Research Paper on:
Perceived Threats, Overreaction, and Doctrine of Chemical Warfare Defense

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of deadly chemicals against his own people and the associated video footage of people of all ages lying dead in the streets has again reminded the world of how dangerous  and irreversible chemical war can be and is. The American media seems to have been particularly adding fuel to the fire in presenting its many experts that predict that it  could be possible that such a horror could be perpetrated against Americans on American soil. Seeing "embedded" American journalists reporting from southern Iraq with gas masks on or gas masks  at the ready have also added to the fear. After all, the experts and reporters remind the public, look at the damage caused by anthrax and its relatively limited distribution!  Because the specter of chemical warfare has is so horrible, it has become a popular and ever-present bogeyman for the American public. Imaginations fueled by Hollywood and the likes of  Stephen King or Michael Crichton have firmly established the idea that an invisible killer could decimate the nation. The problem has been that the U.S. military, the countrys policy-makers and  politicians, as well as the media have over-emphasized a threat that many (other) experts believe has been blown way out of proportion to the reality of the threat. The government  and the military must make every effort to develop a more rational approach regarding defense in relationship to possible chemical warfare that is fully grounded in sound research and public  information efforts. Perceptions Related to Chemical Warfare On October 16, 2002, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told people attending the 2002 Institutes for Foreign Policy Analysis  Fletcher Conference that Iraq was in possession of "unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering chemical or biological agents" (pp. NA). President Bush had made the same statement a week