Demagogue

More than seven years ago, the Heritage Foundation blasted the proposed Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) as an “unprecedented assault on American liberty, sovereignty, and national security.” President Clinton’s argument that CWC wouldn’t hurt and might help reduce the dangers posed by these weapons was mocked by Heritage as “grandiose rhetoric.”

But an article in today’s Washington Post reveals just how hysterical Jesse Helms, Phyllis Schlafly and their fellow anti-CWC crusaders were (the treaty was ratified by the Senate in 1997).

The Post reported on Albania’s decision to seek U.S. assistance in destroying a large stockpile of chemical weapons that was secretly amassed under former Marxist dictator Enver Hoxha. As the Post explains:

Albania signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993. The treaty, signed by 167 nations, required disclosure and destruction of chemical weapons by 1997, although many signatories have failed to meet the deadlines.

Albania's discovery of the chemicals last year meant that it was out of compliance with the treaty; destruction of them will bring it back into good standing with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the international chemical arms watchdog agency.

In arguing against Senate ratification of CWC, Heritage asserted that signing the treaty would “not convert an outlaw state into a law-abiding and civilized one.” In the strictest sense, this is quite true. Nations can always choose to ignore a treaty they have signed.

Yet, by signing a treaty, a nation willingly exposes itself to increased scrutiny, raises its level of accountability to other nations, and suffers severe damage to its credibility if it is found to have violated such a treaty.

The treaty itself served as a test that Albania had to pass. The country saw a concrete, long-term interest in compliance — eventually joining the EU, building stronger economic ties with the U.S., etc.. When Heritage slammed CWC as “unenforceable,” it seemed to forget that self-enforcement is often aided by these somewhat external factors.

By itself, CWC is not going to alleviate all of the threats posed by chemical weapons production, but shame on conservatives for having assailed a treaty that has proven its value.