CHEMICAL WEAPONS: "NO PLACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY"

October 1, 2012

The tragic thing Syria, Angola, North Korea, Egypt, Israel, Myanmar, Somalia and South Sudan have in common is that they have not signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the use and stockpiling of such weapons. Today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned of the serious threat these chemicals posed and emphasised that they still constituted "a serious global concern". The Secretary-General was particularly alarmed at Syria's remarks which indicated that it would not discount employing its arsenal, if the government deemed it necessary.

"I once again emphasize the fundamental responsibility of the Syrian Government to ensure the safety and security of any such stockpiles. The use of such weapons would be an outrageous crime with dire consequences."

Mr Ban's comments were made in the context of the high-level meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons which was taking place alongside the final debates of the General Assembly’s 67th session.

There are four main types of chemical weapons: blister agents, nerve agents, blood agents and choking agents. They are horrific in a number of ways. Firstly they are indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction, secondly they can inflict intense and agonising pain and lastly their effects can continue long after their deployment. No government can legitimately call itself civilised when it considers using such barbaric means of destruction. But can we say nuclear weapons are any better? And yet, how many so called civilised countries are happily sitting on these nuclear devices? Then again, if I had my way, the simple bayonette is bad enough and I'd propose a convention banning that too.