Disaster

Chemical and Biological Disaster Response
Four events of the 1990s significantly sharpened the nation's perception of chemical-biological warfare. First, Saddam Hussein used intermediate-range Scud missiles to demonstrate the possibility of operating in a contaminated environment during the Persian Gulf War. Second, the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 demonstrated that foreign terrorists could not only operate on American soil, but could launch a chemical/biological attack.[1] Third, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 proved that domestic terrorists could harm the nation as well. And fourth, the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo cult made chemical warfare a reality. [1] A United Nations report from 1969 defines chemical warfare agents as "..chemical substances, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which might be employed because of their direct toxic effects on man, animals and plants...". The Chemical Weapons Convention defines chemical weapons as ...