Add one more reason for the US to find a way of resolving the North Korea crisis soon, the Washington Post editorializes: Evidence that the Kim regime is “acquiring the essential machinery and seeking the know-how to produce large amounts of germ-warfare agents rather quickly.”
“Biological weapons are tricky from a military point of view. They can be more easily hidden than nuclear missiles or conventional forces. Attacking them preemptively could risk unwanted dispersal of the germs. They are difficult to handle and store for long periods. If dispersed in the air for an attack, germs can shift with winds and weather, endangering troops and civilians, friend and foe alike,” the Post says.
“But tests in the 1950s and 1960s carried out by the United States and Britain showed that in some conditions, biological weapons can also be deadly over wide swaths of territory. The United States gave up biological weapons in 1969, and an international treaty banning them took effect in 1975. North Korea joined the treaty in 1987, but the treaty’s verification requirements are weak. Despite serious obstacles at home, North Korea has demonstrated an ability to evade sanctions and scale up military industrial plants when it wants to.”
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“Biological weapons are tricky from a military point of view. They can be more easily hidden than nuclear missiles or conventional forces. Attacking them preemptively could risk unwanted dispersal of the germs. They are difficult to handle and store for long periods. If dispersed in the air for an attack, germs can shift with winds and weather, endangering troops and civilians, friend and foe alike,” the Post says.
“But tests in the 1950s and 1960s carried out by the United States and Britain showed that in some conditions, biological weapons can also be deadly over wide swaths of territory. The United States gave up biological weapons in 1969, and an international treaty banning them took effect in 1975. North Korea joined the treaty in 1987, but the treaty’s verification requirements are weak. Despite serious obstacles at home, North Korea has demonstrated an ability to evade sanctions and scale up military industrial plants when it wants to.”
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