US eliminates final chemical weapons; watchdog applauds achievementThe last munition in that arsenal has been safely destroyed by the United States, I am delighted to report today," Biden said.

 

Friday saw the announcement by President Joe Biden that the country's long-standing chemical weapons stocks had been completely destroyed. This significant development marked the end of the known global supply of these weapons of mass destruction.

"Today, I am proud to announce that the United States has safely destroyed the final munition in that stockpile—bringing us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons," stated Biden.

Though several nations are thought to have hidden stockpiles of chemical weapons, the United States was the final signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention to finish the work of eliminating its "declared" stockpiles when it went into force in 1997.

More than a century after the uncontrolled use of chemical weapons during World War I resulted in widespread soldier casualties and maiming, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons hailed the milestone as a "historic success" of disarmament.

The US statement meant that all of the chemical weapons stocks throughout the world had been "verified as irreversibly destroyed," according to the OPCW.

OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias remarked, "I congratulate all States Parties, including the United States of America in this occasion, on this tremendous achievement for the world community.

The elimination of "an entire category of declared weapons of mass destruction" has, according to Biden, never been independently confirmed.

sarin, deadly mustard gas, and VX

The declaration was made shortly after the last batch of deadly chemical agents kept by the US military, 500 tonnes, were destroyed at the Blue Grass Army Depot, a US Army site in Kentucky, after a four-year effort.

The US maintained long-standing stocks of rockets and artillery projectiles loaded with mustard gases, nerve agents including VX and sarin, and blister agents.

Following the employment of these weapons in World War I, which had terrible consequences, they were highly denounced.

They were not heavily utilised during World War II, but several nations kept them and developed them in the years that followed.

Iraq's deployment of nerve gas against Iran during their 1980s conflict was the most notable application since the 1970s.

More recently, the OPCW and other organisations claim that Bashar al-Assad's administration in Syria used chemical weapons against opponents during the country's civil conflict.

Extremely hazardous work

The United States has until September 30 of this year to destroy all of its chemical agents and weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was signed in 1993 and went into force in 1997.

Since the treaty's entry into force, other agreement members have already reduced their stocks, totaling about 72,000 tonnes, according to the OPCW.

The United States, behind Russia, had the second-largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world in 1990, according to the US Arms Control Association.

As the Cold War came to an end, the superpowers and other nations collaborated to negotiate the

The stocks had to be eliminated, which was a risky task because it required neutralising both the chemical agents and the weapons they were hidden in.

In 2017, Russia finished eliminating all of its disclosed stockpiles.

The US had fewer than 600 tonnes left to destroy by April 2022.

Biden urged continuing vigilance to guarantee that all chemical weapons worldwide are eliminated, as well as for Egypt, Israel, North Korea, and South Sudan—the four nations that haven't ratified or signed the treaty—to do so.

At this time, Myanmar, Iran, Russia, and Syria, four signatory nations, are thought to be out of compliance due to suspicions of holding undeclared stockpiles.

"Russia and Syria should acknowledge their covert programmes, which have been used to carry out egregious atrocities and attacks, and return to compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention," added Biden.