U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
Statement By
Avis T. Bohlen, Assistant Secretary for Arms Control
in the First Committee of the General Assembly in General Debate
United Nations, New York
October 10, 2001
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I begin, please accept my
congratulations on your assumption of the Chairmanship of the
First Committee. I am confident that the skill, experience, and
knowledge you and the bureau bring to First Committee
deliberations will assist us in a successful conclusion to our
endeavors. I would like to express my appreciation for the moment
of silence observed by the Committee at its first meeting October
4, 2001.
Mr. Chairman and other representatives to the First Committee,
We convene during a solemn period for humanity. Just four weeks
ago a horrendous attack was carried out against this city and the
international community. In addition to several thousand
Americans, hundreds of citizens from 80 different nations lost
their lives at the hands of a well-organized group of terrorists
who showed total disdain for the innocents who suffered and
perished. The world was shocked and appalled by these criminal
events. The depravity of those acts, the tragic loss of life and
the horrifying destruction mark that day forever as a sad chapter
in human history. We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of
sympathy that came to us from all over the world and for the
solidarity shown by the international community in undertaking
the long struggle now just beginning to bring the perpetrators to
account and to fight terrorism wherever it manifests itself with
all the weapons at our disposal.
The events of September 11 and the continuing concerns we all
share underscore the need to take a fresh look at the
international community's traditional convictions and approaches
to security. We must strengthen them where appropriate, but we
must also consider new ways to reduce the terrorist threat to
mankind.
Responsible governments must assure the security and safety of
their citizens and of civil society as a whole. We are not free
to stand aside and watch our citizens be slaughtered, nor can we
tolerate international aggression or other forcible assaults on
key interests and values. Criminals and terrorists who possess
the means to threaten society, and who have shown no reluctance
to use them, are a danger to us all and threaten the achievement
of the goal of general and complete disarmament. Governments
throughout the world must cooperate and devote appropriate energy
and resources to finding them, bringing them to justice, and
rooting out the organized networks that enable them to operate.
There is intense concern that some of these terrorists and
criminals may continue to seek to acquire and use weapons of mass
destruction. This gives the international community important and
persuasive reasons to redouble our non-proliferation and arms
control efforts. We must also strengthen other mechanisms
intended to ensure that toxic and dangerous materials remain
under appropriate control and are used solely for legal and
constructive purposes. The United States Government is actively
examining these questions, and we would welcome ideas and views
of others on how best to achieve these goals. We hope to enlist
the help of all the members of the United Nations in the fight
against terrorism and the threats posed by proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction.
Delegations to the First Committee have come here to consider
issues of disarmament, arms control, and international peace and
security. We will consider resolutions that focus on ways and
means to reduce the potential harm to mankind from the tools of
war - from small arms to weapons of mass destruction. We will not
always agree on the best ways to reduce these dangers, but we can
exchange insights, discuss alternate approaches, and seek to
persuade each other.
Let me begin by reiterating and emphasizing the strong support of
the United States for the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). As a
nuclear weapon state, the United States understands its special
responsibility under Article VI to take steps related to nuclear
disarmament. President Bush has made clear that the U .S. will
reduce its nuclear forces to the lowest possible level that is
compatible with the security of the U .S. and its allies.
NPT Parties and UN Member States, including the U.S., have
repeatedly called for the immediate commencement of negotiations
on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) to end the production
of fissile material for nuclear weapons. We are extremely
disappointed that the continuing deadlock in the CD is preventing
the start of these negotiations. We urge all CD members to start
FMCT negotiations without further delay.
The United States is keenly aware of the dangers we face in
today's global environment. Earlier this year my government began
a strategic policy review that is beginning to bear fruit. As one
example, you are aware that the U.S. Government and the
Government of the Russian Federation have been intensively
discussing a new strategic framework. This framework will be
premised on openness, mutual confidence, and real opportunities
for cooperation. It will reflect a clean and clear break from the
Cold War. It will also include substantial reductions in
offensive nuclear forces, cooperation on missile defense,
enhanced non - and counter-proliferation efforts, and measures to
promote confidence and transparency.
In this context, I must reiterate that the United States is
firmly opposed to the UN inserting itself into issues regarding
the ABM Treaty, which remains a matter for the parties. As I just
noted, discussions between the Russian Federation and my country
on a new strategic framework, including a revised approach to the
ABM Treaty, have intensified in recent months and they will
continue. In these circumstances it is even more inappropriate
for the ABM Treaty to be dealt with here in this forum. If a
resolution on the ABM Treaty is introduced again this year, the
United States will vote no on it. We urge our friends and allies
to do the same. Today's world provides both new threats and new
opportunities. We must be able to react to these changes.
