Weapons of Mass Destruction™

Christine Gosden and Derek Gardner in the new British Medical Journal have a review of the horrific effects of Weapons of Mass Destruction™, which they don't actually define but say "include chemical, biological and radiological agents with the potential to cause death at low doses and with serious long term health effects in survivors." They tell us that "the classic scenario of WMD use against civilians . . . is the release of the nerve agent sarin in the Tokyo subway."

They provide tables showing the horrific effects of some of these Weapons of Mass Destruction™. For example, this one. (There' s just room in this format to show the acute symptoms. Of course these agents all can cause long-term sequelae such as neurological damage and cancer.)

Chemical WMD agents and their properties

Agent	Physical characteristics	Lethal dose (LD50)	Time to onset of symptoms	Principal effects
Vesicants
Mustard agents	Colourless to brown oily liquid; garlic or mustard odour	7 g/person	15 minutes to 4 hours	Blisters, eye irritation, tearing, cough, dyspnoea, pulmonary oedema, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, anxiety
Nerve agents
Tabun	Colourless liquid; slight fruity odour	1 g/person	Seconds to minutes	Increased salivation and bronchial secretions, cough, dyspnoea
Sarin	Colourless liquid; faintly sweet odour	1.7 g/person		Miosis, tearing, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramp, diarrhoea, involuntary defecation and micturition
Soman	Colourless liquid; camphor odour	0.35 g/person
VX	Colourless or amber oily liquid; odourless	0.01 g/person		Apprehension, headache, confusion, ataxia, weakness, coma, convulsions, paralysis

Here's a table from CDC, showing the horrific effects of weapons which are not Weapons of Mass Destruction™, that is, high explosive weapons used by non-terrorist organizations, such as the United States military :

Category	Characteristics	Body Part Affected	Types of Injuries
Primary	Unique to HE, results from the impact of the over-pressurization wave with body surfaces.	Gas filled structures are most susceptible - lungs, GI tract, and middle ear.	Blast lung (pulmonary barotrauma) TM rupture and middle ear damage Abdominal hemorrhage and perforation - Globe (eye) rupture- Concussion (TBI without physical signs of head injury)
Secondary	Results from flying debris and bomb fragments.	Any body part may be affected.	Penetrating ballistic (fragmentation) or blunt injuries Eye penetration (can be occult)
Tertiary	Results from individuals being thrown by the blast wind.	Any body part may be affected.	Fracture and traumatic amputation Closed and open brain injury
Quaternary	All explosion-related injuries, illnesses, or diseases not due to primary, secondary, or tertiary mechanisms. Includes exacerbation or complications of existing conditions.	Any body part may be affected.	Burns (flash, partial, and full thickness) Crush injuries Closed and open brain injury Asthma, COPD, or other breathing problems from dust, smoke, or toxic fumes Angina Hyperglycemia, hypertension

The interesting question is why the 12 people killed in the attack on the Tokyo subway were victims of Weapons of Mass Destruction™; whereas the 25,000+ people killed in Iraq by projectiles and high explosives since the U.S. invasion are not victims of Weapons of Mass Destruction™.

Could it be that this distinction is entirely arbitrary? That it would not have mattered to the inhabitants of Halabja if they had been blown up and shot, instead of gassed? That there is no significant moral distinction between dropping high explosives on people out of airplanes, or shooting them with an automatic rifle, and exposing them to anthrax? Of course there is a difference. The people with the bombs and the rifles are not terrorists, you see.