U.S. dismisses ``unrealistic'' nuclear proposals

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

U.S. dismisses ``unrealistic'' nuclear proposals

UNITED NATIONS, April 24 (Reuters) - The United States, accused 
of dragging its feet on giving up nuclear weapons, dismissed on 
Monday what it called ``unrealistic and premature'' steps toward 
nuclear disarmament. 

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright acknowledged the 
international pressure to disarm but defended U.S. proposals to 
develop a defence against incoming nuclear missiles. 

She said the United States was going about nuclear disarmament 
the right way and argued for more of the same. 

``Far from any radical changes of course, what we need now is 
more hard work, good faith, and patient political will from every 
country,'' she told the five-yearly conference in New York to review 
compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). 

``We share the frustration many feel about the pace of progress 
toward a world free of nuclear weapons. 

``But we also know that if countries demand unrealistic and 
premature measures, they will harm the NPT and set back 
everyone's cause,'' Albright added. 

The 1970 treaty gives the first five nuclear countries -- Britain, 
China, France, Russia and the United States -- a monopoly on 
nuclear weapons, on the understanding that they will negotiate in 
good faith to dismantle them. 

An alliance of seven non-nuclear countries known as the New 
Agenda Coalition are demanding the nuclear states move faster by 
renouncing the first use of nuclear weapons, separating warheads 
from missiles and taking missiles off high alert. 

MISSILE DEFENCE 

Many countries also object to the U.S. proposals to develop a 
national missile defence (NMD), ostensibly to protect the country 
from missiles fired by what it calls ``rogue states,'' including Iran 
and North Korea. 

Russia said on Monday that if Washington went ahead with NMD 
and withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, it would 
disrupt talks on a new treaty to limit nuclear arms and bring back 
``an era of suspicion and confrontation.'' 

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also criticised the system on 
Monday, saying it could restart the arms race and create new 
incentives for missile proliferation. 

The missile defence system would violate the ABM treaty, which 
Russia and the United States signed in 1972, and the Russians 
oppose any amendments to accommodate NMD. 

But Albright said: ``That treaty has been amended before and there 
is no good reason it cannot be amended again to reflect new 
threats from third countries.'' 

The system could handle at the most tens of missiles and so 
would not neutralise Russia's nuclear deterrent, she said. 

She added: ``There is concern that the United States is turning its 
back on arms control. And there are persistent calls for a 'new 
agenda' to force faster progress. 

``Although such views are well-meaning and strongly held, let's 
look carefully at the facts.'' 

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has dismantled 
60 percent of its nuclear weapons, pursued arms control talks with 
Russia and spent over $5 billion on nuclear disarmament in the 
former Soviet Union, she said. 

NOT WITHIN OUR POWER 

She quoted President Bill Clinton, in a booklet released by the 
United States on Monday, as saying the United States remained 
committed to a world free of nuclear weapons. 

``Unfortunately, none of us has it within our power to create 
overnight the conditions in which complete disarmament is 
possible. But in our own regions, and in our own ways, we each 
have a contribution to make,'' she added. 

The United States is also vulnerable to criticism at the four-week 
conference because the U.S. Senate last year failed to ratify the 
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans all nuclear 
tests. The Russian Duma ratified it this month. 

Albright noted that the Clinton administration has asked retired 
General John Shalikashvili to answer the concerns of U.S. senators 
about the treaty with a view to a new vote. 

``I am convinced that America will ratify the CTBT, and thus help 
ensure the nuclear arms race becomes a relic of the 20th century, 
not a recurring nightmare of the 21st,'' she said. 

Albright ruled out any amendments to the Non-Proliferation Treaty 
to recognise as nuclear states either India or Pakistan, which 
made retaliatory nuclear tests in 1998. 

On Israel, a U.S. ally which has not signed the NPT, she said a 
resolution at the New York conference should be ``fair and 
balanced within the region (the Middle East).'' 

Other Middle East states repeatedly complain that the United 
States turns a blind eye to Israel's nuclear programme. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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