Arms Control Today articles from October 2004

Arms Control Today archives from October 2004

Editor's note.(Editorial)
October 1, 2004... When it comes to arms control, things are not always what they appear at first blush. Many observers were heartened this summer when one of President George W. Bush's top nuclear aides announced plans to cut the nuclear stockpile "almost...

Iran: getting back on track.(FOCUS)
October 1, 2004... Since the world's nuclear watchdog agency confirmed reports of Iran's extensive and secret nuclear activities more than two years ago, international concerns that Tehran might soon acquire bomb-making capabilities have grown. The crisis...

Notable quotable.(In BRIEF)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... "Some estimates indicate that 40 countries or more now have the know-how to produce nuclear weapons, which means that if they have the required fissile material--HEU or plutonium--we are relying primarily on the continued good intentions of...

Pseudo-science and SDI.(15 Years Ago in ACT)
October 1, 2004... The pattern of strategic defense enthusiasm has remained virtually unchanged for 30 years: unfulfilled promises and unsolved fundamental problems. Joseph Romm October 1989

By the numbers.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Nuclear Testing Tally 1945-2004 1,030 The United States 715 USSR/Russia 210 France 45 China 45 United Kingdom 3 India 2 Pakistan Note: The only countries that have...

The Australia Group.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovenia became members of the Australia Group in June. Members of the now 38-country regime agree to coordinate their domestic export controls to limit the supply of chemicals and biological agents, as...

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Four, more countries have agreed to be bound by amended Article 1 of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which extends restrictions embodied in the treaty's five protocols to conflicts within states as well as among them. On...

Chemical Weapons Convention.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Solomon Islands ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on Sept. 23 following endorsements by both the Marshall Islands and St. Kitts and Nevis in May. The convention, which recently entered its eighth year, now includes 165...

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) became the 118th country to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Sept. 28, following Tunisia and Liechtenstein. The DRC is one of 44 states with nuclear capabilities that must ratify the treaty...

IAEA additional protocol.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In Sept. 23, Morocco and Tanzania signed additional protocols to their general safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), bringing the total number of states with additional protocols to 62. Paraguay signed an...

U.S. Strategic Command.(Comings & Goings)
October 1, 2004... U.S. Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright has replaced Adm. James O. Ellis as U.S. Strategic Command 's new commander.

International Atomic Energy Agency board.(Comings & Goings)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors has chosen Canadian Ambassador Ingrid Hall to serve as its chair. Pakistan's Parvez Butt and Poland's Jerzy Niewodniczanski have also been elected to serve as vice-chairpersons.

U.S. Pacific Command.(Comings & Goings)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... President George W. Bush has nominated Air Force Gen. Gregory S. Martin to take over U.S. Pacific Command, the largest of the military's five geographic commands.

The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.(Comings & Goings)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Bush has appointed longtime Pentagon official Walter B. Slocombe to the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, an independent commission investigating U.S. intelligence...

What's ahead: on the calendar.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... Oct. 4-8 Missile Technology Control Regime annual meeting. Seoul, South Korea. Oct. 4-Nov. 5 UN General Assembly's First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) meets. New...

What's behind Bush's nuclear cuts?
October 1, 2004... It is not every day that the U.S. government decides to cut its nuclear-weapons stockpile in half. Yet, the mainstream media paid little attention on June 1 when Linton F. Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, announced...

Biological threat assessment: is the cure worse than the disease?
October 1, 2004... In the three years since the September 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent mailings of anthrax bacterial spores, federal spending to protect the U.S. civilian population against biological terrorism has soared more than 18-fold. For the...

Does China belong in the Missile Technology Control Regime?
October 1, 2004... The prospect that China might soon join a U.S.-initiated regime aimed at controlling ballistic missiles might seem laughable. After all, the United States has imposed sanctions on China for years for hawking missiles and missile technologies to...

IAEA puts off showdown with Iran.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
October 1, 2004... With three key European countries intent on giving Iran a final chance to resolve international concerns about its nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors has again refused to meet U.S. demands that...

