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Syria Chemical Weapons Program
Syria's chemical weapons program began in the 1970s with weapons and training from Egypt and the Soviet Union, with production of chemical weapons in Syria beginning in the mid-1980s. For some time, Syria was believed to have the world's third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, after the United States and Russia. Prior to September 2013 Syria had not publicly admitted to possessing chemical weapons, although Western intelligence services believed it to hold one of the world's largest stockpiles.Congressional Research Service, 12 September 2013Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress In September 2013, French intelligence put the Syrian stockpile at 1,000 tonnes, including Yperite, VX and "several hundred tonnes of sarin". At the time, Syria was one of a handful of states which had not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. In September 2013, Syria joined the CWC (formally acceding on 14 October), and agreed to the destruction of its weapons, to be supervised by the Orga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemical Weapon
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a weapon "or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action. Munitions or other delivery devices designed to deliver chemical weapons, whether filled or unfilled, are also considered weapons themselves." Chemical weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction (WMD), though they are distinct from nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and radiological weapons. All may be used in warfare and are known by the military acronym NBC (for nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare). Weapons of mass destruction are distinct from conventional weapons, which are primarily effective due to their explosive, kinetic, or incendiary potential. Chemical weapons can be widely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee ( he, מבצע שלום הגליל, or מבצע של"ג ''Mivtsa Shlom HaGalil'' or ''Mivtsa Sheleg'') by the Israeli government, later known in Israel as the Lebanon War or the First Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון הראשונה, ''Milhemet Levanon Harishona''), and known in Lebanon as "the invasion" ( ar, الاجتياح, ''Al-ijtiyāḥ''), began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operating in southern Lebanon and the IDF that had caused civilian casualties on both sides of the border. The military operation was launched after gunmen from Abu Nidal's organization attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin blamed Abu Nidal's enemy, the PLO, for the incident, and used the inci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VX (nerve Agent)
VX is an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound in the organophosphorus class, specifically, a thiophosphonate. In the class of nerve agents, it was developed for military use in chemical warfare after translation of earlier discoveries of organophosphate toxicity in pesticide research. In recent years, VX was found to be the agent used in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. In its pure form, VX is an oily, relatively non-volatile liquid that is amber-like in colour. Because of its low volatility, VX persists in environments where it is dispersed. VX, short for "venomous agent X", is one of the best known of the V nerve agents and was first discovered at Porton Down by Ranajit Ghosh in England during the early 1950s based on research first done by Gerhard Schrader, a chemist working for IG Farben in Germany during the 1930s. It is now one of a broader V-series of agents which are classified as nerve agents and have been used as a chemical weapon in various recor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarin
Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.Sarin (GB) Emergency Response Safety and Health Database. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Accessed April 20, 2009. A colourless, odourless , it is used as a due to its extreme potency as a . Exposure is lethal even at very low ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yperite
Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, but is instead in the form of a fine mist of liquid droplets.https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/gc-mustard-gas-personal-safety-and-natl-security.pdf Mustard gases form blisters on exposed skin and in the lungs, often resulting in prolonged illness ending in death. The active ingredient in typical mustard gas is the organosulfur compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide. In the wider sense, compounds with the structural element are known as ''sulfur mustards'' and ''nitrogen mustards'', respectively. Such compounds are potent alkylating agents, which can interfere with several biological processes. History as chemical weapons As a chemical weapon, mustard gas was first used in World War I, and has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scud
A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies. The Russian names for the missile are the R-11 (the first version), and the R-17 (later R-300) Elbrus (later developments). The name Scud has been widely used to refer to these missiles and the wide variety of derivative variants developed in other countries based on the Soviet design. Scud missiles have been used in combat since the 1970s, mostly in wars in the Middle East. They became familiar to the Western public during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Iraq fired dozens at Israel and Saudi Arabia. In Russian service it is being replaced by the 9K720 Iskander. Development The first use of the term ''Scud'' was in the NATO name SS-1b Scud-A, applied to the R-11 Zemlya ballistic missile. The earlier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jane's Defence Weekly
''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who first published '' Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships'' in 1898. It is a unit of Jane's Information Group, which was purchased by IHS in 2007. The magazine has a large circulation and is frequently cited in publications worldwide. History ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' was established in 1984 replacing the now-defunct '' Jane's Defence Review''. The latter was started in 1978 and was published on a monthly basis. Samuel Loring Morison In 1984, only months after the magazine was established, ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' gained worldwide attention after printing several images from an American spy satellite of the Nikolaiev 444 shipyard in the Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreign Policy Magazine
A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through multilateral platforms.Foreign policy ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' (published January 30, 2020). The '''' notes that a government's foreign policy may be influenced by "domestic considerations, the policies or behaviour of other states, or plans to advance specific geopolitical designs." History The idea of long-term management of relationships followed the development of professio ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
July 2007 Syrian Arms Depot Explosion
The July 2007 Syrian arms depot explosion was a blast in July 2007 at a highly secretive Syrian missile base. The Syrian government said the explosion was the result of an accidental detonation of an ammunition dump, but later reports suggested it was the result of a Syrian chemical weapons experiment. Official version The explosion happened in Musalmiya, a city in northern Syria near Aleppo, on 26 July 2007. Officials said that high summer temperatures of up to 50 °C set off explosive materials at a military missile base, causing the ammunition dump to explode. Fifteen Syrian nuclear personnel were reportedly killed, (as well as reports of 10 Iranian engineers), and 50 were wounded. Syria said the blast was "not the result of sabotage." Skepticism ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' published an article in September 2007 explaining purported inaccuracies in the Syrian account. They wrote that the explosion happened at 4:30 a.m., the coolest time of the day, when temperature ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joby Warrick
Joby Warrick (born August 4, 1960) is an American journalist who has worked for ''The Washington Post'' since 1996, mostly writing about the Middle East, diplomacy, and national security. He has also written about the intelligence community, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the environment, and has also served as a member of the ''Post''s investigation branch. His work has been recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes. Career Warrick was given the 2003 Bob Consadine Award for best interpretation of international affairs in a newspaper by the Overseas Press Club of America, for his articles about proliferation threats. In September 2002, Warrick was one of the first journalists to publish reports casting doubt on the Bush administration's claims that aluminum tubes discovered in Iraq were appropriate for use in uranium centrifuges. Prior to his work at ''The Washington Post'', Warrick reported for ''The News & Observer'' of Raleigh, North Carolina. The newspaper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraqi Chemical Weapons Program
In violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925, the Iraqi Army initiated two failed (1970–1974, 1974–1978) and one successful (1978–1991) offensive chemical weapons (CW) programs. President Saddam Hussein (1937–2006) pursued the most extensive chemical program during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), when he waged chemical warfare against his foe. He also used chemicals in 1988 in the Al-Anfal Campaign against his civilian Kurdish population and during a popular uprising in the south in 1991. Although efforts to acquire chemical weapons dated back to the early 1960s (pre-dating Hussein's regime), the Iraqis did not have stockpiles at the outbreak of the war with Iran in 1980. But in time, they began to develop an intensive research program to produce and store chemical weapons and used the war fields to test and perfect their chemical warfare prowess. Thus, as the war continued, Iraq's chemical warfare program expanded rapidly. According to Iraq, while the majority ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
