The Red Line
Chemical warfare is one of the most horrifying and destructive threats to the modern world. However, the ability to produce mass casualties via the use of poisons has been a common practice for many generations. The Red Line chronicles the history of chemical weapons from the first battles of World War I to the present-day conflict over terrorism.
Insidious poisons had been employed as weapons of attack for years by political adversaries, but chemical weapons didn’t take prominence until 1915. This was during Haber’s tenure that he was asked to end the trench warfare that had been so destructive to the German military during the First World War. His answer was the release of chlorine bombs. Once deployed, these bombs could destroy up to 5000 soldiers in just a few minutes, and an additional number that would take longer and be more painful to recover from. A new method of industrialized conflict was born.
These appalling weapons instilled fear and disgust in the public and nations as a whole, and were later barred from being used as weapons of death by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. However, several countries continued to employ various types of nerve agent, including VX, mustard and sarin. They also attempted to bypass this international treaty. For instance, Agent Orange was originally utilized in southeast Asia due to its effectiveness in clearing dense jungle foliage during the Vietnam War. The long-term effects on humans were either not considered or viewed as an appropriate consequence.
Today’s world leaders continue to view these weapons as an inferior alternative to traditional combat, they continue to have a significant impact on a growing number of military and civilian populations. For the most vicious of terrorist organizations, they provide an extreme position of influence and power. Even nations that are considered civilized deem them a form of bargaining. They recognize that by having these weapons, they have the capacity to either prevent conflict from escalating or cause more death and destruction than has been seen in human history before.
The Red Line has a runtime of just over two hours, it explores the history of chemical weapons, and is a disturbing depiction of the inhumanity of war.
Directed by: Graham Templeton
