The article discusses the top 10 banned weapons of war, as listed:
1. Dirty bombs: devices that create radiological fallout rather than kill outright.
2. Poisoned bullets: bullets spiked with small amounts of poison or fecal matter.
3. Napalm: a sticky, flammable substance that causes severe burns.
4. Flamethrowers: banned in civilian areas due to their inability to be properly aimed and potential for property damage.
5. Biological weapons: banned due to their potential to cause widespread harm to humans, animals, and plants.
6. Plastic landmines: banned due to their difficulty to detect and potential to cause harm to civilians.
7. Nerve gas: highly lethal nerve agents that can cause severe harm or death.
8. Chlorine gas: a gas that irritates the eyes, nose, lungs, and throat, and can cause death in high concentrations.
9. Mustard gas: a gas that can cause severe burns and blistering, and was used extensively in World War I.
10. Fasgi (phosgene): a gas that can cause severe lung damage and death.
The article highlights the devastating effects of these banned weapons and notes that international laws have been put in place to limit their use and protect human life and the environment.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The League of Nations drafted the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare in 1925.
2. International law forbids the use of chemical or biological weapons.
3. Mustard gas was first synthesized in 182, but its properties as a chemical weapon were not documented until 1860.
4. Mustard gas was used in World War I and is estimated to have killed 1-5% of those exposed to it.
5. Chlorine gas was used extensively in World War I, despite being forbidden by an 1899 treaty.
6. Chlorine gas irritates the eyes, nose, lungs, and throat, and can be fatal in high concentrations.
7. Phosgene gas was used in World War I and is considered one of the most lethal gases used in the war.
8. Phosgene gas causes the lungs to fill with fluid, leading to suffocation.
9. Nerve agents, such as sarin, are banned by international treaty and can cause severe symptoms, including uncontrolled drooling, urination, and diarrhea.
10. Nerve agents can be fatal if inhaled, and there is no treatment for exposure.
11. Landmines have been used for centuries, but modern landmines are now banned due to their indiscriminate nature and potential to cause unnecessary suffering.
12. Biological weapons, including disease agents, toxins, and parasites, are banned by international law.
13. Flamethrowers were used in World War I and II, but their use is now banned in civilian areas due to the risk of uncontrolled fires and damage to infrastructure.
14. Napalm was developed in 1942 and was used extensively in World War II and the Vietnam War.
15. Poisoned bullets, including those spiked with poison or fecal matter, are banned by international law due to the risk of unnecessary suffering and infection.
16. Dirty bombs, which are designed to create radiological fallout, are banned due to the long-lasting and catastrophic damage they can cause to the environment.
17. The international community has been trying to ban nuclear weapons since their inception.
18. The use of dirty bombs is banned by international law due to the risk of long-lasting and catastrophic damage to the environment.