Subject: CBW PROGRAMS Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence TO FACILITATE ELECTRONIC ACCESS, THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REFORMATTED TO ELIMINATE INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT PERTAIN TO GULF WAR ILLNESS ISSUES OR THAT IS CLASSIFIED. A COPY OF THIS REDACTED DOCUMENT, IN ORIGINAL FORMAT, IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AN ASSESSMENT OF GLOBAL CONFIRMED AND SUSPECT CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PROGRAMS COMMITTEE INTELLIGENCE REPORT DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AN ASSESSMENT OF GLOBAL CONFIRMED AND SUSPECT CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PROGRAMS COMMITTEE INTELLIGENCE REPORT IRAQ PRIOR TO OPERATION DESERT STORM, IRAQ HAD THE MOST EXTENSIVE OFFENSIVE CW PROGRAM AND THE LARGEST OVERALL AGENT PRODUCTION CAPABILITY IN THE ARAB WORLD. ALLIED BOMBING DURING DESERT STORM DESTROYED MUCH OF IRAQ'S CW AGENT AND PRECURSOR PRODUCTION CAPABILITY. BEGINNING IN 1983, IRAQ USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS EXTENSIVELY --AND SUCCESSFULLY--IN ITS WAR WITH IRAN. EARLY USE OCCURRED DURING DEFENSIVE OPERATIONS AND WAS CHARACTERIZED BY POOR RESULTS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE IRAQIS INTEGRATED CHEMICAL WEAPONS INTO THEIR MILITARY TACTICS AND TURNED TO OFFENSIVE USE IN THE FINAL YEAR OF THE WAR. DURING AND AFTER THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR, THE IRAQIS RECEIVED CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AND SUPPLIES. SINCE THE MID-1980'S, IRAQ PURCHASED LARGE AMOUNTS OF PRECUSORS IRAQ IRAQ MAINTAINED A MATURE AND AGGRESSIVE BW PROGRAM PRIOR TO OPERATION DESERT STORM. ALL OF THE FACILITIES SUSPECTED OF ASSOCIATION WITH IRAQ'S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PROGRAM WERE DESTROYED OR DAMAGED BY COALITION AIRSTRIKES. US DEFINITIONS CHEMICAL WARFARE (CW) IS THE USE OF TOXIC CHEMICALS TO ACHIEVE A RESULT IN WARFARE. THE TOXIC EFFECT OF THE CHEMICAL CAN BE TO INCAPACITATE, INJURE, OR KILL, AND IS USUALLY INTENDED FOR USE AGAINST PERSONNEL. THE US DOES NOT CONSIDER RIOT CONTROL AGENTS, HERBICIDES, SMOKES AND OBSCURANTS, FLAME, AND INCENDIARIES TO BE CHEMICAL AGENTS. THIS DEFINITION IS NOT SHARED BY EVERY OTHER COUNTRY. BIOLOGICAL WARFARE (BW) IS THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL AGENTS TO CAUSE DISEASE IN MEN, ANIMALS, OR PLANTS. BW MAY ALSO CAUSE DETERIORATION OF MILITARY OR STRATEGIC MATERIEL. IN THIS PAPER, TOXINS WILL BE TREATED TOGETHER WITH BIOLOGICAL AGENTS. CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS AND FIELD EMPLOYMENT A ROUGH RULE-OF-THUMB IS THAT ONE SHORT TON (OR ABOUT FOUR 55-GALLON DRUMS) OF CW AGENT IS ENOUGH TO EFFECTIVELY CONTAMINATE 2.6 SQUARE KILOMETERS OF TERRITORY IF PROPERLY DISSEMINATED. THE NUMBER OF RESULTANT