-Caveat Lector-
What makes the U.S. (and Russian) programs for "calmative" agents even more
problematic is the current interpretation of "non-lethal" weapons under the
Biological and Chemical Weapons treaty. Non-lethal weapons include agents
that do not kill more than 25% of the population targeted.
In the tragedy of the Russian theater incident "only" 116 died from the use
of whatever gas the Russians used. That's slightly under 15% of the total
hostages involved and falls well within the range of currently defined
"non-lethal" weapons.
Jim Rarey
US weapons secrets exposed
Julian Borger in
Washington
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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."
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