A Nightmare Weapon

First of the G-agent gases discovered by German scientist Gerhard Schrader and developed by the Nazis. Colorless liquid and vapor with a faint odor.

Colorless, odorless, more volatile vapor. Saddam is believed to have used it to kill Kurdish civilians in northern Iraq.

Heavier, more toxic and more persistent than sarin. Mass-produced by the Soviets during the cold war, though no battlefield use has ever been recorded.

Unlike G-agents, an oily liquid that does not readily evaporate. The United States and Russia are now destroying their large arsenals manufactured during the cold war.

Brown, garlic-smelling liquid used first by the Germans in WWI, induces skin, eye and lung damage. More toxic “sulfur mustard,” since developed, was reportedly used by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war.

Developed by the French in WWI. Kills extremely rapidly when large doses are absorbed. Zyklon B, a derivative, was used by the Nazis in the death camps.