Arms Control & Non Proliferation

Documents & Texts from America.gov

29 May 2008
Nations Endorse Strengthened Effort on Containing Weapons' Spread

By Jacquelyn S. Porth
Staff Writer

Washington -- On the eve of the fifth anniversary of a major counterproliferation effort, representatives from 88 countries endorsed a declaration to strengthen their ability to prevent or intercept the illicit transfer of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Following a senior-level conference in Washington May 27-29, Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) partners said they will continue to work together to prevent the proliferation by air, land or sea of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), related delivery systems and technology. They also are seeking cooperation from industry to prevent the proliferation of such weapons to and from states and groups of concern.

PSI states that seize suspicious cargoes destined for terrorists or rogue states also must be ready to dispose of suspect shipments in a secure and safe way. Conference attendees said they will work together globally “to seek solutions to outstanding legal questions” such as how to dispose of a cargo after a successful interdiction.

PSI was launched May 31, 2003, by President Bush during a visit to Poland, with the commitment of nearly a dozen nations. Ninety-one nations now have endorsed a statement of principles in support of PSI. Morocco is the most recent partner.

The May 28 Washington Declaration was an opportunity for participants to reaffirm their willingness to use international and national laws to halt the spread of WMD, related delivery vehicles and relevant technical materials.

The group also expressed its determination to identify and disrupt proliferation networks that circumvent export controls and regulatory systems.

The final statement also highlights the importance of timely and accurate exchange of information among PSI partners as they address suspected proliferation activity and try to keep the world’s deadliest weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous people.

As National Security Affairs Advisor Stephen Hadley told attendees, nation-states are not the sole proliferation risk these days as nonstate entities are busy at “both ends of the supply chain.”

COUNTERPROLIFERATION REQUIRES A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION

Hadley said a comprehensive solution is needed to prevent WMD proliferation or to respond to a catastrophe and recover from it if the effort fails. He said PSI partners must secure the sources of dangerous materials, dismantle proliferation networks, intercept WMD materials before they reach their destination, disrupt terrorist cells seeking these dangerous weapons, strengthen defenses and deter the use of these weapons.

There have been around two dozen successful PSI interdictions since its inception, though few cases have been publicized because some partners prefer to support the initiative privately. Hadley said four partners cooperated in February 2007 to keep equipment from reaching Syria that the Syrian government could have used to test ballistic missile components.

Interdictions such as this, he said, require timely multiagency cooperation, coordination across governments involving diplomats, military and intelligence personnel and law enforcement officers as well as support from the private sector.

The thrust of PSI, which is a voluntary activity, is to affect the strategic calculations of terrorists and rogue states to discourage them from acquiring or using weapons of terror, according to Hadley.

Improving information sharing, interdiction capabilities and export controls strengthen the overall PSI effort. Without such improvements, Hadley warned, would-be proliferators -- using increasingly sophisticated tactics -- will exploit the weakest links among participants.

He also said proliferators and their facilitators must be prevented from manipulating the international banking system. Banks need to know their customers better and scrutinize suspected transactions, Hadley said, and governments must be ready to freeze the assets of lawbreakers and close down banks that facilitate their activities.

Multinational exercises are a key to the success of this initiative. So far there have been more than 30 operational or simulation exercises involving 70 nations designed to test the ability of various militaries to work together. The United States will host the next PSI maritime exercise August 11-22, 2008.

Ship-boarding agreements also are critical to the success of the initiative, and the United States already has signed such pacts with Panama, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Belize Malta and Mongolia.

A PSI Operational Experts Group meets regularly to develop exercise scenarios and plan outreach efforts to bring in new members and promote dialogue and cooperation with the private sector.

PSI cooperation makes it increasingly risky and expensive for proliferators to ply their trade in deadly weapons, and they may become increasingly frustrated knowing that PSI nations are willing to pursue all possible measures to stop them.

A new State Department fact sheet on PSI states that rogue states, terrorist and criminal organizations and unscrupulous individuals who contemplate trafficking in WMD-related materials “must now contend with an international community united in detecting and interdicting such transfers” wherever they transpire.

For more information about U.S. policy, see PSI on America.gov and Frequently Asked Questions on the State Department Web site.

A transcript of Hadley's remarks is available on the White House Web site.

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