WASHINGTON Ñ The United States has accused Iraq, Iran and Cuba of seeking
to exploit a proposed ban on biological weapons to aid their own weapons of
mass destruction programs.
Earlier this year, the Bush administration rejected a revised draft of
the Biological Weapons Convention, Middle East Newsline reported. The international
treaty bans the development, production, stockpiling and acquisition of
biological weapons.
"Countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Cuba have fought the hardest for free
access to the technology, knowledge, and
equipment necessary to pursue biological weapons," Under Secretary of State John Bolton said. "Their
argument was simple: as states parties to the BWC they should be allowed
free trade in all biological materials."
More than a dozen countries are said to be pursuing biological weapons,
officials said. They include Cuba, Iraq, Iraq, Libya, Syria and North Korea.
"Unrepentant rogues, such as Saddam Hussein, continue to seek illegal
weapons to sow massive destruction on civilian targets with complete
disregard to the BWC and other international agreements," Bolton said. "Iran, Libya, Syria, and North Korea are also
pursuing these illegitimate and inhumane weapons."
U.S. officials said states such as Iran and Iraq have objected to rules
that would control the spread of dual-use components for biological weapons
while seeking to gain access to technology and equipment that would bolster
their WMD programs. Both of these states are believed to be engaged in BW
development.
In an address to the Tokyo-American Center on Tuesday, Bolton,
responsible for State Department policy on arms control and international
security, said Cuba maintains "at least a limited, offensive biological
warfare research-and-development effort.
Terrorist groups are actively seeking the knowledge, equipment, and material
necessary for biological weapons."
Bolton said the United States rejected the draft protocol for three
reasons. He said traditional arms control would not work on biological
weapons; the treaty compromised national security and confidential
business information; and proliferators would have used the treaty to
undermine other effective international export control regimes.
Officials said the United States was pressured by other countries to
agree to the establishment of a cooperation committee linked to the BWC. The
committee was proposed as a means to promote scientific and technological
exchanges and was touted as a concession to Iran and Cuba.
[On Thursday, Bolton called North Korea the biggest exporter of
ballistic missiles and technology in the world. "In addition to its
disturbing weapons of mass destruction activities, North Korea also is the
world's foremost peddler of ballistic missile-related equipment, components,
materials and technical expertise," Bolton said in a speech in Seoul.]
Bolton said the United States has taken the initiative to combat BW. He
termed the USA Patriot Act and the Public
Health Security and Bio-terrorist Preparedness and Response Act as measures
directed at improving the U.S. ability to combat the threat.
"National, bilateral, and multilateral efforts have made it more
difficult for those pursuing biological weapons to obtain the necessary
ingredients and made it easier to detect and counter any attack," he said.
