Putting Teeth in the Biological Weapons Convention

摘要

In the fall of 2001, letters sent through the U.S. mail containing powdered anthrax bacterial spores killed five people, infected 18 others, disrupted the operations of all three branches of the U.S. government, forced tens of thousands to lake prophylactic antibiotics, and frightened millions of Americans. This incident demonstrated the deadly potential of biotcrrorism and raised serious concerns about the nation's ability to defend itself against more extensive attacks. The anthrax crisis also made more urgent the need to prevent the acquisition and use of biological and toxin weapons-disease-causing microorganisms and natural poisons-by states as well as terrorist organizations. At present, the legal prohibitions on biological warfare (BW) are flawed and incomplete. The 1925 Geneva Protocol bans the use in war of biological weapons but not their possession, whereas the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) prohibits the development, possession, stockpiling, and transfer of biological and toxin agents and delivery systems intended for hostile purposes or armed conflict, but it has no formal measures to ensure that the treaty's 144 member countries are complying with the ban.