US Rejects Anti-Germ Warfare Accord

The U.S. announcement as the sole country rejecting it went farther than many experts had expected and appeared to discourage other key countries, including those friendly to the United States. "Even though I understand some of the rationale, I was rather surprised by the U.S. argument at this stage," said Ambassador Seiichiro Noboru, head of the Japanese delegation at the 56-nation meeting. Noboru said the rejection of the whole approach meant that efforts to strengthen the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention would have to start all over. "It does close the chapter on 6½ years of negotiation," Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood said. "Whether it closes the book or not we don't know." The administration has been criticized domestically and internationally for similar stands on climate change and small arms trade. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat, has scolded President Bush as an isolationist who has been "minimizing" the United States' standing in the world. http://www.sjcite.info/biowar.html http://archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2001/07/25/story19122.asp

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