CWs were, however, used in the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s, and the Iraqis had manufactured large quantities that were available, although not used, during the gulf war. Biological weapons are pound for pound the most potent weapons that exist. Certainly the cost of producing BCWs is far less substantial than the cost of producing nuclear weapons. Preventing the production, distribution, and eventually the use of at least some types of BCWs poses an extremely difficult challenge. Efforts to prevent proliferation may slow these developments but seem unlikely to prevent them.
Dangers do exist in the BCWs production process, and delivery of such weapons is also difficult.
But these dangers and difficulties seem likely to be overcome. Meanwhile many nations, and in particular the United States, which are likely to be targets for these efforts, are constrained by democratic values and privacy concerns in the measures they may adopt that rely on intrusive intelligence gathering and enhanced vigilance for early detection of threatening domestic activities. How to deal with this threat is a particularly complex problem. The prospect that the use of such weapons can be prevented seems dubious. Some nations may be prepared to face the risks in using such weapons.