June 1, 2006
The final report from the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, chaired by
Hans Blix, asserts unequivocally that nuclear weapons - along with chemical and
biological weapons of mass destruction - are the most inhumane weapons on Earth
and must be outlawed. IPPNW strongly supports this conclusion, and believes the
Commission's findings should end all further prevaricating by the nuclear weapon
states, who should waste no more time in convening negotiations for a Nuclear
Weapons Convention.
Weapons of Terror: Freeing the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms
was published on June 1, 2006. The long-awaited, 227-page report states at the
outset, and repeatedly, that nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
destruction represent the greatest danger to global security; that the
proliferation of nuclear weapons cannot be prevented as long as any state claims
a right to own them; and that the original five nuclear weapon states,
especially the US, bear the greatest responsibility for their elimination.
"So long as any state has nuclear weapons," the report asserts, "others
will want them. So long as any such weapons remain, there is a risk that they
will one day be used, by design or accident. And any such use would be
catastrophic."
The report is divided into eight chapters. One deals exclusively with biological
weapons and one with chemical weapons, but the bulk of the discussion focuses on
the nuclear threat, making it clear that nuclear weapons - which are
qualitatively in a class by themselves and are the only weapons of mass
destruction that have not yet been outlawed under an international agreement -
require the most urgent action.
The commission makes it clear that the main threat of a nuclear war comes from
the original nuclear weapons states - the US, Russia, the UK, France, and China
- and new nuclear doctrines that describe battlefield uses of nuclear weapons
that go far beyond commonly understood notions of deterrence. Nuclear
proliferation, the report concludes, is to a large extent encouraged by the
nuclear postures of the P5 and their lack of compliance with treaties and
conventions, all of which leads to an erosion of confidence in the
non-proliferation regime and prospects for nuclear abolition. The report is
especially critical of US unilateralism, which it notes is out of step with the
multilateral approaches to global security embraced by most of the world.
While the Commission has broken little or no new ground in its policy
recommendations, it reemphasizes the fundamental steps that have been
languishing ever since the 1995 and 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Reviews:
entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; negotiation of a fissile
materials ban; dealerting and cessation of "launch-on-warning"
policies; support for Nuclear Weapons Free Zones; adoption of "no-first-use"
policies; stricter international controls over existing fissile materials to
keep them out of the hands of terrorists; and investments in verification and
monitoring systems. Most important, the Commission has issued a stern reminder
to the nuclear weapon states that they have an obligation under the NPT to
eliminate their nuclear weapons, and that they are failing in that obligation.
IPPNW fully concurs with the Commission when it "rejects the suggestion
that nuclear weapons in the hands of some pose no threat, while in the hands of
others they place the world in mortal jeopardy." Nuclear weapons in any
hands place the world in mortal jeopardy, and they must be abolished.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission was initiated by the late Foreign
Minister of Sweden, Anna Lindh, in June 2003, acting on a proposal from Jayantha
Dhanapala, then UN Undersecretary for Disarmament. The chair, Hans Blix, was the
head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981-1997, and was
the chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq. The final report, along with more than
40 special studies, can be downloaded from the Commission's website.
Weapons of Terror: Freeing the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms
PDF
file, 3.4 MB