The first time I knew for sure that I wasn’t cut out for a career in the Army was when I attended the CBR school in Fort McClellan, Alabama.

For me, the moment of truth came when they put one drop of nerve agent on the nose of the goat to demonstrate its effectiveness, and the goat instantly went into convulsions. It was a horrible way to watch an animal die, and it certainly wasn’t reassuring when the atropine they administered failed to revive the goat, although they were quick to reassure us that it was an effective antidote if applied quickly enough.

But nerve gas was only a small part of what was discussed in training. Strange diseases like anthrax that were unknown to humans had been designed to kill enemy troops. Now, admittedly, I was there largely to learn how to defend our troops from attack by chemical, biological, and radiological weapons, not to learn how to employ them in combat.

Nevertheless, I was stunned to learn about our own capabilities in these areas. What kind of mad scientist would spend his life developing these weapons? Since we had more than enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world several times over, why did we need chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction? Who would ever use such weapons?

Fortunately, I have been able to largely forget those memories in the ensuing years. Although I’ve periodically heard about these weapons, particularly their use in Iraq on Iraqi citizens, I had naively assumed that they were obsolete weapons waiting to be destroyed.

When international discussions began on banning the weapons, I thought that it was a no-brainer. Virtually everyone seemed to be opposed to them, especially doctors. Certainly the American press and the American government seemed outraged that Iraq had used them on its own people.

Both the local and foreign press were critical of America’s veto of the ban, particularly since America had initiated the attempt to ban it during the Reagan Era.

Now I have no doubt that this is a complex issue. However, I would hope that the American people will look at this veto a little differently after our own anthrax scare in Florida.

Although I’ve yet to read all of Higgy’s links to Bruce Cockburn, higgy edit this page, there appears to be some great links to one of my favorite singers there.

Bruce Cockburn ranks right up there with Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and Paul Simon as one of the greatest lyricists in modern rock, though he certainly hasn’t received that kind of attention here in America.

Cockburn’s haunting lyrics in “The Mines of Mozambique” from his album The Charity of Night

Rusted husks of blown-up trucks
Line the roadway north of town
Like passing through a sculpture gallery.
War is the artist
But he’s sleeping now
…
And in a bare workshop they’ll be molding plastic
Into little prosthetic limbs
For the children of this artist
And for those who farm the soil that received
His bitter seed.

seem particularly poignant in light of the war in Afghanistan, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. An article on the Voice of America page discusses how children are particularly subject to the danger of landmines, AFGHANISTAN LAND MINES

It certainly seems ironic that the first confirmed civilian casualties from the American bombing were UN workers who were attempting to remove mines from previous wars. And America has apparently been criticized for endangering starving refugees by dropping food into mined areas Independent News

The greatest irony of all may well be that the Taliban leader so widely condemned as of late ruled out the use of land mines, Taliban Ruler Rules Out Land Mines while the American government under the Clinton administration (hard to believe, isn’t it) refused to sign the treaty US should sign treaty banning land mines.
Let’s just pray there are no further ironies to report.