ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:951101
DATE:11/01/95
TITLE:01-11-95 OEHLER, HOLMES: WEAPONS PROLIFERATION IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM
TEXT:
(Article on 11/1 Senate Investigations Subcommittee hearing) (570)
By Peggy Hu
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- U.S. administration officials emphasized the need for a
global approach to controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) at a November 1 hearing before the Senate Government
Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
"Since the 1960s, when the U.S. sponsored the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), this country has
recognized that proliferation is a global problem and that combating
it requires high levels of international cooperation," said Gordon
Oehler, director of the Central Intelligence Agency's Nonproliferation
Center.
"Curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction among Third World
countries and their acquisition by terrorist groups will require the
continuation of an aggressive and cooperative international effort,"
Oehler said.
According to Oehler, the United States and other countries concerned
about weapons proliferation have focused on a four-part strategy to
control it: prevent countries from acquiring WMD through export
controls, sanctions against suppliers, and -- in extreme cases --
military action; adapt military forces and emergency assets to respond
to threats; offer incentives such as financial or technical assistance
to persuade countries to stop development of WMD; and establish arms
control arrangements such as political accommodations, economic
measures, and military confidence-building measures to reduce the
security threats used to justify WMD acquisition.
The United States also works closely with other countries to gather
intelligence on possible WMD proliferation programs, Oehler said.
Current initiatives include developing new technologies to detect
chemical and biological weapons; developing a list of collection
indicators to alert collectors and analysts prior to use of chemical
and biological weapons; and working more closely with other
governments and with U.S. law enforcement for early detection of WMD
programs, he said.
The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), ratified by 137 countries,
prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, or transfer of
biological agents and weapons and mandates the destruction of all
existing stocks. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) bans the use,
development, storage, or transfer of chemical warfare agents and their
associated technology and requires States Parties to enact national
legislation to control and monitor the export of some dual-use
chemicals.
The CWC will enter into force 180 days after ratification by the 65th
country, Oehler said. So far 40 countries have ratified the CWC.
H. Allen Holmes, assistant secretary of defense for special operations
and low intensity conflict, said that the United States is working
closely with other nations on a bilateral and multilateral basis to
halt and/or prevent WMD proliferation.
"U.S. government policy is directed toward stemming chemical and
biological weapons proliferation," Holmes said. "We have identified
key chemical precursors, biological pathogens, and nuclear materials
used in development of these weapons, and are using those precursors
to establish databases to monitor, deter, and if necessary take action
against those states or groups involved in chemical or biological
weapons development."
Holmes noted that "there remain many technical challenges in
responding to the use of chemical and biological weapons" but that
agencies involved with combating terrorism are "working hard each day
to solve those challenges."
U.S. agencies, he said, are "making every effort to enlist the aid of
our allies and other nations to coordinate response capabilities for
incidents involving weapons of mass destruction."
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