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US to boycott UN meeting on nuclear test ban
The United States will stay away from a UN conference opening to promote a global ban on nuclear weapons tests, a senior state department official said.
The United States will stay away from a UN conference opening to promote a global ban on nuclear weapons tests, a senior state department official said.
''We will not attend the conference,'' said the official, who asked not to be named on Friday. He did not elaborate on the reasons. The aim of the conference is to review progress toward ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which would ban all nuclear blasts, whether in the atmosphere, in space or underground.
The Pentagon, hoping to hasten the treaty's death, has been pressing the administration for months to sit out the meeting, which initially was scheduled for late September but postponed after the September 11 suicide airliner attacks on New York and Washington. The CTBT has not yet entered into force because it has not garnered the necessary ratifications. It expands on a 1963 treaty barring tests in the atmosphere and a 1974 treaty setting limits on underground explosions.
The George W Bush administration worries that without testing, it cannot ensure the safety and reliability of US nuclear arms. Critics say simulated testing conducted via computers and other technology is sufficient.
US officials insist Bush remains deeply concerned about nuclear proliferation and expects to continue abiding by a testing moratorium put in place by his father in 1992. But critics say a boycott of the UN conference will be a powerful message to allies strongly backing the CTBT that Washington wanted to go it alone on nuclear arms control.
''This will not be the last word. But it's a sad commentary on the bush administration's approach to post-September 11 weapons-of-mass-destruction challenges,'' said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based arms control association.
Bureau Report
''We will not attend the conference,'' said the official, who asked not to be named on Friday. He did not elaborate on the reasons. The aim of the conference is to review progress toward ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which would ban all nuclear blasts, whether in the atmosphere, in space or underground.
The Pentagon, hoping to hasten the treaty's death, has been pressing the administration for months to sit out the meeting, which initially was scheduled for late September but postponed after the September 11 suicide airliner attacks on New York and Washington. The CTBT has not yet entered into force because it has not garnered the necessary ratifications. It expands on a 1963 treaty barring tests in the atmosphere and a 1974 treaty setting limits on underground explosions.
The George W Bush administration worries that without testing, it cannot ensure the safety and reliability of US nuclear arms. Critics say simulated testing conducted via computers and other technology is sufficient.
US officials insist Bush remains deeply concerned about nuclear proliferation and expects to continue abiding by a testing moratorium put in place by his father in 1992. But critics say a boycott of the UN conference will be a powerful message to allies strongly backing the CTBT that Washington wanted to go it alone on nuclear arms control.
''This will not be the last word. But it's a sad commentary on the bush administration's approach to post-September 11 weapons-of-mass-destruction challenges,'' said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based arms control association.
Bureau Report