CASUALTIES DEPENDS ON THE LENGTH OF WARNING AND DEGREE OF PROTECTION, AS WELL AS THE PERSISTENCY AND LETHALITY OF THE AGENT USED. THE PERSISTENCY OF A SPECIFIC AGENT VARIES DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF MUNITION USED AND THE WEATHER CONDITIONS. ANY OF THE FOLLOWING AGENTS GIVEN IN NONLETHAL DOSES WILL PRODUCE VARY- ING DEGREES OF INCAPACITATION. BLISTER AGENTS BLISTER AGENTS ARE USED PRIMARILY TO CAUSE MEDICAL CASUALTIES. THESE AGENTS MAY ALSO BE USED TO RESTRICT USE OF TERRAIN, TO SLOW MOVEMENTS, AND TO HAMPER USE OF MATERIALS AND INSTALLATIONS. BLISTER AGENTS AFFECT THE EYES AND LUNGS AND BLISTER THE SKIN. SULFUR MUSTARD, NITROGEN MUSTARD, AND LEWISITE ARE EXAMPLES OF BLISTER AGENTS. MOST BLISTER AGENTS ARE INSIDIOUS IN ACTION; THERE IS LITTLE OR NO PAIN AT THE TIME OF EXPOSURE EXCEPT WITH LEWISITE, WHICH CAUSES IMMEDIATE PAIN ON CONTACT. MUSTARD IS PREFERRED OVER LEWISITE BECAUSE LEWISITE HYDROLYZES VERY RAPIDLY UPON EXPOSURE TO ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE TO FORM A NONVOLATILE SOLID. THIS CONVERSION LOWERS THE VAPOR HAZARD FROM CONTAMINATED TERRAIN AND DECREASES THE PENETRATION OF THE AGENT THROUGH CLOTHING. LEWISITE IS LESS PERSISTENT THAN MUSTARD; THE PERSISTENCY OF BOTH IS LIMITED UNDER HUMID CONDITIONS. BLOOD AGENTS BLOOD AGENTS ARE ABSORSBED INTO THE BODY PRIMARILY BY BREATHING. THEY PREVENT THE NORMAL UTILIZATION OF OXYGEN BY THE CELLS AND CAUSE RAPID DAMAGE TO BODY TISSUES. BLOOD AGENTS SUCH AS HYDROGEN CYANIDE (AC) AND CYANOGEN CHLORIDE (CK) ARE HIGHLY VOLATILE AND, IN THE GASEOUS STATE, DISSIPATE RAPIDLY IN AIR. BECAUSE OF THEIR HIGH VOLATILITY, THESE AGENTS ARE MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN SURPRISE CAN BE ACHIEVED AGAINST TROOPS WHO DO NOT HAVE MASKS OR WHO ARE POORLY TRAINED IN MASK DISCIPLINE. IN ADDITION, BLOOD AGENTS ARE IDEALLY SUITED FOR USE ON TERRAIN THAT THE USER HOPES TO OCCUPY WITHIN A SHORT TIME. CHOKING AGENTS CHOKING AGENTS ARE THE OLDEST CW AGENTS. THIS CLASS OF AGENTS INCLUDES CHLORINE AND PHOSGENE, BOTH OF WHICH WERE USED IN WORLD WAR I. IN SUFFICIENT CONCENTRATIONS, THEIR CORROSIVE EFFECT ON THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM RESULTS IN PULMONARY EDEMA, FILLING THE LUNGS WITH FLUID AND CHOKING THE VICTIM. PHOSGENE IS A MORE DAMAGING AND EFFECTIVE INCAPACITANT THAN CHLORINE BECAUSE IT IS SLOWLY HYDROLYZED BY THE WATER IN THE LINING OF THE LUNGS, FORMING HYDROCHLORIC ACID, WHICH DESTROYS THE TISSUE. THESE AGENTS ARE HEAVY GASES THAT REMAIN, NEAR GROUND LEVEL AND TEND TO FILL DEPRESSIONS SUCH AS FOXHOLES AND TRENCHES. BECAUSE THEY ARE GASES, THEY ARE NONPERSISTENT AND DISSIPATE RAPIDLY, EVEN IN A SLIGHT BREEZE. AS A RESULT, THESE ARE AMONG THE LEAST EFFECTIVE TRADITIONAL CW AGENTS. THEY ARE USEFUL FOR CREATING A. SHORT-TERM RESPIRATORY HAZARD ON TERRAIN THAT IS TO BE QUICKLY