The modern world is an ever-changing one and that is mainly because science and technology have grown so much that the world, we live in now has become a dynamic one. Although, technology has many possible benefits for us. We have seen the case of smartphones, the internet, computer systems, planes, and what not. Nonetheless, the drawbacks are there, and, in few cases, they are far more horrendous than the benefits.
Think about how there has been increased production of modern guns, fighter planes, and nuclear bombs with further spending on other warfare tools. Since using such heavy equipment and imposing a direct war is not allowed and many countries can put sanctions, a hidden tool that can be used is the biowarfare technique.
What is Biowarfare?
We can’t thank science enough for making our lives easier but on the other hand, it is due to advancements in biology that humans can now go for biological wars. Biowarfare can be defined as the creation of different types of bioweapons such as infectious diseases, viruses, toxins, insects, or other similar agents that can be used to incapacitate or kill human beings.
Bio wars are quite different from normal wars because they don’t directly destroy the physical assets held by a certain country such as military assets, buildings, etc. There are no explosives, no soldiers, or face to face war which means that it becomes a war without any real war.
The International Humanitarian Law
The International Humanitarian Law has been one of the most important laws which defines the laws for wars. Mainly, the International Humanitarian Law is focused on protecting those people who are not participating in creating hostilities directly or any other kind of problems. The law suggests that only those who are actively engaged in the war should be dealt with associated war weapons and protocols while the other people such as the general public should be safeguarded.
One of the key points of the International Humanitarian Law is that there should not be any kind of biological weapons that are used. It is banned for the war personnel as well. If a certain country uses bioweapons against the other, it is subjected to a war crime and bringing in a major armed conflict as well. Many international treaties also disregard the use of bioweapons.
This is mainly because the aftereffects are huge and cause major damage in terms of various resources. In addition to that, there is a major chance that the people who had no link or participation in the war might end up being affected by the bio wars.
History of Biowarfare
Biowarfare is the concept of the past and was first known to be used in the year 1347. This was the case of Mongol Forces which had catapulted plague-infested bodies on to the enemy side. As a result of this, they were spreading these diseases and causing more germs to be produced. The plague was one of the most virally spreadable diseases that had a high number of deaths as well.
According to a few historians, during this time, there were some ships from the besieged city where the Mongol forces had been throwing away plague-infested bodies. This possibly started the Black Plague Pandemic which was one of the biggest ones and took the lives of more than 50 million people in only 4 years. This number was oddly high at that time as it was about one-third of the total population. The total number of people who died due to this plague were 200 million which is why it is regarded as the deadliest pandemic in history.
World War I and Bio wars
Being considered as one of the biggest wars of all times, there were many reported cases of biological agents being used by the different countries. One case was of Germany which started the clandestine program to infect the different types of animals including horses on the Eastern and Western Fronts.
Since it is quite difficult to detect any kind of bio war before happening, there were serious outcomes of this. Much of the US animals were infected prior to their shipment to the Allied forces. In 1915, it was reported that Germany was a country that tried to spread the plague on the enemies.
The Yellow Rain of Cold War
In the Cold War period, there were major attempts by both the USA and the Soviet Union to engage in a biological war on one another. Although the matter was taken seriously, and the Biological Warfare Convention was signed in 1972 but there was still a further attack by the Soviet Union in the form of the “Yellow Rain”.
The Yellow Rain phenomenon is considered as an incident of biowarfare that occurred in the late 1970s. It was an incident where many refugees described that they used to see yellow liquids falling from the planes or helicopters which the locals termed as “Yellow Rain”.
It was later accused by the US Secretary of State that the Soviet Union had been involved in supplying T-2mycotoxin to the different types of communist states. T-2mycotoxin is a very toxic bacteria for humans and animals. It was alleged that over 10,000 people had died due to the Yellow Rain incidents. Nonetheless, Soviet Union denied all these accusations which led to no result of the investigations that underwent.
Objectives for a Bio war
Unlike a military face-off, a bio war is not considered as lethal and disturbing because there is no active war between the two countries. With the advancement in technology, it also becomes quite difficult as to how and who has started the bio war considering the different types of countries and their allies that are in close contact with each other.
Biowarfare has the aim of weakening a particular economy rather than taking over it in terms of resources or land. Bio wars are often resulting in the crashing of stock markets and a state of chaos within a country. Even though the hostile country might not gain any personal benefit from it, a bio war does result in a strategic weakening of the opposing country.
Biowarfare also has an aim of tactfully deviating the attention from the military aspect and changing it into a much cheaper one. When forces don’t come face to face, it saves a country an ample sum of money, cavalry, and heavy resources. On the other hand, it maximizes infections and problems with minimum resources.
Why is Biowarfare a Real and Emerging Threat?
Out of 190 countries which have been recognized by the United Nations, there are many which are considered as a real threat when it comes to the production of bio-chemicals or viruses which could be claiming lives. It is a greater threat in modern times because it is quite easy to produce with the level of scientific advancement that we have achieved.
Countries have advanced knowledge, better access to individuals from over the world, and resources to produce such bio-agents which could potentially take the lives of millions as well. It is an emerging threat because unlike a Nuclear program, a bio-agent can be produced in a hidden lab that may not be known to foreign countries. As a result, despite the treaties that have been signed, it has been alleged that many countries are still involved in producing agents for a bio war.
Is COVID-19 A Bio-agent?
Most recently, the world has undergone a major challenge with the name of COVID-19, a virus that spreads from person to person directly affecting the lungs and could also lead to death in the worst possible scenario. Since November 2019, there have been over 103 million cases round the globe of which 2.12 million people have died while 56 million have successfully recovered.
It is alleged that COVID-19 could also be a bio-agent created by either China or America. In 2020, many from the US government stated that it is China which has created and sourced this virus spreading it around the world and not letting the US or other countries be aware of the different types of safety measures that need to be practiced. In a report, it was found out that COVID-19 is a virus that comes from eating bats. Despite many saying that bats were sold in the Wuhan Market, the epicenter of the pandemic, it was found out that bats were not sold in this market.
Further controversies arose against China when it was found out that near to the Wuhan Market is a lab that is actively working on different types of micro-agents and viruses with tests being conducted on bats as well.
Many believe that since China is no longer facing COVID-19 as it did in the beginning, they are the ones who might have exposed it. However, others believe that it is an agent created by the Bill Gates Association to reduce the world population as well as inject a certain set of chipsets into the human body.
There is no thorough evidence as to whether COVID-19 is a bio-agent or not nor is it sure whether it was China or Bill Gates, or any other party involved in the creation of this virus.
Conclusion
Biowarfare is a very severe thing. From COVID-19, a bio-agent, we have seen the repercussions and problems which are faced by the world economy in terms of loss of valuable human lives and economic problems as well as lockdowns in practice. Nonetheless, we really hope that bio war does not emerge further, and it shuts down with the world becoming a better place to live in.
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