USA: CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS REPORT скачать в хорошем качестве

USA: CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS REPORT

(25 Nov 1997) English/Nat Chemical weapons are part of the future and are likely to be used if a conflict breaks out again in the gulf, according to a study by the U-S Pentagon. More than 25 nations have developed or may be developing nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and the means to deliver them, according to the report, which comes as the military lobbies congress for more money. The U-S military - one of the offenders - says it is preparing for the worst. America's newest emergency response equipment was on display at the Pentagon on Tuesday. Passers-by may have been forgiven for thinking there'd been a chemical weapons attack on the U-S Pentagon. On Tuesday, several branches of the U-S military set up decontamination centres outside the famous building, and men were seen suiting up in protective suits. But this was only a display - one aimed at convincing the U-S government that the one (b) billion dollars requested for more research and equipment would be well spent. This is a disposable suit which costs about 600 U-S dollars, a similar non-disposable suit would cost more than 4000 U-S dollars. If a team of two suit up together, the suits can be donned in less than ten minutes. Besides protective clothing, new detection devices were on display. This "Inficon Hapsite" can detect more than 70,000 chemical compounds, including those which make up nerve gas. With this information, the military is able to devise on-the-spot treatment plans, decontamination strategies, and force protection plans. SOUNDBITE: (English) "This piece of equipment right here is one of the latest additions to the Marine inventory. It's something which we'll be picking up in the next few months. It is here basically on display to say this is what we're getting. It is an portable gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. It has the ability to detect 73,000 organic chemicals." SUPER CAPTION: Mark Fishback, C-W-O-2 U-S Marine Corps The backpack-style unit can provide more detailed information than equipment which in the past would have filled an 18 ton armoured vehicle. SOUNDBITE: (English) "If we're to mitigate a terrorist event from weapons of mass destruction, I would simply put this on the back of a Marine and send him down range into what we call the hot zone. Once he's in the hot zone, he would not only use this instrument to try not only to detect, but to identify the chemical the terrorist would use." SUPER CAPTION: Mark Fishback, C-W-O-2 U-S Marine Corps The Pentagon has had to beef-up its detection, decontamination and emergency response equipment to respond to a potential attack by chemical and biological weapons and has requested one (b) billion dollars to pay for the improvements. Defence Secretary William Cohen said over the weekend that the latest crisis with Iraq has done the world a favour by bringing attention to Iraq's attempts to build biological and chemical weapons that could kill millions. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Rogue states with ties to terrorists, such as Iran and Libya, also have chemical weapons and are working to acquire biological weapons. Chemical and biological weapons have been called the poor man's atomic bomb. They are cheaper and easier to produce than nuclear weapons, and they are, as we know, extremely deadly." SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, U-S Defence Secretary Pointing to a growing threat, Cohen said there may be additional unspecified nations with the potential to produce such weapons "on short notice." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...