by Travis Sharp On December 18, 2007, the Senate approved an amendment introduced by Republican leader Mitch McConnell providing $70 billion in “bridge” funding for ongoing U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration has requested $196 billion in war funding for Fiscal Year 2008. The $70 billion “bridge” provides 36% of this […]
Statement of Dr. Marie Chevrier at the 2007 BWC Meeting of States Parties
Thank you, Ambassador Khan for your invitation to address the States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and to participate in this Round Table Exercise. I am here in my role as Chair of the Scientists Working Group on Biological and Chemical Weapons at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation in Washington DC. I wish to thank the members of the Working Group and Dr. Alan Pearson, the director of the project at the Center.
Scientists Working Group Chair Addresses Biological Weapons Convention Meeting
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. […]
