[casi] US Developing Bio and Chemical Weapons and Products

[SPREWELLAIEC5MI@DELETETHISaol.com]

What hypocrisy on the part of the US to be chastising the Iraqis for possibly
having biological or chemical weapons/components, yet producing the same
things themselves. What hypocrites!
                                            Andrew
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,821306,00.html
US weapons secrets exposed

Julian Borger in Washington
Tuesday October 29, 2002
The Guardian

Respected scientists on both sides of the Atlantic warned yesterday that the
US is developing a new generation of weapons that undermine and possibly
violate international treaties on biological and chemical warfare.

The scientists, specialists in bio-warfare and chemical weapons, say the
Pentagon, with the help of the British military, is also working on
"non-lethal" weapons similar to the narcotic gas used by Russian forces to
end last week's siege in Moscow.

They also point to the paradox of the US developing such weapons at a time
when it is proposing military action against Iraq on the grounds that Saddam
Hussein is breaking international treaties.

Malcolm Dando, professor of international security at the University of
Bradford, and Mark Wheelis, a lecturer in microbiology at the University of
California, say that the US is encouraging a breakdown in arms control by its
research into biological cluster bombs, anthrax and non-lethal weapons for
use against hostile crowds, and by the secrecy under which these programmes
are being conducted.

"There can be disagreement over whether what the United States is doing
represents violations of treaties," Mr Wheelis told the Guardian. "But what
is happening is at least so close to the borderline as to be destabilising."

In a paper to be published soon in the scientific journal Bulletin of the
Atomic Scientists, the two academics focus on recent US actions that have
served to undermine the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. In a move that
stunned the international community last July, the US blocked an attempt to
give the convention some teeth with inspections, so that member countries
could check if others were keeping the agreement.

Mr Dando believes Washington's motive for torpedoing the deal, which had the
support of its allies, was to maintain secrecy over US research work on
biological weapons. He said that work includes:

· CIA efforts to copy a Soviet cluster bomb designed to disperse biological
weapons

· A project by the Pentagon to build a bio-weapon plant from commercially
available materials to prove that terrorists could do the same thing

· Research by the Defence Intelligence Agency into the possibility of
genetically engineering a new strain of antibiotic-resistant anthrax

· A programme to produce dried and weaponised anthrax spores, officially for
testing US bio-defences, but far more spores were allegedly produced than
necessary for such purposes and it is unclear whether they have been
destroyed or simply stored.

In each case, the US argued the research work was being done for defensive
purposes, but their legality under the BWC is questionable, the scientists
argue.

For example, a clause in the biological weapons treaty forbids signatories
from producing or developing "weapons, equipment or means of delivery
designed to use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed
conflict".

Furthermore, signatories agreed to make annual declarations about their
biodefence programmes, but the US never mentioned any of those programmes in
its reports. Instead, they emerged from leaks and press reporting.

The focus on Washington's biological and chemical weapons programme comes at
an awkward time for the Bush administration, which is locked in negotiations
at the UN for a tough resolution on arms inspections of Iraq. According to Mr
Dando, British and US research into hallucinogenic weapons such as the gas BZ
encouraged Iraq to look into similar agents. "We showed them the way," he
said.

Mr Dando added that the US was currently working on "non-lethal" weapons
similar to the gas Russian forces used to break the Moscow theatre siege.
Those include "calmative" agent which are designed to knock people out
without killing them.

"What happened in Moscow is a harbinger of what is to come," Mr Dando said.
"There is a revolution in life sciences which could be applied in a major way
to warfare. It's an early example of the mess we may be creating."

He added that Britain "is implicated as well", as the Pentagon's Joint
Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate has worked with British officers on its
research.

Jonathan Tucker, a chemical weapons expert at the US Institute for Peace in
Washington, said much of the work on non-lethal weapons was being carried out
by an institute under the US justice department but was funded by the
Pentagon.

"They are trying to keep it at arms length, but it is problematic especially
for military purposes. The chemical weapons convention makes a very clear
distinction between riot control and incapacitants," he said.

While Mr Tucker believes that such knock-out gases are explicitly banned
under the treaty, Mr Dando and Mr Wheelis believe the Pentagon has exploited
a loophole that allows for such weapons for "law enforcement purposes".

But by blurring the edges of the treaty, they argue the US is inviting other
countries to do the same. The US, Mr Dando said, "runs the very real danger
of leading the world down a pathway that will greatly reduce the security of
all."

_______________________________________________
Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss
To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk
All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk