US Failing International Treaty as Chemical Weapons Stockpile Plagues Panama
Published on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 by Common Dreams
US Failing International Treaty as Chemical Weapons Stockpile Plagues Panama
As US maintains chemical weapons ultimatum over Syria, others point to US stockpiles
- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer
As the U.S. continues to hold the threat of war over the Syrian government if it doesn't destroy its chemical weapons, a McClatchy article published Wednesday highlights the hypocrisy of that threat—the U.S. has left one of its own chemical weapons stockpiles sitting on an island off the coast of Panama for over 60 years.
Following years of requests to the U.S. from Panama's government to abide by international law and clean up the chemical weapons mess it has left on the island of San Jose, as well as other parts of Panama, the Obama administration told McClatchy that it intends to send a team later this year to investigate the situation. But it remains to be seen if the U.S. will actually sign on to a proposed agreement that would tie them to that promise.
As McClatchy reports:
In May, Panama formally requested – through the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the international body based in The Hague, Netherlands, whose inspectors now are overseeing the destruction of Syria’s arsenal – that the United States remove eight chemical bombs found there in a 2002 survey.
The Obama administration declined to say whether the outlines of an agreement have been reached.
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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/09-8