Arms Control Today articles from April 2004

Arms Control Today archives from April 2004

Act now on fissile material treaty.(Focus)
April 1, 2004... International efforts to curb the spread and buildup of nuclear weapons arsenals greatly depend on controlling the production and stockpiles of the key ingredients for the bomb: highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium. Negotiating a global...

Searching for the truth about Iraq's WMD: an interview with David Kay.
April 1, 2004... David Kay, former lead inspector of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), spoke with ACT editor Miles Pomper and research analyst Paul Kerr March 5 on the search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. In the wide-ranging interview, Kay urged...

Closing Pandora's box: Pakistan's role in nuclear proliferation.
April 1, 2004... On February 4, 2004, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, self-styled father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb, appeared on Pakistani television to apologize to his nation. Revealing few details, Khan stated that a government investigation, which followed...

Nuclear necessity in Putin's Russia.
April 1, 2004... What purpose do nuclear weapons serve in today's Russia? More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russians still deploy more than 5,000 warheads on strategic nuclear-weapon systems. Additionally, they might deploy more...

Seven lessons for dealing with today's North Korea nuclear crisis; Excerpted from going critical: the first North Korean nuclear crisis.(Exclusive Excerpt: Going Critical)
April 1, 2004... As the United States and North Korea prepare for a fourth round of talks to resolve an 18-month old crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs, the two countries find themselves fighting over many of the same issues they fought over...

Controversy persists over failure to find Iraqi WMD.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... MORE THAN ONE year after U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq with the announced intention to rid that country of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the failure to find such nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons continues to stir controversy in the...

IAEA condemns Iran--again.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors has again adopted a resolution criticizing Iran for failing to cooperate fully with the agency's investigation into its suspected nuclear weapons program, raising the stakes in...

North Korea talks stymied.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... A SECOND ROUND of six-party talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis apparently yielded only marginal progress on procedural issues with major substantive differences still dividing the United States and North Korea. In addition, the...

IAEA praises Libya for disarmament efforts.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... LIBYA CONTINUES TO move forward in fulfilling its December 2003 pledge to eliminate its nuclear and chemical weapons programs, as well as its long-range missiles. Perhaps in an effort to encourage other countries to follow Libya's example, the...

U.S. points to Libya as disarmament model: an interview with Assistant Secretary of State Paula DeSutter.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... SINCE DECEMBER, PAULA DeSutter, a top Department of State official, has been working long hours to ensure that Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi fulfills his pledge to abandon irrefutably all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) ambitions and...

U.S. nonproliferation resolution advances at UN.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... A U.S. EFFORT at the United Nations aimed at preventing nonstate actors from acquiring nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons has advanced. After months of talks, Washington March 24 formally submitted the anti-proliferation resolution to the...

Additional protocol sails through Senate Foreign Relations Committee.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... THE U.S. SENATE March 31 unanimously approved an "additional protocol" to the U.S. safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), less than a month after President George W. Bush made a strong push for Senate passage...

Despite Khan, military ties with Pakistan to grow.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... PRESIDENT GEORGE W. Bush has lifted all sanctions against Pakistan and will designate the country a "major non-NATO ally"--an elite status that entitles recipients to preferential treatment in military-military operations. The two policy shifts...

Israel, India sign major arms deal.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... WITH TACIT U.S. blessing, Israel has finalized a $1.1 billion sale of three advanced airborne early-warning aircraft to India. Washington had previously urged the two countries to postpone the deal due to concerns that it might incite Pakistan....

Putin downsizes Russian Nuclear Agency.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... RUSSIA'S FORMERLY POWERFUL Atomic Ministry stands to lose power in President Vladimir Putin's second term, with uncertain consequences for the Kremlin's stance on issues from policy toward Iran to cooperation with the United States on efforts...

Bush, ElBaradei, discuss proposals of nuclear nonproliferation talks.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... DIPLOMATS FROM MORE than 100 states are expected to convene for nearly two weeks beginning April 26 to assess what future measures might be taken to shore up the beleaguered nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). In anticipation, U.S. President...

Top military brass insists missile defense ready to be deployed.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... DESPITE INTENSE GRILLING from Senate Democrats and an acknowledgment that the system has yet to be fully tested, top Pentagon officials have not retreated from claims that a planned defense against ballistic missiles would be effective when it...

GAO says feds lax in countering cruise missile, UAV threats.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... A CONGRESSIONAL WATCHDOG has charged key federal agencies with complacency in addressing the growing danger presented by the global spread of cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), provoking a round of dissent from the Departments...

U.S. creates Advisory Board for Biosecurity.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... HEEDING THE ADVICE of the National Academy of Sciences, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has created a board to advise federal departments or agencies on biological research that could pose a threat to national security. The...

NATO, Russia hold joint missile defense exercise.(News and Negotiations)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... NATO AND RUSSIA used to plan missile attacks against each other, but now they are working together to protect against them. The former adversaries held their first exercise March 8-12 to test jointly developed procedures to defend against...

Congress critical of Bush nuclear weapons budget.(News and Negotiations)
April 1, 2004... AS THEY MAKE their annual rounds on Capitol Hill on behalf of the president's proposed budget, Bush administration officials are finding themselves in the hot seat defending President George W. Bush's fiscal year 2005 request for the Robust...

Taiwan referendum stumbles, Chen pushes ahead.(News Briefs)
April 1, 2004... Not enough Taiwanese voters cast votes March 20 on a proposed referendum about buying advanced missile defense systems for the results to be official, but President-elect Chen Shui-bian indicated in his acceptance speech that he feels...

St. Kitts and Nevis sign CTBT.(News Briefs)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... St. Kitts and Nevis became the 171st signatory of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) March 23. The CTBT, which opened for signature Sept. 24, 1996, currently has 171 signatories. Of those countries, 44 designated states with...

Australia cleared of exaggerating WMD threats.(News Briefs)
April 1, 2004... An Australian parliamentary investigation into Canberra's intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has cleared Prime Minister John Howard's government of pressuring the intelligence community or grossly exaggerating intelligence...

Energy Department to aid Iraqi scientists.(News Briefs)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The Department of Energy announced Feb. 25 that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will begin a new program "to provide employment opportunities to Iraqi scientists, technicians, and engineers." The program is designed to aid...

Letters to the editor.(Readers' Voices)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... To the Editor: Your recent report in the March 2004 Arms Control Today ("U.S. Announces New Landmines Policy," p. 43) did not accurately reflect the spirit or significance of the new United States landmine policy. This policy goes well...