Delegate: Isabella Elizondo
Topic: Chemical Weapons
Country: Egypt
Period: 1
Chemical Weapons Position Paper
The reason this session is being called to order is to discuss the chemical
weapons use in the world. Chemical weapons are designed to harm living
organisms. What they do depends on the substance. Some harm the brain, others
the nervous system, and yet others burn the skin, or cause asphyxiation.
Chemical weapons have been used many times throughout history. Some of the
most remembered moments in history where chemical weapons have been used
have been in WWI, in the second battle of the Ypres. 168 tons of Chlorine Gas
where sprayed at the French-Algerian and territorial troops by the German
soldiers. The gas took the lives of more than 5,000 soldiers. The same gas was
then used by the Germans against the Canadians. Needless to say, 6,000 troops
died. In the Vietnam War, the Americans used Agent Orange to spray 19 million
gallons over 4.5 million acres of land (including agricultural fields and civilian
resources) during the course of 11 years. Now, more than 50 years later, Agent
Orange still plagues the people of Vietnam with tumors, skin disease, muscle
dysfunction and birth defects. The symptoms got so grave, that president Bush
had to sign the Agent Orange Act, in which the effects of Agent Orange after the
war, where to be treated as war injuries. In the Iran-Iraq war, chemical agents
such as Tabun, Sarin, VX, and Cyanide where dropped on the Kurdish population
of Northern Iraq. In the Kurdish town of Haljaba, 14 planes dropped the chemical
weapons all around the town and city exits. It affected 13,000 people and killed
around 3200- 5000 people. 75% of the people affected where women and
children. Around a month ago, the nerve agent Sarin was found to be used
against civilians in Syria. The amount of people affected and dead are unclear.
Syria has agreed to follow the US-Russian Deal, in which it hands over all of its
chemical weapons, stops production and stops trade, as soon as the deal is fully
formed.
The USA delegation has stated that if Syria does not follow the US-Russian
deal as soon as it is completed, it will use military force to take control of the
situation. Egypt has come to a decision, and if Syria is attacked, then my
delegation will not participate in the rampage. My delegation will even impede
countries from using the (Egypt controlled) Suez Canal to reach Syria. Egypt
firmly believes that military action against Syria is not the way to proceed in this
situation. My delegation proposes the use of political manners to end this
problem. Furthermore, my country is still unclear as to who fired the chemical
agents. Many countries accuse the Syrian government, while Syria itself says the
rebels in its civil war fired the weapons. As soon as reliable and thorough studies
show who was responsible, Egypt asks the UN and all other international
communities to bring to justice the people who targeted the civilians in Syria
with the chemical weapons. Egypt is against the use of chemical weapons in any
situation, and asks all countries to help with the consequences the rightful
people should receive. Egypt has chemical weapons, but is not planning on
signing the CWC any time soon, in fear of what would happen if Egypt had no
meaningful way to defend itself.
Chemical weapons keep being used, stockpiled and traded, no matter
what many anti-chemical weapons treaties say should be prohibited. Having
chemical weapons will always tempt many countries. No protocol or treaty will
entirely stop countries from ever using them again. But they could diminish the
use of them. It is not just important to dismantle or destroy the chemical
weapons. The proses of dismantling and destroying chemical weapons take
many years. We need a plan of action for all countries wishing to get rid of their
chemical weapons. To know what countries have the capabilities to make or use
the weapons, we should send highly capable inspectors to countries suspected of
having or developing chemical weapons. There, the inspectors can find out if
those countries hold the capabilities of having or using the weapons, and also
find out where they got the materials for the making of them to know if other
countries where involved in the making or distributing of those weapons. If a
country does not let the investigators into their territory, then we shall oblige by
their wishes and not enter their country, though that will not stop us from
gaining possible information by inspections done in other countries. Solutions to
the situation with Syria could lie in the US-Russian deal, in which Syria hands
over all of its chemical weapons. We are all aware of Syria’s civil war, and Egypt
knows that having chemical weapons may have been too much of a power to
resist. But as the treaty is being developed, Egypt would like to know where the
chemical weapons would be kept, dismantled, and how the countries will keep
track of everything that is happening.
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