Report Details 9 Banned Weapons of War

M.A. Dworkin

The Pentagon, D.C. - The world seems to be constantly teetering on the verge of an all-out nuclear war. On any given day, somewhere on the planet, bombs are being dropped, missiles launched, drones stealthily flying to attack; whether it be for a good cause or no logical cause at all, regional wars, border wars, civil wars, or be it heated threats which could easily ignite a third world war, there seems to be a never-ending vicious cycle of hostilities that threatens to overtake and doom humankind. In a recently released report on the perils of modern day warfare, there is an examination of nine weapons of war that are so hideous in their destructive elements, so evil in their very invention and existence, they have become  known in the arms trade as the “Nine Banned Weapons of War.” 

After more than 150 years of arms control treaties, peace talks, armistices and love marches, all sorts of countries around the world continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on inventing new weaponry that has the ability of destroying or disabling their fellow man. The filthy-rich geniuses in the arms industry have spent countless hours coming up with weapons that choke, maim, and otherwise kill innocents and warfighters in a humane and inhumane manner. 

Yet, amazingly, the world has somehow stopped its brainless aggressiveness long enough to exhibit a collective state of common sense amidst all this present-day arms race madness, a kind of sense of mercy if you will, deciding to take a step back from the abyss of the killing fields to realize  there are some weapons which have been created that are so hideous, so vile in their destructive ability to kill or maim other human beings, they have earned the shameful, but somewhat distinguished moniker: “Weapons Banned from all Warfare.”

1. Poisonous Gases - Fritz Haber, a German chemist and the so-called “Father of Chemical Warfare” invented poisonous gas, specifically chlorine gas which was deployed in World War 1 starting in 1815. There are five types of chemical agents banned for use in warfare. Blood agents are toxic and fast-acting. They’re absorbed into the blood and cause a long, violent death, usually from respiratory failure. Phosgene gas and Hydrogen Cyanide are two kinds of blood agents. Next are blister agents, which cause severe chemical burns to the skin and eyes. Blister agents like Mustard Gas can be fatal if ingested or inhaled. Nerve agents like VX and Sarin break down the neurotransmitters that enable organs to function. They can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Victims slowly lose control of their bodily functions, their limbs start jerking involuntarily, and death comes from respiratory failure. A choking agent impedes the victim’s ability to breathe, causing a buildup of fluid in the lungs and eventually death by drowning. Phosgene gas can also be considered a choking agent. A final type of poison gas is nettle agents, which irritate the skin but do not cause blisters. 

2. Non-Detectable Fragments - No single inventor is credited with creating Non-Detectable Fragments. The Convention on Conventional Weapons bans the use of non-metallic fragments in war because they can’t be found by using x-rays. The fragments are said to cause unnecessary suffering. Surgeons have to go through the body, looking for these fragments. While plastic itself isn’t prohibited in weapons production, using plastic as the primary material is banned.

3. Land Mines - There isn’t a single inventor of the Land Mine, as it evolved over centuries, but the first modern land mine was developed by Confederate General Gabriel J. Rains during the American Civil War. Early land mine-like devices date back to ancient Rome and China. The failure of a total ban on anti-personnel mines in the 1979 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons led to the Ottawa Treaty, which did ban them outright. Although this treaty does not cover anti-tank mines, booby traps, and remote mines. Previous treaties have required that anti-personnel mines be remotely deactivatable, shut down after a specified time period, or removed by the implementing party upon the end of the conflict.

4. Incendiary Weapons - There isn’t a single inventor of Incendiary Weapons as the concept evolved over time from simple flaming projectiles to complex chemical mixtures like Greek Fire and modern napalm. The use of weapons designed to burn or set fire to large areas, which may be full of civilians, is also prohibited. The ban covers actual flame, heat, or chemical reactions, so this limits the use of flamethrowers, napalm, and white phosphorus. You can still use a flamethrower, you just can’t use it near civilians. Napalm isn’t banned as a substance itself, but using it on anything other than a concentrated area where the enemy is using foliage as concealment is banned.

5. Blinding Laser Weapons - This weapon was invented by multiple countries and companies during the research and development of various laser weapon systems, some of which were capable of causing blindness. This ban covers any laser designed to cause permanent blindness, but the ban does  specify that if the laser ‘happens’ to cause blindness in its use, you can’t be held responsible. 

6. Expanding Ordinance - The concept of the expanding bullet evolved through experimentation by various armies and individuals, particularly the British in the 1890s, who produced the Dum-Dum bullet at their arsenal in Bengal, India. Technically, these bullets are designed to expand or flatten easily in the human body. The delegates to the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 wanted to limit warfare to only the combatants. They reasoned that if weapons were deadlier, there would be less suffering. Since exploding bullets under 400 grams would only kill one man, and ordinary bullets were able to do the job of killing just as well, why create exploding ones? Today, this prohibition covers hollow-point bullets, which are designed to remain in the body and limit collateral damage.

7. Poisoned Bullets - In its earliest known arms agreement, the Holy Roman Empire and France agreed not to use poisoned bullets on each other. At the time, troops stored these poisoned bullets in unclean vessels, like corpses. It would be another 100+ years before the idea of germs spreading disease caught on in the medical world, so the infections caused by these bullets were a serious hazard to injured troops.

8. Cluster Bombs - The technology for cluster munitions was developed independently by the United States, Russia and Italy. It was used in World War II to attack both civilian military targets, including Tokyo and Kyushu. A cluster bomb releases a number of projectiles on impact to injure or damage personnel and vehicles. The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions banned these for two reasons. First, they have wide area effects and are unable to distinguish between civilians and combatants. Second, cluster munitions leave behind large numbers of dangerous unexploded ordinances. 

9. Biological Weapons - Sir Frederick Banting, the Nobel-Prize winning discoverer of insulin, created what could be called the first private biological weapon research centre in 1940. But the German Empire during the First World War made some early attempts at ant-agriculture biological warfare. Those attempts were performed by a special sabotage group headed by Rudolf Nadolny.  The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention was the first treaty to completely ban a whole class of biological weapons. It prohibits the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons, though it has no governing body to enforce compliance. Biological weapons are some of the oldest weapons of mass destruction known to have been used by man. The Mongols tossed rotting bodies over the walls at the 1343 Siege of Caffa, spreading disease and infection throughout the city.

Interestingly enough, nuclear weapons are not universally or completely banned in war, though some treaties prohibit them in specific regions. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) bans nuclear weapons use by its member states. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has also stated that using nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to international humanitarian law, though its opinion on their legality in extreme self-defense circumstances is ambiguous. 

In regards to the future use of the “Weapons Banned from all Warfare,” all we  can do as a collective is continue to walk on higher ground, practice diplomacy until we’re blue in the face, and Pray, Pray, Pray that Peace finally settles into the minds of all Mankind.