US Destroying Chemical Weapons

For all you former NBC types (I know you’re out there, you’ve commented before!) the big story this week is that at long last, the US is destroying the last of its chemical weapons.

Like any government program, they are decades late and 2,900% over budget – originally forecast to cost $1,400,000,000, it has cost over $42,000,000,000. Kinda like base renaming, huh?

The United States and the Soviet Union agreed in principle in 1989 to destroy their chemical weapons stockpiles, and when the Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997, the United States and other signatories committed to getting rid of chemical weapons once and for all.

But destroying them has not been easy: They were built to be fired, not disassembled. The combination of explosives and poison makes them exceptionally dangerous to handle.

NY Times

The current method relies on robots that puncture, drain and wash the chemical-laden artillery shells and rockets, which are then baked to render them harmless. The drained gas is diluted in hot water and neutralized either with bacteria (for mustard gas) or caustic soda (for nerve agents). The remaining liquid is then incinerated. Teams use X-rays to check for leaks before destruction starts, and they remotely monitor robots to minimize contact with hazardous material.

Endgadget

Unfortunately, the Times article is partially paywalled so you have to scroll past all the masks and ads. Be sure not to miss the really cute part where the Times declares Russia destroyed their stocks six years ago but then says Russia might have kept some.

Other powers have also destroyed their declared stockpiles: Britain in 2007, India in 2009, Russia in 2017. But Pentagon officials caution that chemical weapons have not been eradicated entirely. A few nations never signed the treaty, and some that did, notably Russia, appear to have retained undeclared stocks.

Nor did the treaty end the use of chemical weapons by rogue states and terrorist groups. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria used chemical weapons in the country numerous times between 2013 and 2019.

“Might have kept some” – what’s it been, barely a month since Russian troops tried using chemical weapons on Ukraine positions (and had said agents blow back on their own positions)?  People like Putin do NOT give up weaponry.

The world forgets that “weapons of mass destruction” applies to nuclear, biological, and CHEMICAL weapons? You know, like the ones we found in Iraq…but Saddam supposedly had no WMDs.

Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Russia