<h5>What are chemical weapons?</h5><p>Chemical weapons are a type of weapon that uses various chemicals to hurt or kill people. These weapons release chemical substances that can cause serious injuries, disability, or death.</p><p>Chemical weapons were first used during World War I (1914-18). During the Cold War, the United States of America (USA) and the Soviet Union created a lot of chemical weapons. With the Cold War’s end in 1991, the decision to ban chemical weapons was taken.</p><p>Under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 1993, the use of chemical weapons in warfare was made illegal. Its creation, sale, and stockpiling were also banned. Recently, the USA destroyed its last stockpile of chemical weapons (yay!).</p><h5>What kind of chemical weapons were destroyed?</h5><p>On 7th July 2023, US President Joe Biden announced the destruction of chemical weapons. Workers at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky destroyed rockets containing GB nerve agent, also known as sarin.</p><p>Around 90% of the chemical weapons were destroyed in 2012. It took time to destroy the last 10%. Thankfully, the last of them were destroyed safely this month, ending the declared stockpile of chemical weapons in the US.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/usa-destroys-the-last-of-its-chemical-weapons%2FRockets.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=6c8412e6-b4b2-42bf-854c-4d3c4429057f"><figcaption>Image of chemical weapons. Photo by NPR.</figcaption></figure><h5>Why did it take the USA so long to destroy its chemical weapons?</h5><p>Destruction of chemical weapons is not an easy process. They were tricky to handle as they contained poisonous chemicals. They were also not made to be disassembled. Many of them were also built decades ago. So, they had to be handled very carefully.</p><p>The disposal procedure for such weapons was to burn the chemicals. But, in some places, people protested as they feared that burning the weapons would release poisonous substances that could harm others. So new ways were created to destroy them safely. That’s why destroying the remaining chemical weapons took such a long time.</p>

The world is now officially free of chemical weapons.

USA Destroys the Last of Its Chemical Weapons

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USA Destroys the Last of Its Chemical Weapons

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