The IAEA and Syria

(International Herald Tribune) Bennett Ramberg - "The Agency concludes that the destroyed building was very likely a nuclear reactor and should have been declared by Syria." So writes the International Atomic Energy Agency's director general, Yukiya Amano, in his May 24, 2011, report to the IAEA board of governors about the installation the Israeli Air Force bombed in September 2007. Although he does not explicitly say so, Mr. Amano's finding places Syria in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. At its meeting next week, the IAEA board of governors must decide whether to formally declare Syria in noncompliance with the nonproliferation treaty. Doing so will place the matter before the UN Security Council, opening the way for sanctions. Failure will only encourage prospective nuclear proliferators to follow Syria's path. If the international community believes in the nuclear nonproliferation regime, it must act with conviction. Syria is a test case. The writer served as a policy analyst in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs under President George H.W. Bush.


2011-06-01 00:00:00

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