Experts Advise Congress on Chemical and Biological Weapons Use in Iraq
Media Advisory from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
For Immediate Release
March 27, 2003
Contact: Molly Pickett, 202-546-0795 ext. 119
Steve LaMontagne, 202-546-0795 ext. 100
Dr. Jonathan Tucker, U.S. Institute of Peace, 202-429-3875
Elisa Harris, University of Maryland, 301-405-8676
Experts Advise Congress on Chemical and Biological Weapons Use in Iraq
WASHINGTON, DC – This week, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation hosted weapons experts Elisa Harris and Jonathan Tucker at a briefing for Congressional staff on key chemical and biological weapons issues related to the war in Iraq.
Their key observations included:
- Iraq is unlikely to use chemical or biological weapons in combat, but could unleash these agents to 1) contaminate the terrain in a last-ditch attempt to turn back U.S. forces or 2) to deploy an infectious disease.
- The United States does not know exactly what chemical or biological weapons Iraq possesses and does not know exactly what their impact would be on U.S. forces; but Iraq is limited in its delivery capability.
- There is a risk that chemical or biological agents could be inadvertently released as a result of the massive bombing campaign.
- The United States is restricted by a 1975 Executive Order and the Chemical Weapons Convention from using riot control agents as a method of warfare. Since World War I, every use of lethal chemical weapons has been preceded by the use of riot control agents.
- Acute proliferation dangers will arise in the immediate aftermath of the war in Iraq. Specifically, chemical or biological agents could be smuggled out of Iraq, and unemployed Iraqi scientists could be recruited by terrorists or rogue states.
To reduce these proliferation risks, Dr. Tucker recommends that the United States act to seal the Iraqi border, and to engage Iraqi weapons specialists in peaceful pursuits. He suggests creating a program similar to the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow, which supports basic research projects for former Soviet scientists.
Dr. Jonathan Tucker is director of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at the Monterey Institute’s Center for Non-Proliferation Studies and is a 2002-2003 Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He was an UNSCOM biological weapons inspector in Iraq in 1995.
Ms. Elisa Harris is a research fellow at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland and a former National Security Council official.
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