Larissa
4th February 2003, 14:17
Except that it ain't funny and these folks are serious.
From: www.rootingoutevil.org
We have selected the US as our first priority based on criteria provided by the Bush administration. According to those criteria, the most dangerous states are those run by leaders who:
1) have massive stockpiles of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons;
2) ignore due process at the United Nations;
3) refuse to sign and honour international treaties; and
4) have come to power through illegitimate means.
The current US administration fulfills all these criteria. And so, again following Bush's guidelines, Rooting Out Evil is demanding that his administration allow immediate and unfettered access to international
weapons inspectors to search out their caches of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.
INTELLIGENCE
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Relevant Treaties
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT):
Article VI of the NPT obligates the United States and other declared nuclear weapons states to achieve complete nuclear disarmament through good-faith negotiations. However, the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) plans for the maintenance of large and modernized nuclear forces for the indefinite future and for expansion of options for use of nuclear weapons
against non-nuclear armed countries. Consistent with the NPR, the U.S.-Russian treaty signed in May 2002 permits deployment of arsenals of about 2000 warheads a decade from now. Most reduced U.S. warheads will be retained in a 'responsive force' capable of redeployment in weeks or months.
The U.S. policy reflected in the NPR and the new treaty, and the similar Russian policy, put both countries in violation of the NPT disarmament obligation. (source: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research)
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT):
The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions, for any purpose, warlike or peaceful. In order to enter into force, the CTBT must be signed and ratified by 44 listed countries that have some form of nuclear technological
capability, including the United States. The United States signed the CTBT in 1996, but in 1999 the Senate voted to reject ratification, and the Bush administration does not support ratification. As a signatory, the United
States is obliged under treaty law to refrain from acts that would defeat the CTBT's object and purpose. However, the United States, along with France, which has ratified the CTBT, is preparing to violate the prohibition of nuclear explosions by building large laser fusion facilities with the intent of carrying out laboratory thermonuclear explosions of up to ten pounds of TNT equivalent. (source: Institute for Energy and environmental Research)
U.S. Stockpiles
The United States currently possesses 5,400 warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles, 1,750 nuclear bombs and cruise missiles ready to be launched from B-2 and B-52 bombers, 1,670 'tactical' nuclear
weapons and another 10,000 warheads in bunkers around the country. Up to 2,000 of these warheads are available for launch in time periods ranging from minutes to weeks.
Contrary to its commitment under the NPT to "an unequivocal undertaking" toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, the U.S. announced in its 2002 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that it will maintain thousands of these nuclear warheads well into the middle of this century. Further, the NPR blurs distinctions between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons - reserves the right of the U.S. to use nuclear weapons not only in retaliation against nuclear attack, but also to deter attacks with chemical or biological weapons, or to destroy facilities suspected of producing them.
U.S. Research and Development
The U.S. has announced its intention to 'modernize' its nuclear forces by adding new types of warheads that will eventually require a resumption of nuclear testing. These new weapons will likely include warheads capable of attacking submarines and underground bunkers.
The U.S. is also currently developing a ballistic defence system that will put nuclear and non-nuclear weapons in space, giving the U.S. what planners describe as "full-spectrum dominance of land, sea, air and space."
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Relevant Treaties:
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC):
The United States rejected a draft protocol to the BWC negotiated by BWC states parties to create transparency and verification mechanisms. Instead, the United States seeks only voluntary measures that will not provide sufficient information on facilities and agents that could be diverted for use in bioweapons. Meanwhile, the United States has conducted biodefense programs that may violate the BWC prohibition against developing biological weapons, though in the absence of transparency mechanisms there is no way for third parties to determine that. Although these activities
were undertaken in the name of defense, the United States would not rely on another country's assurances that its bioweapons were created for defensive
purposes. (source: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research)
U.S. Stockpiles
The U.S. military has been conducting a covert biological weapons program for decades. While they claim that their programs are defensive, extensive evidence suggests otherwise. For example, the U.S. has produced dried and weaponsized anthrax spores. The official purpose of this program was for testing U.S. bio-defences, but far more spores were allegedly produced than necessary for such purposes and it is unclear whether they have been destroyed or simply stored. U.S. bioweapons labs also work with botulism and genetically engineered bacteria that break down plastics, rubber, and metals.
