Europe To Bush: At Least Sign Ballistic Missle Treaty

by Thalif Deen

The EU is pushing for a multilateral code of conduct to regulate the flow of ballistic missiles -- specifically those capable of carrying nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

"This is an urgent problem and one that deserves our highest attention," the EU says in a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The letter, written last month, was released as part of a report by Annan, entitled "Missiles."

The EU proposal, which is sure to generate U.S. opposition, is also being backed by Russia, which has proposed its own Global Control System for Non-Proliferation of Missiles and Missile Technologies (GCS).

The United States in recent months has rejected several internationally binding treaties, including a convention against landmines and a treaty establishing an International Criminal Court -- both of which were negotiated during the Clinton administration.

More recently, the Bush administration has abandoned the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change and has threatened to abrogate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. Last month, Washington opposed the creation of a new international instrument to monitor the implementation of a 1975 UN convention banning biological weapons.

All of these treaties have either been signed or ratified by the EU, although Russia has refused to go along with the convention against landmines.

In a letter to Annan, Russia says: "The creation and deployment by the U.S. of a national anti-missile defense system, which is prohibited under the 1972 ABM Treaty, would give a major impetus to missile proliferation."

Russia argues the problem must be addressed "by using existing international legal mechanisms and establishing new ones to contain and limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technologies."

The EU says it sees "an urgent need for the development of globally accepted norms in support of ballistic missile non-proliferation, analogous to the norms laid down in the international regimes designed to curtail the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons."

The most advanced and promising initiative in this field, it says, is the draft international code of conduct, ideas on which were developed within the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

Established in 1987, the 29-member MTCR is an informal and voluntary export control regime that seeks to limit the proliferation of missile systems and related technology (rocket systems and unmanned air vehicles) that can deliver a payload of 500 kilograms or greater to a range of at least 300 kilometers.

The MTCR, which includes the United States, France, Britain, and other major powers, is not a decision-making authority and each member is responsible for implementing group decisions through its national laws and regulations.

Jayantha Dhanapala, the UN undersecretary general for disarmament affairs, says the issue of ballistic missiles has become of growing concern of the international community in recent years.

"Ballistic missile technology is no more restricted to a limited number of states, as seen in the missile programs of a rising number of states," he notes.

Excluding the nuclear-weapon states -- namely the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- there are reportedly more than a dozen states possessing various levels of capability to develop and produce ballistic missiles, says Dhanapala.

"There has indeed been increasingly easier access to technology, expertise, and information for the development of such systems," he adds.

Some of the developing nations who either have long-range missiles or are in the process of building them include India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, North Korea and Pakistan.

Dhanapala also points out that current targeting policies, and the fact that large numbers of missiles are ready to be launched on warning, imperil the lives of millions of civilians in cities around the world.

"There is also the danger of missiles being used as anti-satellite weapons, threatening to engulf outer space in war fighting strategies," he adds.

Russia says international efforts to contain and limit ballistic missiles are not new. The process of limiting ballistic missiles began with the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT) of the 1970s.

The 1987 treaty between the United States and the former Soviet Union on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF treaty) was of significant importance for missile non-proliferation.

As a result of this treaty, both the United States and the former Soviet Union eliminated an entire class of their ground-based missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. Altogether, about 2,690 missiles were eliminated.

The reduction and elimination of strategic ballistic missiles with ranges of more than 5,500 kilometers started with the 1991 START I Treaty. As of last January, 2,810 intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles had been eliminated.

The Russians say that deeper reductions are envisaged under START II, which they ratified in 2000.

"The Russian Federation is also prepared to begin immediate negotiations on a new START III that would provide for the further limitation and reduction of all strategic offensive arms without exception, including long-range, sea-based cruise missiles," the Russian letter to Annan adds.