However, let me emphasize that the United States is committed to
working constructively with all members of the international
community to develop broad support for an effective agenda to
prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to
ensure meaningful arms control. It is not just two or three
nations that are threatened in today's world; the entire globe
faces security challenges. We are prepared to work together in
search of common ground, but we do not want to engage in
activities that would undercut genuine efforts to combat the
spread of weapons of mass destruction and address other very real
security threats.
Unspeakable though the acts of September 11 were, they
unfortunately do not exhaust the full range of deadly weapons
available to a determined and merciless terrorist. Much has been
written in recent weeks about the threat of the use of biological
weapons, about the dangers of toxins and biological agents being
dispersed in areas with large concentrations of people. While the
ease of resorting to such weapons is sometimes overestimated in
the press, the possibility that BW might be used on a massive
scale must now, after September 11, be regarded as less remote
than before.
This possibility must give new urgency to our efforts to combat
the threat of biological weapons -- and by weapons I mean here
biological agents used with lethal intent. A first step must be
to strengthen the norms against use of biological weapons, to
make clear and doubly clear that this form of terrorism, like all
others, is unacceptable. We believe that the international
community, which has in Security Council Resolutions 1368 and
1373 so clearly stated its resolve to combat terrorism by all the
means at its disposal, must equally clearly state that any use of
biological weapons -- whether by a state, an organization or an
individual -- would be a crime against humanity to which the
international community will respond. We must also make clear
that transfer of BW and other toxins to those who would use them
is similarly unacceptable.
Over the past six years, the United States and many other
countries sought to negotiate in Geneva a protocol that would
strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention -- that is to give
force to its prohibitions against possession, development,
stockpiling and acquisition. Last July, we made clear that we
could not support the protocol, because the measures that were
proposed to enforce the ban against possession and development
are neither effective or equitable - and given the inherent
properties of biological products it seems all but certain that
they can never be made so. This continues to be our view. But in
addition, the events of September 11 have reinforced our view
that the priority focus must be on use. The international
community must here and now state our abhorrence of use, as
suggested above; we must all strengthen our national laws
criminalizing use and transfer, and we must all agree that use
and transfer are crimes to which our many mutual treaties of
extradition would apply. We must give ourselves the means to
question and challenge in the event of suspected use. And we must
able to distinguish an outbreak of illness caused by BW from a
naturally occurring illness. And in the unthinkable event that a
major BW incident occurs somewhere, we need to pool as much as we
can our knowledge and expertise to minimize the effects. That is
why the United States is working closely with many nations to
improve our common preparedness to mitigate and respond to BW
attacks, and why we intend to expand this cooperation, especially
in the area of medical consequence management.
The U.S. is also fully engaged in international efforts against
chemical weapons. Our goals remain the worldwide destruction of
existing stocks of chemical weapons and full compliance with the
prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use
of these weapons of mass destruction. We are also assisting the
Russian Federation in its stockpile destruction program. We note
that it is not only chemical weapons activities that are of
concern. In Japan, terrorists made and used nerve gas. It is
essential that Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) member states
put in place national laws and other regulations that help to
keep materials for making chemical weapons out of unauthorized
hands and ensure effective prosecution of those who make or use
chemical weapons.
Each of us must do all we can to control the export from our
countries of sensitive goods and technology related to weapons of
mass destruction. This effort remains essential if we are to
prevent the spread of these weapons, not only to governments who
would use such weapons against others but to terrorists as well.
Improvements in border controls and monitoring will also help in
this effort.
The conclusions of the 2000 NPT Review Conference included
several measures related to curtailing the potential risk of
terrorism involving nuclear material. Among such steps are the
strengthening of International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards,
revising the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear
Material, improving national standards of security and physical
protection of nuclear material, establishing stronger regulatory
control over radioactive sources, and enhancing international
cooperation against illicit trafficking in nuclear material.
These measures will not only address concerns about nuclear
weapons in the hands of terrorists, but also the threats to
health and life posed by indiscriminate dispersal of radioactive
materials. Improving the security and safety of civil nuclear
installations against sabotage is also an important step.
Mr. Chairman, the United States takes seriously its obligations
under the arms control agreements to which we are a party .We
lead the way in assisting foreign nations to counter the
proliferation of deadly technology. We are also prepared to
engage in negotiations that will result in greater peace and
security for the international community . We are also fully
aware of the consequences to our security and that of the
international system due to the changing nature of the threats
posed in today's world. The U.S. Delegation will examine
carefully the resolutions which are to be tabled over the coming
days, taking into account the need to ensure our own security as
we pursue arms control and disarmament objectives that can
enhance security for all. And all nations should craft their
proposals bearing in mind the real threat to our security that
the events of September 11 so horribly demonstrated.
The world has changed, Mr. Chairman, but many basic issues
continue to compel our attention and effort. The members of this
body have a responsibility to address challenges to international
security, both existing and new, and my delegation is ready to
work with you and our counterparts. Thank you.
END