OCCUPIED. NERVE AGENTS NERVE AGENTS SUCH AS TABUN (GA), SARIN (GB), AND VX ARE MEMBERS OF A CLASS OF COMPOUNDS THAT ARE MORE LETHAL AND QUICKER ACTING THAN MUSTARD. THEY ARE ORGANOPHOSPHORUS COM- POUNDS THAT INHIBIT ACTION OF THE ENZYME CHOLINESTERASE. IN SUFFICIENT CONCENTRATION, THE ULTIMATE EFFECT OF THESE AGENTS IS PARALYSIS OF THE RESPIRATORY MUSCULATURE AND SUBSEQUENT DEATH. NERVE AGENTS ACT RAPIDLY (WITHIN SECONDS OF EXPOSURE) AND MAY BE ABSORBED THROUGH THE SKIN OR THROUGH THE RESPIRATORY TRACT. EXPOSURE TO A LETHAL DOSE MAY CAUSE DEATH IN LESS THAN 15 MINUTES. THESE AGENTS ARE STORED IN MUNITIONS AS LIQUIDS AND ARE GENERALLY DISSEMINATED AS AEROSOLS. TRADITIONAL NERVE AGENTS FALL INTO TWO MAIN CLASSES: G-SERIES AND V-SERIES. THE G-SERIES CONSISTS OF GA, GB, GD, GE, GF, AND A NUMBER OF SIMILAR EXPERIMENTAL AGENTS. THESE AGENTS, PARTICULARLY GA AND GB, TEND TO BE LESS PERSISTENT THAN THEIR V-SERIES COUNTERPARTS AND CONSEQUENTLY PRESENT LESS OF A SKIN HAZARD. THESE LESS PERSISTENT AGENTS ARE USED TO CAUSE IMMEDIATE CASUALTIES AND TO CREATE A SHORT-TERM RESPIRATORY HAZARD ON THE BATTLEFIELD. THE MORE PERSISTENT AND GENERALLY MORE TOXIC V-AGENTS--INCLUDING VE, VG, VM, VS, VX, AND RELATED EXPERIMENTAL AGENTS--PRESENT A GREATER SKIN HAZARD AND ARE USED TO CREATE LONG-TERM CONTAMINATION OF TERRITORY. PSYCHOCHEMICALS PSYCHOCHEMICALS, ALSO CONSIDERED INCAPACITANTS, INCLUDE HALLUCINOGENIC COMPOUNDS SUCH AS LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE (LSD), 3-QUINUCLIDINYL BENZILATE (BZ), AND BENACTYZINE. THESE AGENTS ALTER THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, THEREBY CAUSING VISUAL AND AURAL HALLUCINATIONS, A SENSE OF UNREALITY, AND CHANGES IN THE THOUGHT PROCESSES AND BEHAVIOR. PSYCHOCHEMICALS ARE GENERALLY CHARACTERIZED BY A SLIGHTLY DELAYED ONSET OF SYMPTOMS AND BY PERSISTENCE OF SYMPTOMS FOR A PERIOD GREATLY EXCEEDING EXPOSURE TIME. THE ADVANTAGE OF PSYCHOCHEMICALS IS THEIR ABILITY TO INCAPACITATE BOTH CIVILIAN AND MILITARY PERSONNEL FOR A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD WITH ESSENTIALLY NO FATALITIES. THUS, THEIR USE MAY PROVE ADVANTAGEOUS IN AREAS WITH FRIENDLY POPU- LATIONS. ONE DRAWBACK, HOWEVER, IS THAT THE EFFECTS OF MANY OF THESE AGENTS ARE UNPREDICTABLE, RANGING FROM OVERWHELMING FEAR AND PANIC TO BELLIGERENCE IN WHICH EXPOSED PERSONNEL ATTACK WITH LITTLE REGARD FOR PERSONAL SAFETY. TEAR-GAS AGENTS TEAR-GAS AGENTS FALL UNDER THE BROADER CATEGORY OF RIOT- CONTROL AGENTS. THEY ARE NOT CONSIDERED BY THE US GOVERNMENT TO BE CW AGENTS BECAUSE THEY ARE NONLETHAL IN ALL BUT THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATIONS. EXAMPLES OF THIS TYPE OF AGENT INCLUDE ORTHOCHLOROBENZYLIDENE MALONONITRILE (CS), CHLOROACETOPHENONE (CN), CHLOROPICRIN (PS), AND BROMOBENZYL CYANIDE (BBC). THESE AGENTS ARE HIGHLY IRRITATING, PARTICULARLY TO THE EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT, AND CAUSE EXTREME DISCOMFORT. SYMPTOMS OCCUR IMMEDIATELY UPON EXPOSURE AND GENERALLY DISAPPEAR SHORTLY THEREAFTER. IN MILITARY SITUATIONS, TEAR-GAS AGENTS ARE USED TO TEMPORARILY REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENEMY PERSONNEL. IN TACTICAL OPERATIONS, THEY CAN BE USED TO PENETRATE FORTIFIED POSITIONS AND FLUSH OUT THE ENEMY. ALSO, THESE AGENTS ARE USEFUL FOR DISRUPTING "HUMAN WAVE" ASSAULTS BY BREAKING .UP FORMATIONS AND DESTROYING THE MOMENTUM OF THE ATTACK. BECAUSE TEAR-GAS AGENTS ARE NONLETHAL, THEY CAN BE USED NEAR FRIENDLY TROOPS WITHOUT RISKING CASUALTIES; THUS, THEIR USE IS MORE FLEXIBLE THAN CONVENTIONAL CW AGENTS. VOMITING AGENTS VOMITING AGENTS ARE OFTEN CONSIDERED TO BE RIOT-CONTROL AGENTS BECAUSE, UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS, THEY CAUSE GREAT DISCOMFORT BUT RARELY SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH. CHARACTERISTIC AGENTS INCLUDE ADAMSITE (DX) AND DIPHENYL CHLOROARAINE (DA). IN ADDITION TO CAUSING VOMITING, THESE ARSENIC-BASED AGENTS MAY ALSO IRRITATE THE EYES AND RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. THE ACTION OF VOMITING AGENTS MAY MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT ON, OR CONTINUE TO WEAR, A PROTECTIVE MASK. THEY MAY ALSO BE USED BY THEMSELVES IN PROXIMITY TO FRIENDLY TROOPS AND IN OTHER SITUATIONS WELL SUITED FOR TEAR GAS AGENTS. CHARACTERISTICS OF BOTULINUM TOXIN AND ANTHRAX BACTERIA BOTULINUM TOXIN BOTULINUM TOXIN IS PRODUCED BY CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM. THIS BACTERIUM GROWS ANAEROBICALLY, THAT IS, WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF OXYGEN. THE TOXIN PRODUCES ITS EFFECTS WHEN IT IS EITHER INGESTED OR INHALED. BOTULINUM TOXIN POISONING IS ALMOST ALWAYS FATAL. BOTULINUM TOXIN AFFECTS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, WITH DEATH RESULTING FROM PARALYSIS OF THE NERVES THAT CONTROL BREATHING. WHEN EXPOSURE TAKES PLACE THROUGH INGESTION, GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS ARE OBSERVED BEFORE THE ONSET OF NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS. ONCE THESE SYMPTOMS BEGIN, THEY INCLUDE WEAKNESS, DIZZINESS, BLURRED OR DOUBLE VISION, FIXED AND DILATED PUPILS, IMPAIRED REACTION TO LIGHT, DROOPING EYELIDS, FACIAL MUSCLE WEAKNESS, AND SPEECH DIFFICULTIES. WHEN EXPOSURE TO BOTULINUM TAKES PLACE THROUGH THE RESPIRATORY ROUTE, GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS ARE ABSENT. THERE ARE ANTISERA TO BOTULINUM TOXINS, BUT THEY ARE ONLY EFFECTIVE IF ADMINISTERED BEFORE ONSET OF SYMPTONS. IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT EXPOSURE TO BOTULINUM WOULD BE DIAGNOSED UNTIL CLINICAL SYMPTOMS APPEARED, AND TREATMENT AT THAT TIME WOULD BE TOO LATE. CONVERSELY, IMMUNIZATION TO BOULINUM IS POSSIBLE, BUT REQUIRES