Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological (NBC) Warfare*
has recently come into the line light of late. Yet, biological warfare has been around for millennia. Chemical warfare has been practiced since the early part of the 20th Century. In the late 1990s much attention has been focused on this warfare as speculation has raged about which rogue states might employ these weapons and as private groups have used them. What is that actual threat? What are these weapons? How dangerous are they, and how can we protect ourselves?

During the Persian Gulf War, many people spoke of the Iraqi's use of chemical weapons. These weapons can have a catastrophic effect on the unprotected, but they're really only a minor annoyance to military operations. Military forces have protective masks and suits to protect soldiers. Soldiers are trained to detect early signs of chemical attacks, and to react quickly. Soldiers carry decontamination equipment, and some antidotes. Prior to the Gulf War, many soldiers took pills and had shots to reduce the effectiveness of Nerve Agents. Some vehicles are protected by overpressure systems, which protect the crew even if the hull is breached. Most have paint that can be easily cleaned and neutralization agents to wash the vehicles. Military units have chemical detection alarms and kits that will react to the presence chemical agents.

In military operations, chemical agents degrade the ability of the force to act because the chemical suits are hot and make some functions difficult and dangerous*.
They can be used as area denial weapons, because military leaders rarely want to intentionally cross contaminated areas.

The use of chemical weapons brings up several questions for those who might want to employ them, not the least of which is treaty violations. Planners must consider their effectiveness. Iraq was a poor place to use chemical weapons. The heat and sunlight would degrade the chemicals in short order. Planners also have to consider who will be affected to a greater extent, enemy forces or your own. During the Gulf War, the American's used protective masks with attachments that could be used to drink water from special canteens and MOPP*
suits. MOPP suits are thick cloth suits lined with activated charcoal. They turn the users skin black*,
but they did allow some air through. On the other hand, the Iraqi chemical protective gear was an air tight rain suit with a protective mask. Who do you think would function longer?