Chemical weapons die hard

by Hans de Vreij, 21 October 2003

Unable to meet the deadlines for the destruction of their chemical weapons stockpiles, the United States and Russia will request a delay from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is currently holding its eighth conference in The Hague.

Both Russia and the United States are having great difficulty in dismantling their vast arsenals of deadly poison gases within the timeframe set by the Chemical Weapons Convention. It's not a matter of unwillingness, say experts, who point out that the whole destruction process is proving to be far more complex (and also reportedly far more costly) than manufacturing the arsenals. Other delaying factors are the strict environmental requirements and, related to this, protests by municipalities located in the vicinity of the destruction facilities.

Modifying legislation
For this reason, Moscow and Washington will be asking the other 152 state parties to the Convention for an extension of the deadline for the destruction of a certain percentage of their chemical weapons stockpiles. This is probably one of the less controversial points on the agenda at the current Hague gathering of the OPCW, the body that monitors compliance with the convention.

A much more serious problem is the fact that many state parties who have ratified the treaty have failed to "translate" it into national legislation, making it impossible for them to meet their obligations. The OPCW says this currently applies to nearly half of all signatories. Without this legislation, keeping checks on national chemical industries and the export of chemical substances is problematic, if not impossible.

Words and deeds
Then there's the question of countries who have ratified the treaty, but are still suspected of having chemical weapons stockpiles or manufacturing them. Here, several countries including Iran are expected to come under stinging attack from the United States.

The Middle East presents another problem set to ignite some verbal fireworks at the Hague gathering. With the exception of Jordan and Kuwait, none of the countries in the region have signed the treaty. Most of them refuse to do so as long as Israel possesses nuclear weapons. Official statements from countries like Syria seem to imply that they must have chemical weapons in order to maintain a strategic balance with Israel.