Biological and chemical weapons. Germ warfare includes the use of deadly bacteria, such as anthrax, or a virus, such as smallpox. Smallpox is particularly dangerous because it is highly communicable. Then there is the threat of chemical weapons, such as poison gas. These toxic substances come in many forms, and though they have been outlawed for decades, this has not deterred their use.

Have these gruesome weapons and the threat they bring caused people to react as Nobel predicted​—to “recoil with horror and disband their troops”? On the contrary, they have only heightened the fear that one day these weapons might be used​—even by amateurs. More than a decade ago, the director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency stated: “Chemical weapons can be manufactured in almost anybody’s garage, as long as you have a little high-school chemistry behind you.”

[Pictures on page 7]

The hideous nature of chemical weapons gained wide publicity when sarin was used in the Tokyo subway system in 1995

[Credit Line]

Asahi Shimbun/Sipa Press