After dropping the deadly VX nerve agent onto a corner of Utah’s remote West Desert, a young American pilot unknowingly inflicted over 6,000 casualties upon the local population of the now appropriately named Skull Valley.
Local Tooele County Sheriff Fay Gillette, having gazed upon the gruesome scene, told investigative reporter Seymour Hersh: “It was like a movie of ‘death and destruction’—you know, like after the bomb goes off. Sheep laying all over. All of them down—patches of white as far as you could see.”
The souls of the dearly departed — all of whom were sheep — no longer need to gnash their teeth, however, as America’s chemical weapons, which allegedly caused their untimely demise, followed them to the grave earlier this month. (READ MORE: The Military Is No Joke)
Though an Army investigation would later dispute the claims, citing illegal pesticides used by local ranchers as the cause of the mass sheep death, locals in Skull Valley believed the Army’s chemical weapons testing range located nearby was the true culprit.
The rancher’s narrative won the day, and after learning about the incident, congressmen began calling for the destruction of chemical weapons. This month, their crusade is victorious: America’s chemical weapons stockpile has been completely destroyed.
The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Chemical Program
After seeing the horrific effects of chlorine gas in World War I, the U.S. Army founded its Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) in June 1918. Though never used, the American chemical weapons stockpile continued to grow — particularly after the commencement of World War II.
CWS began to demobilize, shrink, and dispose of stockpiles taken from the Germans and Japanese following the Axis surrender. The American chemical weapons program continued to decline until the 1990s, when its destruction became a legal mandate.
That mandate was born when Congress ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty in 1997. At the time, the Department of Defense was storing chemical weapons at munition depots spread across the states of Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, and Maryland, as well as the Johnson Pacific Atoll.
When public opinion opposed throwing the stockpiles into the sea — standard practice before the Dugway sheep incident — the Army first turned to incinerators.
Chemical weapons went up in flames in Utah, Oregon, Arkansas, and Alabama, but locals in other states were concerned about toxic fumes from the incinerators. As local opposition mounted, the Army sought a different path. Bacteria thus became the solution for the remaining stockpiles in Colorado, Kentucky, and Maryland.
Robots sucked liquid chemicals out of the shells, and microorganisms then fed upon the fluid to break down the compounds — similar to what happens in civilian sewage treatment facilities. After the bacteria were finished, the remainder was incinerated, along with the metal shells.
For Me but Not for Thee
With the destruction of America’s chemical stockpile now complete, the United States has fulfilled its obligations to the treaty — though years behind schedule and significantly over budget.
Not all nations, however, have been so diligent. Recently, Syria has used chemical weapons, as have, allegedly, Russia and North Korea.
According to State Department spokesman Ned Price, “The United States estimates that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against the Syrian people at least 50 times since [2013],” with an attack from August of that year killing over 1400 civilians. Syrian officials deny such accusations and see the gas attacks as coming from rebel factions within the country. (READ MORE: America, Don’t Forget: ISIS Is Still a Threat)
The Kremlin’s alleged use of chemical weapons involves assassination attempts against the ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in 2018, as well as an attempt against Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in August of 2020. American embassies in Italy and Georgia report that Russia denies both of the assassination accusations. Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of using chemical weapons in the current conflict, but neither side has clear and convincing corroborating evidence.
Because Syria and Russia have ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty, they have — if the chemical-weapons-use claims are true — violated international law.
North Korea, on the other hand, has not ratified the treaty and is not, therefore, bound by its requirements. Defectors report that the Kim regime has used chemical weapons against its incarcerated and disabled populations. In 2017, Kim Jong Un’s half-brother Kim Jong Nam was assassinated in the Kuala Lumpur airport via a nerve agent — a chemical that interferes with the nervous system. North Korea denies these claims. Pyongyang spokesman Ju Yong Chol said that North Korea “has never produced or stockpiled or used chemical weapons.” (READ MORE: South Korea’s Nuclear Moment)
North Korea is only one of four nations that are not bound by the rules of the chemical weapons treaty, the other three being Egypt, South Sudan, and Israel.
A Step Forward or Backward?
With other nations still using chemical weapons, was it the right choice for America to destroy her stockpiles? As those who have seen the weapons used in combat can attest, many have mixed feelings.
After witnessing the use of gas in World War I, British commander Sir John French said that it was “a cynical and barbarous disregard of the well-known usages of civilised war.” In that vein, the destruction of America’s stockpile could be seen as a positive step in lessening the barbarity all too present in the world today.
On the other hand, the entire concept of “civilised war” could be seen as an oxymoron, and, as French himself would say a few months later, “Owing to the repeated use by the enemy of asphyxiating gases … I have been compelled to resort to similar methods.”
Today, the general consensus seems to be that America has taken a step forward by destroying her stockpiles. It will be up to future generations to decide who was right — the Americans of 1918, or the Americans of 2023.
Halfway through earning a master’s in national security at the Institute of World Politics, Mason Stauffer is part of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class. When he isn’t preparing for his future career in the national security sector, Mason can usually be found hiking through the National Park System or playing his trumpet.
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