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CHEMICAL WEAPONS: U.S. seeks to spur talks on global ban

If President Bush has his way, chemical weapons treaty talks, which began in 1968, will draw to a close next May with completion of a global ban on possession, production, storage, and use of these weapons of mass destruction. Last week, in a policy shift, the President pledged that—effective when the treaty enters into force—the U.S. will forswear use of chemical weapons (CW) for any reason, including retaliation. And within 10 years of that date, the U.S. will destroy all its CW chemical stocks and production facilities. Until now, the U.S. has reserved the right to retaliate, and to retain 2% of its chemical arsenal, until all CW-capable countries join the treaty. These two positions, plus a draconian formulation for challenge inspections to verify compliance, have stalled talks at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament. The conference resumed last week in Geneva with presentation of the new U.S. position. A U.S. government official familiar ...