U.S. Research and Development
According to a paper written by respected British and American scientists and published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in January 2003, the U.S. is attempting to develop biological cluster bombs (cluster
bombs designed to disperse biological weapons) and that they are researching possibility of genetically engineering a new strain of antibiotic-resistant
anthrax. This research and development undermines and possibly violates the Biological Weapons Convention.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Relevant Treaties
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC):
The United States limited its compliance with the declaration and inspection regime of the CWC. It narrowed the facilities open to inspection, prohibited removal of samples, and conferred on the president the right to refuse inspections for national security reasons. The CWC does not permit these limitations, and already contains thorough safeguards for the protection of confidential information. The limitations may prevent accurate results, and other states are applying them to inspections of their facilities. The United States recently led changes in management of the body charged with implementing the CWC, expressing a desire to strengthen CWC operations. (source: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research)
U.S. Stockpiles
The U.S. possesses tens of thousands of tons of chemical warfare agents including lethal nerve and blister agents. These agents are contained in bombs, cartridges, projectiles, landmines, spray tanks, and one ton drums.
U.S. Research and Development
The U.S. is currently working on a new generation of 'non-lethal' chemical weapons. These include agents which render people unconscious without killing them, like the gas Russian forces used to break the Moscow
theatre siege. While these weapons are non-lethal (defined as killing one percent or less of those exposed), they can cause permanent neurological
damage. The U.S. is also developing long-range military delivery devices for these chemicals, including an 81mm chemical mortar round. The development of both the chemical agents and the delivery devices runs contrary to the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
URL: http://www.rootingoutevil.org/index.php3//
I only wish this could really be achieved. But I believe the US Gov is not likely to let us carry out any "inspection".
(Edited by Larissa at 11:19 am on Feb. 4, 2003)
From: www.rootingoutevil.org
We have selected the US as our first priority based on criteria provided by the Bush administration. According to those criteria, the most dangerous states are those run by leaders who:
1) have massive stockpiles of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons;
2) ignore due process at the United Nations;
3) refuse to sign and honour international treaties; and
4) have come to power through illegitimate means.
The current US administration fulfills all these criteria. And so, again following Bush's guidelines, Rooting Out Evil is demanding that his administration allow immediate and unfettered access to international
weapons inspectors to search out their caches of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.
INTELLIGENCE
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Relevant Treaties
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT):
Article VI of the NPT obligates the United States and other declared nuclear weapons states to achieve complete nuclear disarmament through good-faith negotiations. However, the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) plans for the maintenance of large and modernized nuclear forces for the indefinite future and for expansion of options for use of nuclear weapons
against non-nuclear armed countries. Consistent with the NPR, the U.S.-Russian treaty signed in May 2002 permits deployment of arsenals of about 2000 warheads a decade from now. Most reduced U.S. warheads will be retained in a 'responsive force' capable of redeployment in weeks or months.
The U.S. policy reflected in the NPR and the new treaty, and the similar Russian policy, put both countries in violation of the NPT disarmament obligation. (source: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research)
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT):
The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions, for any purpose, warlike or peaceful. In order to enter into force, the CTBT must be signed and ratified by 44 listed countries that have some form of nuclear technological
capability, including the United States. The United States signed the CTBT in 1996, but in 1999 the Senate voted to reject ratification, and the Bush administration does not support ratification. As a signatory, the United
States is obliged under treaty law to refrain from acts that would defeat the CTBT's object and purpose. However, the United States, along with France, which has ratified the CTBT, is preparing to violate the prohibition of nuclear explosions by building large laser fusion facilities with the intent of carrying out laboratory thermonuclear explosions of up to ten pounds of TNT equivalent. (source: Institute for Energy and environmental Research)
U.S. Stockpiles
The United States currently possesses 5,400 warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles, 1,750 nuclear bombs and cruise missiles ready to be launched from B-2 and B-52 bombers, 1,670 'tactical' nuclear
weapons and another 10,000 warheads in bunkers around the country. Up to 2,000 of these warheads are available for launch in time periods ranging from minutes to weeks.
