Th E Chemical Weapons Convention

T terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 concentrated minds on the potential of terrorism with weapons of mass destruction (WMD), combining a timeless tactic with the most destructive weaponry. Th e margins of international tolerance of non-compliance with the WMD nonproliferation and disarmament norms and obligations narrowed dramatically after that date. Affi rming WMD proliferation as a threat to international peace and security and expressing concern over the threat of WMD terrorism and of illicit traffi cking in WMD material, weapons and delivery systems, UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (28 April 2004) called on all states to enact and enforce laws to prohibit nonstate actors to develop, acquire, transfer or use WMD; and to take and enforce eff ective domestic control, physical protection, accounting and border control measures to prevent proliferation. Biological, chemical and nuclear weapons diff er in their technical features, in the ease with they can be acquired and developed and in their capacity to cause mass destruction. Because they can cause mass casualties, the chemical weapons phobia can be exploited tactically to impose caution and limit the mobility of enemy forces. Nevertheless, their military utility is limited by diffi culties in storage, transportation and dispersal, and by the need to have large amounts. Th ey are weapons of political terror rather than military force. Th ey are not like nuclear weapons where once critical mass is reached, a chain reaction is triggered leading to uncontrollable escalation. Chemical weapons would be needed in large quantity to cause the level of damage and death that just one nuclear weapon can infl ict. And, unlike nuclear weapons, defences are available against chemical weapons. Th e stringent verifi cation provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at the Hague as the implementing arm of the convention are an eff ective bulwark against terrorists using chemical weapons. Th e CWC is unique among disarmament treaties for having outlawed a class of weapons, instituted a comprehensive verifi cation regime, establishing its own organization responsible for implementing Overview