One of the concerns — and a very valid one — that has been expressed here and elsewhere about a military strike designed to take out or neutralize Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, is that such a strike could release and disperse the chemical agents without destroying them, with disastrous consequences.
According to USA Today, the U.S. military has been working on weapons that would neutralize chemical — and biological — weapons where they are produced or stored since before the start of the Iraq War.
USA Today:
The Pentagon’s interest in a countermeasure for chemical and biological weapons surged after the 9/11 terror attacks and the assumption that Saddam Hussein and other rogue leaders had stockpiles of nerve agents and biological weapons.
Pentagon budget documents show that testing of so-called Agent Defeat weapon continues. Getting one to work without causing more harm than good has been a struggle. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has spent tens of millions of dollars developing and testing the weapon. The Navy dropped out of the Agent Defeat program in 2005 because byproducts from its explosion proved toxic.
The agency continues to explore ways to eliminate chemical weapons safely, said Jennifer Elzea, a Pentagon spokeswoman. Details of current research and development are classified, she said.
Read more about the development of such countermeasures and of the risks involved here.
The piece also provides maps showing locations of Syria’s chemical weapons sites and of U.S. and allied military assets in the area.
Image: (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Benjamin Dennis
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.