Weapons of terror : freeing the world of nuclear, biological and chemical arms

This digital document is an article from Ploughshares Monitor, published by Thomson Gale on December 22, 2006. The length of the article is 543 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Weapons of Terror: Freeing the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms.(Book review)Author: Hans BlixPublication: Ploughshares Monitor (Magazine/Journal)Date: December 22, 2006Publisher: Thomson GaleVolume: 27 Issue: 4 Page: 20(1)Article Type: Book reviewDistributed by Thomson Gale Nuclear, biological and chemical arms are the most inhumane of all weapons. They are rightly called weapons of mass destruction and weapons of terror. Designed to terrify as well as destroy, these weapons can, in the hands of either states or terrorists, cause destruction on a vastly greater scale than any conventional weapons. They have the potential to kill thousands and thousands of people in a single attack, and their effects may persist in the environment and in our bodies, in some cases indefinitely. So long as any state has such weapons -- especially nuclear arms -- others will want them. So long as any such weapons remain in any state's arsenal, there is a risk that they will one day be used, by design or accident. Any such use would be catastrophic. In this report, the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, chaired by Dr. Hans Blix, confronts this global challenge and presents 60 recommendations on what the world community -- national governments and civil society -- can and should do In this report, the Independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, chaired by Dr Hands Blix, confronts this global challange and presents 60 recommendations on what the world community-national goverments and civil society-an and should do. The report of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission with the proposals on how to reduce as far as possible the dangers of weapons of mass destruction was presented to the UN Secretary-General and the international community on 1 June 2006