In US arsenal, lessons for Syria chemical weapons
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three decades after the United States started destroying its own chemical weapons, the nation's stockpile stands at more than 3,000 tons — about three times what the U.S. now says Syrian President Bashar Assad controls.
Taken together, the remaining U.S. arsenal weighs about as much as three dozen Boeing 737s loaded for takeoff. And while the U.S. has made significant progress, eradicating 90 percent of the 31,500 tons it once possessed, the military doesn't expect to complete destruction until 2023.
Deadlines have come and gone, and been extended. And, like other countries, the United States has found that complying with the Chemical Weapons Convention that banned such weaponry isn't easy to do.
Now, as the U.S. and others push Syria to surrender its arsenal, the steep challenges that have hindered America's efforts for a generation illustrate the daunting task of securing and ultimately dismantling Assad's stockpiles in the middle of a civil war.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-arsenal-lessons-syria-chemical-weapons-071108793--politics.html