The march to war in Iraq demonstrates that the proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction undoubtedly remains of central concern in the minds of policy makers everywhere.
This concern manifested itself most recently at the Paul C. Warnke Conference on Arms Control in the ICC, where U.S Senators Joseph Biden (D-De.) and Jack Reed (D-Ri.) joined arms control experts to discuss the threats posed by the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
The central event of the afternoon was Biden’s address in the Copley Formal Lounge. As a small crowd of mostly older policy researchers looked on, the Senator took the podium to reaffirm the importance of non-proliferation efforts.
He sharply criticized the Bush administration’s intentions to develop new types of nuclear weapons and build a national missile defense system. He characterized the current world security situation as a “crisis.”
“The prevention of that proliferation is still the greatest concern of mankind,” he said. “The administration’s inattention and ideological rigidity has led to a crisis.”
In a wide-ranging critique of various aspects of the Administration’s foreign policy, Biden argued that the United States must work to further reduce nuclear stockpiles in Russia and the U.S., prevent the proliferation of weapons to what he characterized as “the most dangerous states,” and secure the international stockpiles of the fissile materials needed to make an atomic bomb.
The Bush Administration, Biden asserted, has done little to pursue these aims. In fact, he said, the administration’s doctrine of preventive war and its unprecedented endorsement of the possible use of nuclear weapons in conventional war are entirely counterproductive.
In a reference to the continuing controversy over the cause for war in Iraq, Biden said, “The strategy of preemption risks causing states to develop nuclear weapons since they know that they will be attacked whether they have the weapons or not.”
Biden’s concerns over the Administration’s policies were echoed both by Senator Reed and the members of the afternoon discussion panel. Last year’s decision by the administration to reconsider the development and use of small nuclear weapons to destroy underground structures and bunkers seemed especially objectionable to the speakers.
The former commander of America’s Strategic Nuclear forces, General Eugene Habiger, criticized the decision to seek conventional uses for unconventional weapons.
“The point is, God help us if we ever develop a nuclear weapon that is attractive to use,” he said.
