Digests and Blog

By Greg Thielmann BAGHDAD, IRAQ - (VIDEO STILL) U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein shake hands December 20, 1983 in Baghdad. Rumsfeld met with Hussein during the war between Iran and Iraq as an envoy for former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Rumsfeld made no reference to Iraq's use of chemical weapons, according to detailed official notes on the meeting. (Photo by Getty Images) As the international community seeks to craft an appropriate response to the Syrian government's August 21 use of chemical weapons (CW), ghosts from the Iran-Iraq War haunt the…

A UN inspector at one of the sites of the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka. By Daryl G. Kimball There are no international laws against war itself, but there are rules about how wars can and cannot be conducted. Chemical weapons are particularly gruesome, inhumane, and indiscriminate--affecting combatants and noncombatant civilians alike. For these and other reasons, their use has been outlawed worldwide for over 90 years--since the horrors of WWI trench warfare and the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which is one of the most important pillars of international law.…

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming week, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. (Send your suggestions here.) - Jefferson Morley,Senior Editorial Consultant, Arms Control Today UN Inspectors to Report Saturday on Syrian Chemical Weapons Amid news reports that the United States will launch an attack on Syria for use of chemical weapons, the U.N. inspection team investigating the chemical weapons attack that took place near Damascus on August 21 will leave Syria on Saturday and report their findings immediately to U…

Official photo of Hassan Rouhani, the 7th President of Iran. By Kelsey Davenport and Daryl G. Kimball Iran is continuing to make slow but steady progress on its nuclear program, according to the August 2013 quarterly report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Tehran continues to install more centrifuges, including its second generation model. Iran's accumulation its stockpiles of uranium enriched to 3.5 percent has increased modestly, while the quantity of uranium hexaflouride enriched to 20 percent remains roughly the same as reported in May. Iran is also moving forward on…

Daryl G. Kimball Executive Director, Arms Control Association August 28, 2013 The deadly war for control of Syria has taken a gruesome turn for the worse with the heinous attack against civilian populations on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21. The available evidence, including credible reports from Doctors Without Borders, strongly suggests that the many injuries and deaths reported were the result of a major chemical weapons attack. In this instance, the use of chemicals was more significant and the casualties were greater than earlier suspected episodes involving chemical munitions--…

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming week, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. (Send your suggestions for events to be covered here.) - Jefferson Morley,Senior Editorial Consultant, Arms Control Today Iran to name nuclear negotiator soon Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani is expected to name a new nuclear negotiator in the coming days, which could open the way for the scheduling of the next round of P5+1 talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear program. Rouhani, as well as P5+1 lead negotiator Catherine…

Russian Topol-M ICBM crosses Red Square in Moscow during a Victory Day parade on May 9, 2008. (Image source: AFP/Getty Images) By Daryl G. Kimball Today, the White House announced that President Barack Obama has "reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a U.S.-Russia Summit in early September." The White House said "we have informed the Russian Government that we believe it would be more constructive to postpone the summit until we have more results from our shared agenda." Despite the decision, the hard work of dealing with…

Signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, 5 August 1963. Secretary of State Dean Rusk signing for the United States; Foreign Minister Andre Gromyko, signing for the Soviet Union; and Lord Hume signing for the United Kingdom. Photo: CTBTO. Note: The following essay by Daryl G. Kimball and Wade Boese was originally published in the October 2003 issue of Arms Control Today as "Limited Test Ban Treaty Turns 40" Like all first steps, it was long awaited, tentative, and not without risk. Yet, it also held out promise. The Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), the first agreement negotiated to regulate the…

Hasan Rouhani was inaugurated president of Iran onAugust 3. By Kelsey Davenport Hassan Rouhani's inauguration today as president of Iran offers an important new opening for the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) to establish satisfactory controls over Iran's controversial nuclear program. A regime-insider and former nuclear negotiator, Rouhani will likely have influence with Supreme Leader Khamenei that could enable him to cut a deal, if the P5+1 seizes the moment to reinvigorate negotiations. But for diplomacy to have a chance, the United States…

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming week, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. (Send your suggestions for events to be covered here.) - Jefferson Morley,Senior Editorial Consultant,Arms Control Today Taking Stock on the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Anniversaries August 6 marks the 68th anniversary of the surprise U.S. nuclear attack on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which killed an estimated 140,000 people. Three days later, the United States dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki. Three years ago on this date, Arms…