No Subject Line Found
Filename:22tr7478.143
*********************************************
This document is a captured Iraqi military record.
It is provided in its original form to include Iraqi
classification markings (i.e. Top Secret, Secret, etc.).
These classification markings are NOT U.S. Government markings.
*********************************************
Chapter Twelve
Fighting biological weapons
General
115. The lack of an appropriate detection system of biological
agents makes it necessary to think of an appropriate solution to
guarantee the defense against an attack with biological agents. This
type must include some preventive measures such as preventing the attack
and fighting the agentÕs effects on people. In order to create an
appropriate defense for the military and the civilians, the
responsibility of various parties should be determined.
Defense methods
116. Defense measures against biological attacks may be divided
into the following:
a. Positive defense measures
The purpose of these measures is to prevent a biological
attack. This proceeds as follows:
One. Prevent using attack methods
Destroying the means used by the enemy to attack
reduces the effect of the attack operation. Not only
is it important to hit and destroy aircrafts and
missiles but also boats, submarines, and balloons. This
method is used in the positive defense. All required activities
are accomplished at a minimum. However, by experience, it
was found that some of the enemyÕs means can infiltrate
despite the precautions taken to fire at its cargo
successfully and effectively.
Two. Destroy all the enemyÕs biological capabilities and installations
This is another measure that should be strictly applied. Nevertheless, it
will not be fully successful since it is supposed to destroy the enemyÕs
installations that are used for scientific research and production such as
destroying labs, plants, and depots. However, microbes can be produced at
small installations, easily hidden, and difficult to discover.
b. Negative defense measures
These measures are carried out to minimize the losses caused by a successful
biological
attack and to control the spread of the disease. We should not expect these
measures to get rid of the losses caused by the disease but to minimize the losses
and weaken the effect of the diseases. These measures are divided into four steps
as follows:
One. Measures before the attack
These measures are taken to lower the effect of the biological agent on
people. However, they do not eliminate the risks on the infected people
but may lengthen the incubation period or alleviate the disease. They are
as follows:
(1) Hygiene of individuals and area
These measures are important even for normal medical protection.
They are carried out in all units at all times even during a non
biological attack in order to reduce the infection accidents and
increase the general health level of individuals and units.
The dose of (microbes) that is received by the person determines
the infection. This depends on the condition of the infected person.
The hygiene of the area also has a big effect at all times and during
the biological attack, some animals are a means of carrying the
biological agents and spreading the disease.
(2) Vaccination (Acquired immune system)
The process of acquiring immunization is very useful since it
alleviates the symptoms of the disease and protect the vaccinated
person from infection. The enemy may refrains from using a certain
chemical agent against the immunized troops because of the
uncertainty of the results.
We must suppose that immunization is the only protective
measure that can be taken against a biological agent. We must
understand that the immunization process is not useful for all the
biological agents that may be used. Acquired immunization may be
dominated by the biological agent if the dose were high. Improving,
testing, producing, and distributing vaccinations require a big effort.
It is suspected that no country that has any sufficient capabilities
during the war to make
such effort. Therefore, long term and appropriate vaccinations need
to be produced.
Two. Measures during the attack
The measures taken by the troops in a biological attack are similar to those
taken during a chemical attack. The extremely important protective
equipment is the protective mask. The appropriate protective mask
provides a full protective possibility against biological agentsÕ aerosols in
field concentrations. Normal clothing with tightened buttons provide the
body with a good protection. All open wounds should be bandaged.
Conditioned shelters also offer a good protection from biological agents.
Three. Measures after the attack
These preventive measures were prepared to avoid the casualties that are
incurred by secondary contaminations. They are:
(1) Isolating persons and areas that were exposed to the biological
agent to prevent the spread of the contagious disease that is spread
through touch. Under the current combat conditions, these
measures are possible in certain situations only. Others must
remember that even if the troops are exposed to biological agents,
disease symptoms will be delayed . Therefore, the troops may
perform their activities during the incubation period
(2) People and equipment should be decontaminated when the
situation permits. The safety of water and food should be
confirmed before consuming.
Four. Permanent protective measures
(1) Safe water and food
These substances should be protected at all times from
contamination with contagious agents whether in normal situations
or during a biological attack by storing water and food in very
tightly closed containers. It is necessary to decontaminate these
containers from the outside to prevent the disease from get inside
when opened.
(2) Intelligence
Submitting reports about the destructive effects enables us to avoid
destructive activities and help strengthening our defensive
capability.
(3) Psychological effects
Trained persons must make an effort to give the individual the
health defense measures that should be taken to help prevent the
effects of biological agents since individuals are often exposed to
hearing rumors and horrible stories about biological weapons and
their effects.
Difficulties of defense against the biological war
117. Although humans were able to achieve many successes in biological control over insects
and other diseases, defensive activities against biological weapons are still suffering from
some difficulties that are:
a. Lack of odor, taste, or color in biological agents. This makes them difficult to
detect (it is difficult to predict whether they are in the field). Warning methods to
inform about their use is also unavailable.
b. It is difficult to detect biological agents in the field. These difficulties increase
when combined with other weapons. They also need a considerable amount of
time to be detected and diagnosed since sending sample from suspicious areas to
the lab for identification.
c. It is difficult to identify the amount of biological agents that are produced by the
enemy. It is difficult to control and inspect what the enemy stores because it is
easy to hide the efforts that are made for production since this is limited to small
laboratories.
d. It is difficult to determine the appropriate methods to decontaminate the effects of
the biological agents and the need for many types and huge amounts of
immunizations to avoid biological war since it is unknown what agents the enemy
is using or even predict them along with the fact that it is impossible to store
antidotes for each infection that may spread.
e. The large number of victims and refugees in combat zones renders difficult the
treatment process since hospitals are unable to absorb the huge amounts of
victims.
f. Lack of hygiene and malnutrition in wars cause a weakness in the natural
immunity from diseases and infections and constitute a factor that helps the
spread of infections by the enemy.
g. The enemy can launch a sudden attack with biological weapons without any
warning. One person can contaminate a water tank or canned food and fruit plant.
This requires giant efforts to control all installations to prevent the enemy or
agents from reaching them.
Decontamination from biological agents
118. They mean all the measures that we take to eliminate contamination with biological agents
that may be used by the enemy. These measures include washing and removing the
contaminated areas, decontaminating by burning, covering the contaminated areas with
soil, and finally the weather factors.
There are some sources that are useful for the purpose of decontaminating from biological
agents after being spread by the enemy. They are:
a. Physiological sources
b. Industrial sources
c. Chemical sources
d. Biological sources
For more information, refer to the manual of decontamination methods from chemical, biological, and
radiation contaminations number 126
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
