Chemical Warfare: Many Unanswered Questions.

Abstract

Controversial issues have been raised by the present Administration's plan to spend between $6 billion and $7 billion in 1983-87 to modernize the U.S. defensive and retaliatory chemical warfare capabilities. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs asked GAO to assess and synthesize the nature, extent, and quality of the documented information that relates to these questions: (1) How can chemical warfare be deterred? (2) How do U.S. and Soviet chemical warfare capabilities compare? (3) How can the United States modernize it chemical warfare system? (4) How will modernization affect the prospects for disarmament? The current debate on whether the United States should increase its chemical warfare capability necessarily involves these questions. GAO identified a multitude of unanswered questions about chemical warfare, some having been partly, but inadequately, addressed and some having, apparently, not even been raised. GAO finds that the U.S. chemical weapon system is generally not seen as a credible deterrent and that little is known about its functioning or its usefulness.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 29, 1983
Accession Number
ADA127962

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force Facilities
  • Armored Vehicles
  • Arms Control
  • Chemical Warfare
  • Chemical Warfare Agents
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Combat Areas
  • Combat Vehicles
  • Congress
  • Environment
  • Law
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Test And Evaluation
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Effects

Readers

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Theoretical Analysis.