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U.S. Urges "Concrete Action" to Stop Spread of WMD

14 February 2006

More than "empty rhetoric" needed to stem proliferation, says State official

Washington -- Individual countries “should ask themselves not what the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) can do for them,” but rather what they can do to combat the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction (WMD), says Carolyn Leddy, senior adviser to the State Department's Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation.

“The simple answer,” she said, is to “act responsibly.”

During a February 14 conference in Tokyo on “Future Measures for Strengthening the BWC Regime,” co-sponsored by Japan’s Foreign Ministry and the Japan Institute of International Affairs, Leddy said, “Times have changed, and therefore we must be prepared to part company with Cold War approaches to arms control.”

Established in 1975, the BWC bans development, production, and stockpiling of biological agents or toxins for nonpeaceful purposes.  In November 2002, experts from states that are parties to the convention agreed to meet annually through 2006 to discuss and promote common understanding and effective action on biosecurity issues.  Preparations currently are under way for the 2006 Review Conference. 

In recent years, the United States has drawn criticism for its withdrawal from negotiations on a protocol for verification mechanisms under the BWC.  Leddy said that the United States “supports meaningful, dynamic and proactive strategies to confront proliferation, but we will not accept lowest common denominator approaches which will have little, if any, effect.”

Leddy said that to counter the spread of dangerous weapons to rogue states and terrorists, individual states must take all steps within their power to combat WMD proliferation, in addition to engaging in international arms control and nonproliferation programs.  “Multilateral commitments are only as effective as the actions undertaken by states themselves to implement such commitments,” she said.  

“Absent national ‘ownership,’” Leddy added, “multilateral obligations are simply empty rhetoric.  And, unfortunately, we know all too well that rhetoric does not make us any safer from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

The United States has taken several active measures, Leddy said, such as:

• Developing a National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Released in December 2002, the Bush administration’s strategy is built upon the three pillars of counterproliferation, nonproliferation and consequence management.(See related article.)

• Actively supporting the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 -- The resolution, adopted unanimously by the Security Council in April 2004, requires all member states to criminalize WMD proliferation and institute effective controls to prevent the proliferation of WMD and related materials.  

• Establishing the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) -- A multinational initiative, which currently has more than 70 participating countries, PSI relies on the existing legal authorities of states to conduct training and other operational activities to interdict and disrupt WMD-related trafficking.

Leddy said that these programs are among “a number of tools and resources that must be pooled collectively to prevent the most dangerous weapons from falling into the hands of the most dangerous regimes and terrorists.”

Looking ahead to the 2006 Review Conference, Leddy said that the United States will not return to negotiations for any BWC verification mechanism, but remains open to suggestions for the future of the BWC beyond 2006. 

“In examining any of these proposals,” she said, “the litmus test for the United States will be their relevance to the post-9/11 international security environment in which we cannot remain passive, but must succeed in our efforts to eliminate the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Anything less is not an option.”

More information on the Proliferation Security Initiative is available on the State Department Web site.

For more information on U.S. nonproliferation policy, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)