Biowarfare
can now be considered 5th generation warfare and is becoming lethal day by day.
This is a voiceless menace, more dangerous than nuclear warfare as the use of
biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and
fungi with the intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants is an
act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities
(viruses, which are not universally considered “alive”). Biological weapons may
be employed in various ways to gain a strategic or tactical advantage over the
enemy, either by threats or by actual deployments. This virus may be lethal or
non-lethal and may be targeted against a single individual, a group of people,
or even an entire population but unfortunately, it paralyses society. They may
be developed, acquired, stockpiled or deployed by nation-states or by
non-national groups. In the latter case, or if a nation-state uses it clandestinely,
it may also be considered bioterrorism. This biowarfare is undoubtedly a weapon
of war that acts mercilessly and even its creator does not come out unscathed.We
are experiencing this today, with the coronavirus which comes from a large family
of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe
diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). It acts fast and multiplies its victims very
fast. It is a live virus and is now proving to be very dangerous for people and
even states are seen to be helpless in its face. The big question is about
where it came from, where patient zero is, is this difficult to trace and most
importantly, was it reported from China, Italy or Iran first? The blame game
between China and the USA has already started as both sides have strong points
and if it is not investigated then this blame will not come to an end. I have
no doubt in my mind that it is either man-made or naturally grown and hence we
need to delve into the details to clear this matter out completely.
The world wants to know the facts and I propose that a high powered commission is constituted through the UN and the WHO to investigate with TORs. These should include, the exact bioanalysis of Coronavirus (COVID-19), its origin and find the first victim, which is very important to trace the origin of this virus. Another factor that needs to be investigated is regarding the biological changes that take place when the virus enters the human body. Additionally, does the coronavirus bring the same biological changes or vary from human to human? The bird flu was detected in time and an antidote was found; let us see if there was any previous research available with some states as this is reported to be from the family of viral flu.
The
novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously
identified in humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals
that have not yet infected humans which are built in the immune system in the
human body. I think the help from veterinary experts may be able to help with
this issue. Let us discuss some man-made biological weapons based on the deadly
virus.
Biological
warfare agents differ greatly in the type of toxin or organism used in a
weapons system, lethality, contagiousness, length of incubation,
infectiousness, stability, and ability to be treated with current vaccines and
medicines and the antidote is prepared before the biowarfare weapons are
finally made. There are five different categories of biological agents that
could be weaponised and used in warfare or terrorism. Bacteria – single-cell
organisms that cause diseases such as anthrax, brucellosis, tularaemia, and
plague are man-made viruses. Rickettsia – microorganisms that resemble bacteria
but differ in that they are intracellular parasites that reproduce inside
cells. Typhus and Q fever are examples of diseases caused by rickettsia
organisms. Viruses – intracellular parasites, about 1/100 the size of bacteria,
can be weaponised to cause diseases such as Venezuelan equine encephalitis.
Fungi – pathogens that can be weaponised for use against crops to cause such
diseases as rice blast, cereal rust, wheat smut, and potato blight. Toxins –
poisons that can be weaponised after extraction from snakes, insects, spiders,
marine organisms, plants, bacteria, fungi, and animals. An example of a toxin
is ricin, which is derived from the seed of the castor bean. Coronavirus looks
to be quite close to toxins. Hence it is possible someone has played dirty in
the creation of this virus.
If
we examine the difference between chemical weapons and biological weapons, we
see biological weapons are most dangerous. Chemical weapons according to
international treaties are defined as a chemical that inflicts casualties
through its toxic effects including instant burns. These include incendiaries
(flame throwers, napalm), smoke (concealing and singling smoke), and war gases
(nerve gas, blistering gas, etc).
Biological
weapons are diseases deliberately deployed (and often engineered) by one party
against another. They are usually used to cause either casualty or to force the
enemy to divert resources to counter the outbreak.
There
are a number of conspiracy theories that spread regarding the virus. Now that
many people are recovering from the disease, a new theory is floating around
that coronavirus was created to sell vaccines. The theory that got the widest
acceptance from all over the world is that perhaps some anti-China group
created it. China got a big setback because of this virus and has suffered the
most, hence China can not be blamed for the creation of this virus. It is a fact
that China has been receiving threats of non-specific attacks. The timing was
convenient as the time of the lunar new year is huge in China, probably the
best time of year for such an action. The world knows that there is a cold war
between the US and China and this happened at the peak of their blame games,
leaving many questions unanswered.
If
this theory was to be true, it would have been the best way to see China’s
booming economy take a massive toll. People can’t show up to work, travel bans,
stocks plummeting and New Year’s festivities were also practically canceled.
On top of that, massive costs of dealing with the virus and travel ban on
Chinese has also done a lot of damage. Another theory suspects the involvement
of religious cult which is out rightly rejected in the creation of coronavirus.
The counter blame games will continue between China and USA which will be
counterproductive.
There
is further fear that this virus can be used as a dangerous war tool if not
listed in banned list for not to be used in biowarfare weapons and all members
state or any other group should sign it. If it is used in weapons then it is
going to emerge as a tool of bioterrorism and it will be too lethal for the
future.
Let
us see who brings the vaccine and who monopolizes it. This move will indirectly
imply the end of this ‘play’, whether man-made or natural; in both cases, it's
anti-human and is pushing the world towards irreversible loss. UNSC should call
an emergency session to discuss it and also order a high-powered commission to
investigate the origin and make the findings public.
A
reminder – wash your hands for 30 seconds time and again, do not shake hands
and in case of doubt, have your test done.
The article was published in The Nation on March 18, 2020, and the link to the original article is https://nation.com.pk/18-Mar-2020/biowarfare-coronavirus-vaccine-monopoly-as-an-end-game
No comments:
Post a Comment