WASHINGTON - Important non-proliferation treaties are threatened by a renewed interest in nuclear weapons programs. on the part of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), says a new report released Tuesday.

”NATO and Nuclear Disarmament”, by the Washington-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, analyses conflicts arising from NATO's treaty obligations and calls for NATO countries to encourage the United States to stop all efforts to promote new nuclear programs. and to ”denuclearize” NATO.

In essence, the U.S. is saying to the rest of the world: 'you can't have nukes, but we're going to have bigger and better ones'.

Clyde Prestowitz, the author of ”Rogue Nation"

The report was released as NATO defense ministers prepare for a meeting in Colorado Springs, the city that is host to NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Under article six of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), all NATO members, including the United States, agreed to undertake a process of nuclear disarmament. The NPT was originally designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and know-how from nuclear to non-nuclear powers, and was amended in 1996 to include Article VI.

Current NATO policy, which maintains an enduring reliance on nuclear weapons as well as the idea of ”first-use option,” stands in contradiction of the pledge its members made for nuclear disarmament.

Recent moves by the U.S. government indicate that the United States may begin designing, testing, and producing new nuclear weapons, in direct defiance of the NPT. The 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, issued by the Department of Defense, set a course for U.S. nuclear strategy that includes renewed emphasis on the role of nuclear weapons in military planning.

Recent budget requests have also included funding to develop usable nuclear weapons such as ”bunker busters” and ”mini-nukes.”

These plans would bring the United States, and thus NATO, into violation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). All NATO countries, except the United States, are party to the CTBT, which mandates a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing.

New nuclear weapons designs would require tests, and while the United States is not a CTBT signatory and the Bush administration has expressed its inclination not to present the CTBT to Congress for ratification, weapons developed as a result of nuclear testing could be incorporated into NATO nuclear policy, making all other members of NATO in violation of their CTBT obligations.

While the need for new nuclear weapons and their efficacy as a military tool is questionable, ”the U.S. nuclear weapons establishment is itching to design new weapons”, Dr. Arjun Makhijani, IEER's president, said at the release of the report.

Makhijani also speculated that because of the strength and influence of the nuclear weapons lobby in Washington, the new initiatives are pork-barrel projects rather than issues of military necessity.

”In essence, the U.S. is saying to the rest of the world: 'you can't have nukes, but we're going to have bigger and better ones'”, said Clyde Prestowitz, the author of ”Rogue Nation”.

U.S. non-compliance with the NPT and CBTB may encourage nations to develop their own nuclear arsenals or make nations reluctant to uphold non-proliferation commitments, some experts worry.

As an example, Makhijani pointed to the recent ”closeness of the Pakistani military establishment to Islamic fundamentalists, that can lead to leakage of nuclear material” across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The report called for NATO allies to launch efforts to denuclearize NATO and to encourage the United States to abandon plans to develop new nuclear programs.

”Non-nuclear allies should make their best efforts to denuclearize NATO and work to remove nuclear weapons from Europe. This will help relax Russia, which is annoyed by the continued presence of nuclear weapons in Europe,” said Makhijani.

At the briefing, Makhijani warned that although Russia has met all its commitments under NPT and CTBT, it still maintains a large nuclear arsenal and has a huge nuclear production capacity, and actions by the United States may encourage Russia to re-start its own nuclear program.

Makhijani called for a ”soft diplomacy” approach from NATO allies.

”The most important thing for NATO allies to do right now is to communicate the idea that the denuclearization of NATO is desirable for U.S. security because it puts NATO into a good position to negotiate non-proliferation,” he said.

The recent row at the United Nations over Iraq and U.S. irritation at plans to develop a European security force independent of NATO bring into question the ability of NATO allies to influence U.S. nuclear policy.

Preventing the United States from reneging on its treaty obligations may turn out to be crucial to upholding various international law regimes around the world.

”The U.S. is needlessly squandering enormous reservoirs of good will and acting as its own enemy,” Prestowitz observed.

Copyright 2003 IPS

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