MULTIPLE INJECTIONS OF INACTIVATED TOXINS OVER A PERIOD OF SEVERAL MONTHS. THUS, A COUNTRY THAT HAD DEVELOPED BOTULINUM TOXIN AS A BW AGENT COULD PROTECT ITS TROOPS FROM EXPOSURE. ANTHRAX ANTHRAX IS PRODUCED BY THE BACTERIUM BACILLUS ANTHRACIS. UNLIKE BOTULINUM TOXIN, ANTHRAX SYMPTOMS RESULT WHEN THE BACTERIA MULTIPLY IN THE BODY, PRODUCING TOXINS. EACH BAC- TERIUM PRODUCES AND RELEASES ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT OF ANTHRAX TOXIN AS IT GROWS; HOWEVER, AS THE BACTERIA MULTIPLY, MORE TOXIN IS PRODUCED. ANTHRAX IS CONSIDERED A LIVING BW AGENT BECAUSE IT MUST REPRODUCE IN THE BODY TO CAUSE AN EFFECT. THERE ARE THREE FORMS OF ANTHRAX, CHARACTERIZED BY THE MODE OF ENTRY INTO THE BODY; THROUGH CUTS IN THE SKIN (CUTANEOUS), THROUGH INGESTION (GASTROINTESTINAL), OR THROUGH INHALATION (PULMONARY). ANTHRAX IS A NATURALLY-OCCURRING DISEASE IN LIVE- STOCK. HUMANS MOST FREQUENTLY CONTRACT THE CUTANEOUS FORM OF THE DISEASE WHEN THEY COME IN CONTACT WITH INFECTED ANIMALS. THE GASTROINTESTINAL FORM OF THE DISEASE RESULTS FROM INGESTING CONTAMINATED MEAT. OF THESE THREE FORMS, PULMONARY ANTHRAX IS FATAL MORE THAN 90 PERCENT OF THE TIME AND OCCURS ONLY VERY RARELY. GASTROINTESTINAL ANTHRAX IS FATAL ABOUT 75 PERCENT OF THE TIME, AND CUTANEOUS ANTHRAX IS FATAL LESS THAN TEN PERCENT OF THE TIME, AND THEN ONLY IF UNTREATED. ALL FORMS OF THE DISEASE RESPOND WELL TO ANTIBIOTICS IF THE DRUG IS GIVEN SHORTLY AFTER THE ONSET OF SYMPTOMS. THE DISEASE IS FAIRLY UNCOMMON, HOWEVER, AND THE DIAGNOSIS OF EITHER GASTROINTESTINAL OR PULMONARY ANTHRAX IS OFTEN MADE ONLY AFTER DEATH. ANTHRAX WOULD MOST LIKELY BE USED AS AN AEROSOL SUSPENSION OF SPORES FOR BW PURPOSES. AFTER ANTHRAX SPORES ARE INHALED, THERE IS AN INCUBATION PERIOD FROM ONE TO SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE NON-SPECIFIC SYMPTOMS--SUCH AS FATIGUE AND MILD FEVER--APPEAR. AT THIS POINT, THE ILLNESS IS FREQUENTLY DIAGNOSED AS A RESPI- RATORY INFECTION. THESE INITIAL SYMPTOMS USUALLY IMPROVE TWO TO FOUR DAYS LATER, FOLLOWED BY A SUDDEN ONSET OF RESPIRATORY DISTRESS. PULSE, TEMPERATURE, AND RESPIRATORY RATE BECOME ELEVATED, AND THE VICTIM BECOMES CYANOTIC--BLUE-BLACK COLORED. DEATH USUALLY OCCURS WITHIN 24 HOURS AFTER ONSET OF THE SECOND PHASE OF SYMPTOMS. ANTHRAX SPORES ARE VERY HARDY IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND IN STORAGE. IT IS THIS SPECIALIZED FORM OF THE BACTERIUM THAT INFECTS HUMANS. GROWING BACTERIA, WHEN EXPOSED TO ADVERSE CONDITIONS--EXTREME HEAT OR COLD, LACK OF NUTRIENTS--PRODUCE SPORES. THE SPORES, WHICH CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS SEEDS, REMAIN IN AN INERT STATE UNTIL THEY ENTER THE BODY AND ENCOUNTER CONDITIONS SUITABLE FOR THEM TO BEGIN MULTIPLYING. 1.5 (C) 73926:73926First Page |Prev Page |Next Page |Src Image
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