National implementation of the BTWC requires that States Parties implement Article I prohibiting the production, development, acquisition, stockpiling or retention of biological agents and toxins of types and in quantities that have no prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes in their territory or under their control. NGOs have a role to play.
Oversight, Sectarianism Mar Iraqi Security Forces Development
by Travis Sharp On November 30, 2007, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an updated report on the infrastructure and performance of the Iraqi Security Forces. The report criticizes the Department of Defense’s overly optimistic reporting on progress, concluding that GAO cannot “find sufficient evidence for an assessment of ‘independent’ or ‘fully independent’ for […]
For U.S. Missile Defense, Heavily Scripted Success Does Not Equal Security
By Achraf Farraj, Fall 2007 Research Intern The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a test of its Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (GMD) – also called National Missile Defense – on September 28, 2007 in which a target missile fired from Alaska was struck by an interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. […]
Incapacitating Chemical Weapons and the Chemical Weapons Convention
Growing government interest in exploiting advances in the life sciences to develop chemical incapacitants for use in hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency and urban warfare threatens to introduce a new category of chemical weapons.
Germs, Viruses, and Secrets: The Silent Proliferation of Bio-Laboratories in the United States
Over the last six years, the Federal government has dramatically increased US research and development activity and infrastructure focused on biological weapons agents.