ElBaradei cites progress by Iran, but investigation continues.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
October 1, 2004... In a Sept. 1 report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said he was closing the agency's probe into two aspects of Iran's nuclear program. But contrary to Iran's wishes, he...

U.S. pushes IAEA to probe suspected Iranian nuclear site.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
October 1, 2004... The United States wants the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate a site where Iran may be conducting tests for a nuclear weapons program, a Department of State official told Arms Control Today Sept. 21. The official...

U.S. lifts remaining economic sanctions against Libya.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
October 1, 2004... President George W. Bush lifted most remaining U.S. sanctions on Libya Sept. 20, two days before Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance Paula DeSutter told Congress that verification of Libya's disarmament tasks is...

More U.S. claims on Iraq WMD rebutted.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
October 1, 2004... Arecent report from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) further undermines pre-war U.S. claims that Iraq was developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of delivering chemical and biological...

IAEA probes Seoul's nuclear program.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
October 1, 2004... Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been investigating South Korea's nuclear-related facilities after learning that its government secretly produced small quantities of nuclear material, apparently in violation of...

North Korea skips six-party talks.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
October 1, 2004... Despite a June agreement, North Korea refused to take part in another round of six-party talks before the end of September, blaming both U.S. policy and South Korea's recently revealed nuclear experiments. Still, all parties continue to express...

Pakistan advances export controls.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
October 1, 2004... Pakistan's Senate Sept. 18 approved export control legislation intended to strengthen current measures to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez...

Bush, Kerry square off on arms control.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
October 1, 2004... The vivid memory of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the steadily increasing number of U.S. casualties in Iraq ensure that national security issues will remain prevalent throughout the homestretch of the 2004 presidential campaign. ...

Global arms market still U.S. domain.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
October 1, 2004... Defying a continuing decline in the global conventional arms market, the United States increased its weapons sales again last year, according to an annual report published Aug. 26 by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The United...

New delays in U.S. missile defense.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
October 1, 2004... Amid a final push to deploy several long-range, ground-based ballistic missile interceptors this fall, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) again postponed a much-delayed inaugural test of two crucial components comprising the interceptor. Pentagon...

Report backs access to pathogen codes.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
October 1, 2004... Restricting access to information on the DNA of deadly pathogens will not prevent bioterrorism and will actually hinder efforts to combat infectious diseases, a National Research Council (NRC) report said Sept. 9. Instead, it recommended an...

Goss confirmed as new CIA director.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... As questions swirled about the future of the CIA and the intelligence community, the Senate Sept. 22, by a vote of 77-17, confirmed Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) as the new director of central intelligence. Poor intelligence has been cited as...

News analysis; Test ban infrastructure: a concrete reality.(THE WORLD)
October 1, 2004... VIENNA -- Five years ago, the U.S. Senate rejected the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by a vote of 51-48, dashing hopes that a permanent ban on nuclear tests would soon be a global reality. The Bush administration has said that it does...

U.S. fissile material ban plan fizzles.(THE WORLD)
October 1, 2004... A U.S. government effort to begin negotiations this summer on a treaty banning production of two key ingredients for nuclear weapons fizzled when Washington failed to fully explain its new position toward the agreement. After a prolonged...

Russia, U.S. bolster regional nuclear security following terrorist attacks.(THE WORLD)
October 1, 2004... A series of recent terrorist attacks in Beslan and Moscow attributed to Chechen rebels have spurred the United States and the Kremlin to step up activities to guard Russia's high-risk nuclear materials. The Russian Atomic Energy Agency...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
October 1, 2004... The caption accompanying the photo on page 18 of the September 2004 issue of Arms Control Today was incorrect. It should have read "U.S. forces must contend with at least 90,000 explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Iraq, as seen here in Basra....

Looking back: the U.S. Senate vote on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
October 1, 2004... This month marks the fifth anniversary of one of the most self-defeating moments in the U.S. Senate's history of involvement in international arms control. On Oct. 13, 1999, that body voted 51-48 against ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban...