(1) Discuss the Aum Shinrikyo attack. What made the attack successful? Why were the casualties relatively low?
March 20, 1995 a major subway line in Tokyo, Japan was attacked by the Aum Shinrikyo cult. Apparently, this was a rush job after the cult found out that the police were going to raid their facilities. Some cult members were assigned to put liquid sarin into plastic bags and drop them off in different cars on the busy Kasumigaseki subway line. Afterwards, they were to puncture these bags with the sharp ends of umbrellas to release this chemical. Beforehand, just to make sure the attackers didn’t suffer, the attackers were issued “…antidote pills to take two hours prior to the attack…[and] a syringe of another fast-acting antidote in …show more content…
As stated before, it has also been used as a chemical weapon as well. World War I is a great example of chemical warfare. The Germans were the first ones to use it against enemy forces; because of the density of chlorine, it was an effective weapon against dug-in trenches. Although, it didn’t take long for their enemies to wear gas masks to protect themselves from the German chemical attacks.
Just recently, Operation Iraqi Freedom, chlorine attacks reappeared more frequently. In fact, the raid on Fallujah in late February 2007 “…revealed a homegrown factory for car bombs and cylinders of toxic chlorine gas and other chemicals…” (Tuorinsky, 2008, p. 66). Year 2007 was particular nasty for Iraq when terrorists used Chlorine tankers to kill some and injure several.
Compared to other agents used in war (i.e. nerve agents), Chlorine is not as toxic (But I’m not saying that it isn’t dangerous whatsoever). If it is used on unprotected individuals (i.e. civilians), a chlorine attack can be considered successful. During war though, most military units have the proper personal protective equipment to guard against a chemical attack. On a side note, if mixed with other agents, Chlorine has more lethal
March 20, 1995 a major subway line in Tokyo, Japan was attacked by the Aum Shinrikyo cult. Apparently, this was a rush job after the cult found out that the police were going to raid their facilities. Some cult members were assigned to put liquid sarin into plastic bags and drop them off in different cars on the busy Kasumigaseki subway line. Afterwards, they were to puncture these bags with the sharp ends of umbrellas to release this chemical. Beforehand, just to make sure the attackers didn’t suffer, the attackers were issued “…antidote pills to take two hours prior to the attack…[and] a syringe of another fast-acting antidote in …show more content…
As stated before, it has also been used as a chemical weapon as well. World War I is a great example of chemical warfare. The Germans were the first ones to use it against enemy forces; because of the density of chlorine, it was an effective weapon against dug-in trenches. Although, it didn’t take long for their enemies to wear gas masks to protect themselves from the German chemical attacks.
Just recently, Operation Iraqi Freedom, chlorine attacks reappeared more frequently. In fact, the raid on Fallujah in late February 2007 “…revealed a homegrown factory for car bombs and cylinders of toxic chlorine gas and other chemicals…” (Tuorinsky, 2008, p. 66). Year 2007 was particular nasty for Iraq when terrorists used Chlorine tankers to kill some and injure several.
Compared to other agents used in war (i.e. nerve agents), Chlorine is not as toxic (But I’m not saying that it isn’t dangerous whatsoever). If it is used on unprotected individuals (i.e. civilians), a chlorine attack can be considered successful. During war though, most military units have the proper personal protective equipment to guard against a chemical attack. On a side note, if mixed with other agents, Chlorine has more lethal