Arms Control Today articles from April 2003

Arms Control Today archives from April 2003

A perilous precedent. (Focus).(military action vs. rigorous inspection as means of deterrence)
April 1, 2003... Abandoning a robust inspection regime that was effectively containing Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capabilities, the Bush administration has bypassed the instruments of collective security and used massive military might...

How will the Iraq war change global nonproliferation strategies?
April 1, 2003... Trying to determine what the Iraq war will mean for global nonproliferation regimes is difficult. The war is less than a month old, and the many uncertainties that remain make it hard to render an assessment with sufficient confidence. Even...

The Russian nuclear arms control agenda after SORT.(Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty)
April 1, 2003... When the Russian Duma finally ratifies the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), will it mark the beginning of a new era of bilateral cooperation between Washington and Moscow or the closing chapter in arms control negotiations between...

Creating a new multilateral export control regime.
April 1, 2003... As the United States turns to military means to disarm Iraq, it is an opportune time to reflect on the role that Western governments played in arming Iraq with the technologies and components needed for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and on...

Coalition forces still searching for WMD in Iraq. (Iraq Special).(weapons of mass destruction)(related article: Inspectors' Accomplishments)
April 1, 2003... AS COALITION TROOPS advance on Baghdad and special forces capture Iraqi sites suspected of housing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the United States and its allies are still searching for Iraqi nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons--so...

Unfinished business in Iraq: IAEA and UNMOVIC outline remaining disarmament tasks. (Iraq Special).(International Atomic Energy Agency)(UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission)
April 1, 2003... On March 19, the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) submitted work programs to the UN Security Council detailing the status of their efforts to verify Iraq's...

Bush asks for nearly $75 billion to assist war effort. (Iraq Special).
April 1, 2003... DAYS AFTER THE United States launched a military attack against Iraq, the Bush administration submitted a nearly $75 billion emergency budget request March 25 to Congress to help cover war expenses during fiscal year 2003. Secretary of Defense...

U.S. might use landmines in Iraq; future policy unclear. (Iraq Special).
April 1, 2003... AMONG THE MANY weapons that U.S. military forces might use in combat against Iraq is one that its key coalition partners, the United Kingdom and Australia, have forsworn: anti-personnel landmines (APLs). U.S. forces might use APLs to deny...

Pentagon claims PAC-3 success against Iraqi missiles. (Iraq Special).(Patriot Advanced Capability-3 anti-ballistic missiles )
April 1, 2003... INITIAL MILITARY REPORTS from the Iraq war say that the small stockpile of U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) anti-ballistic missiles is performing well, but one destroyed a British fighter jet and another targeted a U.S. combat...

U.S., Russia spar over alleged Iraqi arms deals. (Iraq Special).
April 1, 2003... PRESIDENT GEORGE W. Bush urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a March 24 phone call to rein in private Russian companies that the United States has implicated in illegal arms deals with Iraq. Putin denied that Russian companies are...

N. Korea's Uranium program moving ahead, Kelly says. (News and Negotiations).(Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly warns of nuclear capability)
April 1, 2003... NORTH KOREA'S SUSPECTED uranium-enrichment program is "not so far behind" its plutonium-based nuclear program in its capacity to produce nuclear weapons-grade material, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly testified in a March 12 Senate...

Senate endorses nuclear reductions treaty; Duma Delays. (News and Negotiations).(American, Russian ratification of Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty)(related article: VI. Resolution of Ratification)
April 1, 2003... THE U.S. SENATE unanimously approved ratification of the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) March 6, paving the way for U.S. participation in the pact with Russia to slash nuclear arsenals by roughly two-thirds over the next decade....

IAEA 'taken aback' by speed of Iran's nuclear program. (News and Negotiations).(International Atomic Energy Agency)
April 1, 2003... INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY Agency (IAEA) officials were "taken aback" by the advanced state of an Iranian gas centrifuge uranium-enrichment facility at a complex at Natanz during a February visit, according to a U.S. State Department of...

Administration seeks repeal of ban on nuclear weapon research. (News and Negotiations).(Spratt-Furse restriction on low-yield nuclear weapons)
April 1, 2003... IN A MOVE likely to spark congressional debate, the Bush administration is seeking the repeal of a decade-long ban on research and development of nuclear weapons with a yield of five kilotons or less, according to fiscal year 2004 Department of...

Conference pledges to curb dirty bomb danger. (News and Negotiations).(radioactive dispersal device)
April 1, 2003... INTERNATIONAL LEADERS, MEETING in Vienna March 10-13, called for "cradle-to-grave control" for materials that could be used to create a radioactive dispersal device, otherwise known as a "dirty bomb." In particular, the conference urged...

