Technology Has Made Warfare More Lethal - Essay Example

of the English of the Concerned 4 March Technology has Made Warfare More Lethal There is no denying the fact that war is something that has always been associated with death and destruction. However, the weapons used in earlier wars were limited in terms of the death and destruction they caused. Thereby the wars fought with conventional weapons were primarily limited to causing only that much loss of life that lead to a decisive victory. The conventional weapons never intended to cause indiscriminate killing at a large scale. However, the sad thing is that technology has made warfare very lethal in the current times. Technology has given way to weapons that could kill thousands of people in a matter of seconds. The goal of modern warfare technologies like nuclear, chemical and biological weapons is to shatter the opponent by causing massive, large scale and indiscriminate loss of human life. Technology has not only made it possible to cause pervasive and senseless killing in human conflicts but “the challenges to the laws of war posed by technological revolution (Allenby 70)” have made modern warfare more unethical and impersonal. Simply speaking technology has made warfare more lethal by bringing into existence the weapons of mass destruction like the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that cause senseless killing and are not concerned about the humane and ethical concerns governing wars. For instance, nuclear weapons are the creation of the technological development that has taken place in the past few decades. Nuclear weapons tend to be weapons of mass destruction that can cause large scale destruction and the loss of human life. Nuclear weapons rely for their impact on the energy inherent in the nucleus of an atom. When the particles in the nucleus of an atom either split or merge with each other, massive amounts of energy are released. When the nucleus of the atoms of a nuclear material like uranium or plutonium is split by using a neutron, leading to the release of energy, this process is called nuclear fission (Mueller 93). In contrast when the two atoms of an element like the isotopes of hydrogen merge leading to the release of large amounts of energy, this process is called nuclear fusion (Mueller 74). Nuclear weapons rely on nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to release energy that could cause massive bloodshed and destruction. The atomic bomb is a nuclear device that relies on nuclear fission to cause death and destruction. The atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War released energy equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT and killed approximately more than one 1,00,000 people (Mueller 10). Similarly the atomic bomb that was dropped over Nagasaki released energy equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT and killed nearly 75,000 people (Mueller 10). Thereby, one could easily understand as to the extent to which the modern nuclear weapons exceed over the conventional weapons in matters of lethality. Moreover, the nuclear weapon called hydrogen bomb that relies on the process of nuclear fusion releases energy that far exceeds the atom bomb. Thereby the destructive potential of a hydrogen bomb is many times more as compared to an atom bomb. No doubt, it is the modern technology that has made it possible to harness the energy of an atom to create nuclear weapons that kill indiscriminately and at a scale that was never possible with the conventional weapons. By doing so technology has not only made warfare very lethal, but, has also led to, “asymmetric warfare that often rises issues lying beyond established norms of military conduct (Allenby 70).” Chemical weapons are the other type of weapons of mass destruction made possible by the modern technology. The experts tend to argue that the use of chemical weapons is prohibited by the international laws and conventions. Yet, the ground reality is that chemical weapons have readily been used in many modern conflicts including the recent Syrian civil war. As is obvious from the name, chemical weapons rely on lethal and toxic chemicals to injure and harm or kill people (Judson 17). Modern technology has led to the discovery and invention of many toxic chemicals that could easily be used as weapons to cause large scale loss of the human life. Chemical weapons lead to multiple types of lethal damage to the targeted populations, depending upon the chemical that is used. Some chemicals like chlorine and phosgene lead to lung damage and chocking (Judson 62). In contrast, another lethal chemical agent called mustard gas causes death by destroying the human tissues (Judson 61). Then there are chemical weapons called Nerve Agents like Sarin and Tabun that destroy the human nervous system and cause painful and immediate death (Judson 71). Chemical weapons can be dropped over the targeted populations using a variety of conventional delivery systems like bombs and missiles. The sad thing about chemical weapons is that they not only kill indiscriminately, but do lead to a painful and inhumane death. No wonder, lethal weapon like chemical weapons have come into existence, all because of the modern technology. The invention of chemical weapons has made warfare very lethal. Chemical weapons have made it possible to target large human populations at one go and to cause massive and indiscriminate loss of human life that often far exceeds than what is required to win a war. The damage and injuries caused by chemical weapons are often permanent, incurable and most of the times lethal. The other bad thing is that it is really cheap to manufacture chemical weapons (Judson 17). This further increases the scope of the usage of chemical weapons in the modern day conflicts. Hence it would not be wrong to say that the chemical weapons are the poor man’s atom bomb. The other line of weaponry that technology has introduced in the modern warfare is the biological weapons. Biological weapons are somewhat like the chemical weapons, except that they happen to be of biological origins that are they are derived from biological substances. Biological weapons are used to interfere with the life sustaining biological processes of the targeted human populations by using bacteria or viruses that cause disease and death or by using toxic materials that are derived from the biological substances (Judson 99). Again the lethal impact of biological weapons is governed by the indiscriminate and large scale loss of life they could lead to. There are a range of microorganisms that can be used as biological weapons. For instance Anthrax is a bacterium that enters the body of the humans and the animals through inhalation and causes deadly Pulmonary Anthrax Septicemia that leads to a painful and almost certain death (Judson 26). Clostridium pefringens is another biological agent that enters the body of the organisms through wounds and gives way to severe and morbid abdominal symptoms (Judson 48). Then there are toxic chemicals like Ricin extracted from plants that could just be used as chemical weapons and that lead to painful and indiscriminate killing (Judson 49). It is a fact that it is none but the technology that has led to the invention of lethal biological weapons. The lethality of a war is determined by the indiscriminate and massive killing that it leads to. In that context it would not be wrong to say that technology has made wars more lethal and dangerous. The weapons of mass destruction like the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons created by technology kill indiscriminately and at a large scale. The destructive potential and impact of such weapons is mostly beyond what is required to achieve strategic objectives in a war. Hence, technology has enhanced the lethality inherent in modern day wars. Works Cited Allenby, Braden R. “Are New Technologies Undermining the Laws of War?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 70.1 (2014):21-31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 April 2014. Judson, Karen. Chemical and Biological Warfare. Tarrytown, New York: Benchmark Books, 2011. Print. Mueller, John. Atomic Obsession. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Read More