that matter. The best shot that the US government has at ensuring this does not happen, is by making sure that these groups don’t get access to these weapons. They would also need to thoroughly prepare themselves for what to do if just in case an attack happened.
References
Cragin, R. K., & Daly, S. A. (2004). The Dynamic Terrorist Threat: An Assessment of Group Motivations and Capabilities in a Changing World . Santa Monica: RAND Corp.
Spindlove, J. R., & Simonsen, C. E. (2010). Terrorism today: The past, the players, the future . Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall.