Lugar, Hunter lock horns on threat reduction. (News and Negotiations).(Richard Lugar, Duncan Hunter)(Cooperative Threat Reduction program)
April 1, 2003... FOR SENATOR RICHARD Lugar (RIN) and the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program that he helped inaugurate, this should be a crowning moment. A heightened awareness of potential terrorist and "rogue state" threats has drawn increased...

Proposed missile defense sale to India still in limbo. (News and Negotiations).(Arrow system)
April 1, 2003... AFTER MORE THAN a year of review, the United States has not yet decided how to respond to an Israeli request to export the jointly developed U.S.-Israeli Arrow theater missile defense system to India. Although India has not formally asked...

Republicans, Democrats square off on approaches to proliferation. (News and Negotiations).
April 1, 2003... DESPITE AGREEING ON the importance of preventing the further proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have recently unveiled dramatically different visions on how best to accomplish that...

Talks focus on coping with bombs when the shooting stops. (News and Negotiations).(explosive remnants of war)
April 1, 2003... SOME OF THE bombs, artillery shells, and other munitions that U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi forces are firing at each other will not explode as intended and will pose a threat to soldiers and civilians after the fighting stops. How to...

U.S. scientists studied, rejected nukes in Vietnam. (News and Negotiations).(tactical nuclear weapons considered)
April 1, 2003... THE U.S. GOVERNMENT studied the feasibility of tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) use during the Vietnam War and concluded that it "would offer the U.S. no military advantage commensurate with its political cost," according to a recently...

U.S., Russia agree to plutonium reactor shutdown. (News and Negotiations).
April 1, 2003... AFTER YEARS OF delays and stalled plans, Russia and the United States signed an agreement March 12 to shut down the last three Russian reactors dedicated to the production of weapons-grade plutonium. The reactors, which each day can...

Pentagon, Levin dispute missile defense success, testing. (News and Negotiations).(Senator Carl Levin)
April 1, 2003... TOP PENTAGON OFFICIALS testifying in March on U.S. missile defense programs assured senators that the Pentagon intends to thoroughly test an anti-ballistic missile system to be fielded next year and never intended otherwise, despite concerns to...

India, Pakistan trade tit-for-tat missile tests. (News and Negotiations).(nuclear-capable, short-range missiles)
April 1, 2003... RETURNING TO AN old pattern of tit-for-tat missile testing, India and Pakistan each tested short-range, nuclear-capable missiles March 26. It is not clear who launched the first missile, but most media reports suggest India took the lead. ...

U.S. levies sanctions for transfers to Iraq. (News Briefs).(materials supporting chemical, biological weapons programs)(Protech Consultants Private Ltd. )(Mohammed Al-Khatib)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The United States levied sanctions February 13 against an Indian company and a Jordanian national for knowingly contributing to Iraq's chemical and biological weapons program. This is the second time this year an Indian company has been...

More security needed at Russian nuke facilities. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev called for more money to beef up security at Russia's nuclear facilities during a Duma meeting March 5, requesting increased funding to safeguard installations, monitor radioactive materials, and hire...

CD still stalled by U.S., China spat. (News Briefs).(Conference on Disarmament)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Blocked by a continued diplomatic stalemate, the UN Conference on Disarmament (CD) ended the first third of its 2003 negotiating session March 28 without any progress. Since completing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, the...

Neutralization approved for CW destruction. (News Briefs).(compliance with Chemical Weapons Convention)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... In a February 27 Record of Decision, the Department of Defense approved using a technology for destroying chemical weapons in Kentucky that is more popular with regional citizen groups than incineration, which has been used to destroy chemical...

Six-year-old CWC passes some tests and fails others. (Chemical Weapons Convention).
April 1, 2003... THE UNITED STATES deposited its instrument of ratification for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on April 25, 1997, following months of wrangling over the treaty between the Clinton administration and Republican lawmakers. Opponents'...

U.S. grapples with use of nonlethal agents. (Chemical Weapons Convention).
April 1, 2003... PICTURE YOURSELF COMMANDING U.S. forces entering Baghdad. As you march through the streets, you encounter Iraqi mobs armed with stones and two-by-fours exacting revenge against Baath party members or venting their anger against your troops....

The Chemical Weapons Convention at a glance. (Factfile).(multilateral treaty)
April 1, 2003... (Opened for signature January 13, 1993) The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period of time. The treaty is of unlimited duration and is...