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George Perkovich, Malcolm Chalmers, Steven Pifer, …
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It’s Time to Revisit Iraq as Syria Offers Up Its Chemical Weapons Arsenal
If the Syrian regime has decided it is going to give up its chemical weapons, the international community might want to revisit what happened to the chemical weapons stockpiles in Iraq after the 1991 conflict.
Source: PRI’s The World
Speaking to PRI's The World, Carnegie's Paul Schulte explained that if the Syrian regime has decided to give up its chemical weapons, the international community might want to revisit what happened to the chemical weapons stockpiles in Iraq after the 1991 conflict.
"The Iraqis admitted they had very large amounts of chemical weapons and they pointed out where they were, and the UN team destroyed them," Schulte said, adding "they did it quickly, not very quickly; they did it over several periods over several months, but they did it efficiently with a rather small team."
Schulte suggested that this could serve as a model in Syria. The inspectors would have to check the information they receive against the information intelligence services know. But, Schulte pointed out, "it's very difficult to prove a negative so you would have to rely on your general impression of Syrian truthfulness."
Schulte also mentioned the difficulty of carrying out a mission of this nature and protecting the inspectors in the middle of a civil war. "Who's going to do it? Should it be the Syrian army? Can you trust them to take things away? What happens if they come under fire from the rebels, including rebels who may want to seize stuff themselves?"
About the Author
Former Nonresident Senior Associate, Nuclear Policy Program
Schulte was a nonresident senior associate in the Carnegie Nuclear Policy Program, where his research focuses on the future of deterrence, nuclear strategy, nuclear nonproliferation, cybersecurity, and their political implications.
- Looking Beyond the Chicago Summit: Nuclear Weapons in Europe and the Future of NATOPaper
- Is NATO’s Nuclear Deterrence Policy a Relic of the Cold War?Other
Paul Schulte
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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