A global force of chemical weapon destroyers already exists and, if needed, stands ready to throw itself into a new round of annihilation. The Times will provide updates, analysis and public reaction from around the world.function getFlexData() { return {"data":{"options":{"feed_type":"dashboard","src":"http:\/\/d3iwqfew33lf4i.cloudfront.net\/live_dashboard\/syria\/live_updates.js","limit":3,"auto_refresh":true,"refresh_time":30,"show_loader":false,"show_summary":false,"num_summary_words":0,"show_scroller":false,"scroller_type":"","module_height":0,"show_view_all_updates":true,"ipad_app_links":false,"ipad_url":""},"tabs":{"id":"latest_updates","title":"Latest Updates","link":"","current":true,"filters":{"type":"update_type","name":"Live Update"}}}}; }NYTD.FlexTypes = NYTD.FlexTypes || []; NYTD.FlexTypes.push({"target":"FT100000002431243","type":"HPLiveUpdate","data":{"options":{"feed_type":"dashboard","src":"http:\/\/d3iwqfew33lf4i.cloudfront.net\/live_dashboard\/syria\/live_updates.js","limit":3,"auto_refresh":true,"refresh_time":30,"show_loader":false,"show_summary":false,"num_summary_words":0,"show_scroller":false,"scroller_type":"","module_height":0,"show_view_all_updates":true,"ipad_app_links":false,"ipad_url":""},"tabs":{"id":"latest_updates","title":"Latest Updates","link":"","current":true,"filters":{"type":"update_type","name":"Live Update"}}}});Since it was set up, the policing unit for the Chemical Weapons Convention, a global treaty that bans the development, production, stockpiling and use of the deadly arms, has verified the destruction in seven countries of millions of munitions and containers holding 78,480 tons of deadly agents. Military experts say the policing unit, known as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague, would be likely to play a similar role in Syria if the parties can agree to a verifiable plan. “It’s a very good step if the Syrians agree to put this under international control,” said Raymond A. Zilinskas, a senior scientist at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a former United Nations weapons inspector. “The inspectors do this kind of thing routinely.” Syria never signed the 1993 treaty. So an accord by which the policing unit would monitor the destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal would most likely go through Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations. At his direction, the chemical inspectors have already gone to Syria to investigate the Aug. 21 massacre in the Damascus suburbs. Under the 1993 treaty, which came into force in 1997, the experts and inspectors of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, known as the O.P.C.W., have overseen the destruction of many chemical arsenals and manufacturing plants around the globe. To date, seven nations that signed the treaty have agreed to the destruction of their chemical arms and plants — Albania, India, Iraq, Libya, Russia, the United States and an unnamed seventh country. On its Web site, the O.P.C.W. says that more than 80 percent of the world’s declared stockpiles to date have been eliminated. The nations with the biggest chemical arsenals — the United States and Russia — have received deadline extensions for the scheduled destruction. Dr. Zilinskas of the Monterey Institute said that the inspectors, if eventually welcomed to Syria, might face the daunting prospect of having to become chemical detectives in search of hidden weapons. “I worry about that,” he said in an interview. “How to you verify that all Syrian weapons are known and under control?” Still, he hailed the new proposal as a constructive way out of the crisis.
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