Contrary to its commitment under the NPT to "an unequivocal undertaking" toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, the U.S. announced in its 2002 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that it will maintain thousands of these nuclear warheads well into the middle of this century. Further, the NPR blurs distinctions between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons - reserves the right of the U.S. to use nuclear weapons not only in retaliation against nuclear attack, but also to deter attacks with chemical or biological weapons, or to destroy facilities suspected of producing them.
U.S. Research and Development
The U.S. has announced its intention to 'modernize' its nuclear forces by adding new types of warheads that will eventually require a resumption of nuclear testing. These new weapons will likely include warheads capable of attacking submarines and underground bunkers.
The U.S. is also currently developing a ballistic defence system that will put nuclear and non-nuclear weapons in space, giving the U.S. what planners describe as "full-spectrum dominance of land, sea, air and space."
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Relevant Treaties:
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC):
The United States rejected a draft protocol to the BWC negotiated by BWC states parties to create transparency and verification mechanisms. Instead, the United States seeks only voluntary measures that will not provide sufficient information on facilities and agents that could be diverted for use in bioweapons. Meanwhile, the United States has conducted biodefense programs that may violate the BWC prohibition against developing biological weapons, though in the absence of transparency mechanisms there is no way for third parties to determine that. Although these activities
were undertaken in the name of defense, the United States would not rely on another country's assurances that its bioweapons were created for defensive
purposes. (source: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research)
U.S. Stockpiles
The U.S. military has been conducting a covert biological weapons program for decades. While they claim that their programs are defensive, extensive evidence suggests otherwise. For example, the U.S. has produced dried and weaponsized anthrax spores. The official purpose of this program was for testing U.S. bio-defences, but far more spores were allegedly produced than necessary for such purposes and it is unclear whether they have been destroyed or simply stored. U.S. bioweapons labs also work with botulism and genetically engineered bacteria that break down plastics, rubber, and metals.
U.S. Research and Development
According to a paper written by respected British and American scientists and published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in January 2003, the U.S. is attempting to develop biological cluster bombs (cluster
bombs designed to disperse biological weapons) and that they are researching possibility of genetically engineering a new strain of antibiotic-resistant
anthrax. This research and development undermines and possibly violates the Biological Weapons Convention.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Relevant Treaties
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC):
The United States limited its compliance with the declaration and inspection regime of the CWC. It narrowed the facilities open to inspection, prohibited removal of samples, and conferred on the president the right to refuse inspections for national security reasons. The CWC does not permit these limitations, and already contains thorough safeguards for the protection of confidential information. The limitations may prevent accurate results, and other states are applying them to inspections of their facilities. The United States recently led changes in management of the body charged with implementing the CWC, expressing a desire to strengthen CWC operations. (source: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research)
U.S. Stockpiles
The U.S. possesses tens of thousands of tons of chemical warfare agents including lethal nerve and blister agents. These agents are contained in bombs, cartridges, projectiles, landmines, spray tanks, and one ton drums.
U.S. Research and Development
The U.S. is currently working on a new generation of 'non-lethal' chemical weapons. These include agents which render people unconscious without killing them, like the gas Russian forces used to break the Moscow
theatre siege. While these weapons are non-lethal (defined as killing one percent or less of those exposed), they can cause permanent neurological
damage. The U.S. is also developing long-range military delivery devices for these chemicals, including an 81mm chemical mortar round. The development of both the chemical agents and the delivery devices runs contrary to the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
URL: http://www.rootingoutevil.org/index.php3//
I only wish this could really be achieved. But I believe the US Gov is not likely to let us carry out any "inspection".
(Edited by Larissa at 11:19 am on Feb. 4, 2003)