Chemical Terrorism

By James A. Geiling, MD, FCCP

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Historical Review

First reports of the use of chemical agents date to 1000 BC, when the Chinese used arsenical smokes. During the Peloponnesian War in 423 BC, the allies of Sparta overtook an Athenian fort with smoke. In the 7th century AD, the Greeks used "Greek fire" floating on water for naval operations. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Venetians used poison-filled mortar shells and poison chests to taint wells, crops, and animals.

The horrors of chemical agents have been recognized by societies for many years. In 1812, the British rejected the use of burning sulfur-laden ships prior to marine landings in France; in 1854, they again opposed the use of cyanide to break the siege of Sebastopol in the Crimean War. Attempts to formalize a ban on these agents were attempted in 1874 at the Brussels Convention and again in 1899 and 1907 at the Hague Convention. However, the resolutions were weak and poorly worded, prompting little adherence by world powers.

The use of chemical weapons in wartime came to the forefront of the world's attention in the afternoon of April 15, 1915, when the German army released 150 tons of chlorine gas from 6,000 cylinders near Ypres, Belgium. Approximately 800 deaths occurred as a consequence of this event, but more importantly, 15,000 Allied troops retreated, in large part because of the psychological terror of the weapon.

The next major use on the battlefield occurred again near Ypres, Belgium on July 12, 1917, when German artillery shells delivered sulfur mustard. This release caused approximately 20,000 casualties, with < 5% of them dying of their injuries. A nonvolatile substance, the mustard posed new problems for the victims, including a latency period before effects appeared, persistence of the agent, and the need for both men and horses to be protected by overgarments.⁶

The horrors and psychological trauma imposed by these chemical agents in World War I resulted in the 1925 Geneva Protocol's ban on chemical weapons. This treaty, which was ratified by all of the major world powers except the United States and Japan, implied no first use of chemical or biological weapons, but did not prohibit their possession.

The disdain for their use did not last long. In 1935, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered the use of nitrogen mustard in an attempt to end the Italian-Ethiopian War early. The Italians dropped bombs filled with mustard and sprayed it from the air. They also employed it in powder form as a "dusty agent," a form devised for use against the barefoot Ethiopians.⁷ Finally, immediately before World War II in 1937, the Japanese reportedly used tear gas and other smokes and chemicals during their invasion of China. They eventually escalated the use of chemicals through the use of mustard and lewisite in 1939.⁵

The nerve agents appeared in the 1930s when the German industrial chemist, Dr. Gerhard Schrader began work on the development of stronger insecticides, the first two being tabun (GA) and sarin (GB). These agents and others were stockpiled by the German army in World War II but never used. Many theories abound as to why the Germans never employed them, but most likely it relates to Adolf Hitler's experience as a mustard casualty in World War I and his fear of nerve agent retaliation by the United States. One chemical agent release did occur, in 1943 in Bari Harbor, Italy. German aircraft bombed the American ship John Harvey, which was loaded with 2,000 100-lb mustard bombs. Those who swam in mustard-laden water had a 14% fatality rate.⁶

More recently, from 1963 to 1967 during the Yemen War, Egyptian troops used mustard against royalist troops in North Yemen. During the Vietnam War, the United States extensively used defoliants and riot-control agents. In 1975 after the war, the United States finally ratified the Geneva Treaty, but noted that the treaty did not apply to the defoliants and riot-control agents they had recently used in Vietnam. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, chemical agents may have been used against Hmong tribesmen in central Laos, and the Soviet Union may have employed them during its war in Afghanistan.⁷

During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Iraq used mustard, tabun (GA), and eventually sarin (GB) against Iran. After Desert Storm, inspections in Iraq confirmed nerve agents and mustard at Al Muthanna, 80 km northwest of Baghdad. Reports also surfaced during the late 1980s of possible cyanide use against the Kurds in northern Iraq.

Finally, the most publicized use of chemical agents for terrorism occurred in Tokyo in the mid-1990s, when on two occasions the Aum Shinrikyo Japanese religious cult released sarin gas. The first release came in June 27, 1994, in the city of Matsumoto and resulted in 600 persons being exposed, of whom 58 were admitted to the hospital and 7 died.⁸ The more famous and larger event took place in Tokyo on March 20, 1995, when the cult released sarin gas in the subway, resulting in the deaths of 11 commuters and the medical evaluation of 5,000 persons.⁹

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