April 1, 2013

Disarmament Commission Will Be Judged Less by Words, More by Quality of Outcomes (Press Release), DC/3425

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2013/dc3425.doc.htm

Click here to view this document in MS Word/PDF format

The annual "substantive" meeting of the Disarmament Commission opened with Commission Chairman Christopher Grima of Malta being remarkably frank: "The Commission's record in the last few years had hardly been flattering, as Member States had failed to adopt recommendations since 1999." It isn't difficult to figure out why. Undemocratic regime after regime took the floor to complain that the priority must be for democratic countries to disarm and that Israel's (assumed) possession of nuclear weapons was the greatest threat to international peace and security. Iran, as the anointed spokesperson for the 120-member non-aligned movement said: "the highest priority" is "the total elimination of nuclear weapons" - from the country that is galloping towards their acquisition. The first day was also marked by a sharp exchange between North and South Korea and the United States, with the North Koreans invoking the favorite UN-speak of "double-standards," and "selectivity" - concepts never applied to singling out their own enemies.