US general favours anti-nuclear treaty

Opponents say the treaty would keep the US from developing a new generation of weapons

A general appointed by President Bill Clinton to study a major nuclear test ban treaty is to recommend that the United States ratify it.

General John Shalikashvili, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country's highest military council, has concluded that signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) will aid US efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

The CTBT so far

Signed and ratified: UK, France, Russia

Signed but not ratified: US, China

Not signed: India, Pakistan, North Korea

The US Senate rejected the treaty by a significant margin in October 1999, despite strong pressure from President Clinton to approve it.

President-elect George W Bush campaigned against the treaty, calling it "unenforceable", but his top advisors are divided on the subject.

Powell appoves

Incoming Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was General Shalikashvili's predecessor as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, favours the treaty, as does much of the country's top brass.

Powell favours the treaty

But Donald Rumsfeld, Mr Bush's nominee for Secretary of Defence, objects to the CTBT, which he says would prevent the US from developing the next generation of nuclear weapons.

President Clinton commissioned General Shalikashvili's study after the Senate rejected the treaty. He also announced a unliateral US moratorium on nuclear testing, which remains in place.

The Shalikashvili report concludes that approving the treaty would help prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, a major US foreign policy goal.

"While there are risks with this treaty, as with most treaties, the advantages in helping the fight against proliferation outweigh the disadvantages", General Shalikashvili told The New York Times.

Recommendations

In an effort to bring opponents on board, his report recommends more money for verification measures, greater maintenence of the existing US nuclear arsenal, and joint reviews by the Senate and administration every 10 years to confirm that the treaty is still in US interests.

Clinton asked General Shalikashvili for the report

And it dismisses Mr Bush's fears that the treaty provisions will not be verifiable, saying that Russian or Chinese nuclear tests too small to be detected would not be useful in developing a new generation of weapons.

President Clinton is eager to have the treaty ratified before he leaves office on 20 January.

He signed it in 1996, when it was completed. To date, 160 countries have signed the CTBT and 69 have ratified it, including the UK and France.

Russian ratification

In an embarrassment for the US, Russia ratified the treaty in April 2000.

It will come into force when the 44 countries with reactors capable of making nuclear weapons have ratified it.

Bush might be willing to make a deal

There have been suggestions that as president, Mr Bush may be willing to support the CTBT in exchange for Russian and Chinese concessions on his plan to build an anti-missile defence system.

Opponents of the so-called "Son of Star Wars" anti-missile system - including many of the US's allies - worry that it would breach the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

But Mr Bush is a strong advocate of the programme, and may be willing to shelve his objections to the CTBT if that would clear the way to building the anti-missile system.