Civilian Capabilities

This report describes current civilian capabilities as well as ongoing and planned research and development (R D) programs. It identifies some areas in which innovative R D is clearly needed and assesses current R D work for its applicability to coping with domestic terrorism. 

Includes the full range of acute convalescent, restorative, and rehabilitative care. Highest level treatment capability permanent military or Veterans Affairs hospitals, or civilian hospitals that have committed beds for the National Defense Medical System. 

Men in positions of authority, accustomed to decision-making, and faced with a dangerous epidemic capable of spreading to the civilian population with incalculable consequences, will always take suitable... 

There were probably no better-equipped forces in respect of anti-gas defence than those of the United Kingdom in the late 1930s. Britain had emerged from the First World War with a primitive respirator and basic techniques for gas-proofing dugouts, and little else. At the end of the 1930s, superior-quality anti-gas equipment was available to the armed forces to cater for all known hazards and a cheap, but efficient, respirator had also been developed for the civilian population.48 However, as far as offensive capabilities were concerned, investment had been limited and production had been minimal in terms of agents and weapons due to political unease and uncertainties. By 1938 the international situation was such that offensive research and development and the production of war reserve stocks of mustard gas were authorised by the British Cabinet, albeit that it was realised that a useful production output could not be obtained for at least 12-18 months. 

In 1988 the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Hashemi Rafsanjani, described chemical weapons as the poor man s atomic bomb. 2 This phrase is as accurate as it is alarming. While many would argue that nuclear weapons represent the zenith of mass destruction, their construction requires advanced industrial capabilities as well as access to rare, tightly controlled materials. Chemical weapons, on the other hand, are comparatively cheap and easy to build using equipment and chemicals that are used extensively for a host of civilian purposes. With... 

Until member states make the effort to review declarations and demand access to the final reports from inspections, they will be in no position to ascertain whether other states have accurately declared their military and civilian chemical capabilities. Nonetheless, the declarations are reviewed avidly by those member states that take chemical weapons seriously. The CWC denies access to the raw inspection reports, but not to compilations of data from them, which, again, are read avidly. However, given... 

The concept of a poison contained within a bullet is not new and has been experimented with over a long period of time. As all poisons, in the quantities capable of being administered via a bullet, take some time to kill, the tactical use of such ammunition is of limited military or civilian use. However, it is an attractive concept for an assassin. If the bullet itself fails to kill, the backup system of the poison offers a twofold method of attack. 

The technology involved was known as acoustic psycho-correction and possessed the capability to control minds and alter behaviour of civilians and soldiers... In a series of laboratory experiments that dated back to the mid-1970 s, research revealed that the equipment could be used to suppress riots, control dissidents, demoralize or disable opposing forces and enhance the performance of friendly special operations teams, according to the newspapers sources. 

Most of the demilitarization workload accommodated by new processes discussed in this paper include munitions developed during the Korean conflict. Many newer munitions now in storage are more sophisticated and complex in their assembly. Development of safe, cost effective and ecologically clean demilitarization capability for these items will be a keen challenge to the military and civilian engineering and scientific community involved in this work. 

BSL-4 precautions are necessary when handling specimens from patients suspected of VHP infection. Every effort should be made to ensure that specimens from these patients are secured and properly sealed for transportation to laboratories with the capability for VHP diagnosis. In their analysis of VHP as a biological weapon, the Working Group for Civilian Biodefense... 

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