US weapons secrets exposed
…"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."
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."
guardian.co.uk |
