A Potential Threat, Much Like Castro Was
In March, I blogged on my original site on 13 March about Hugo Chavez. The subject was about the recent pact he had signed with Iran. That pact also included his support for a nuclear Iran. Now we know why. A news article I found in the Arizona Republic on Wednesday shows that Chavez, too, wants to get his hands on nuclear technology. And as if that weren’t bad enough I popped this up on a search of the web. It is written by Clinton W. Taylor.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1381229/posts
Spain's Europa Press news agency reports reports that Venezuela purchased "biological and nerve agents" as well as dual-use materials from Spain sometime during the first half of 2004. According to a report about defense expenditures obtained by Europa Press, Venezuela was the only country listed under the category of "states to which chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials were sold." (English translation here)
The accusation comes in the wake of Spain's announcement that it will sell conventional weaponry -- planes and Russian rifles -- to Venezuela. I found the story through Iberian blogger Barcepundit, who notes that "If Rumsfeld was reportedly angry about the sale of planes and boats, boy I can only imagine what he'll think about this."
The amount of biological or nerve agents probably isn't large -- Europa Press sets the purchase price at 30,000 Euros, which isn't out of line with the price of a single kilogram of South American heroin. I'm not familiar with the going rates on the WMD black market, but hopefully doomsday weapons are scarcer and therefore more expensive than heroin. (A further 500,000 Euros was spent on the dual-use materials which might be legitimately destined for the petroleum and leather-tanning industries.) But any amount of WMD in the hands of the Castroite Chavez regime is too much.
President Chavez may be a thuggish autocrat, but he isn't stupid enough to use chemical or biological weapons against American civilians, at least directly. He may see them as insurance against the possibility of an American invasion; however, the United States demonstrated in Iraq that threats of chemical retaliation will not deter us should we decide to invade.
A more likely scenario is the use of these WMD's for international extortion against South American governments. Chavez's alleged links to Colombia's narcoterrorist FARC and to Evo Morales's cocaleros in Bolivia suggest he could find a vector for the weapons should he need one. The implicit threat of arming insurgent groups with WMD's may compel these governments -- especially the precarious democracy in Bolivia -- to accommodate Venezuela's policies or to reject ours.
Interestingly, Spain and Venezuela have both ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, Article I of which requires that:
Each State Party to this Convention undertakes never under any circumstances: (a) To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to anyone; (b) To use chemical weapons; (c) To engage in any military preparations to use chemical weapons; (d) To assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.
Taken slightly more seriously than the CWC, however, is the Monroe Doctrine -- the longstanding U.S. policy that Europe messes around in the Americas at its own peril. Spain was reminded of this rule quite forcefully in 1898, in a war that ended in its greatest defeat since 1588. The last time a foreign power tried to set up WMD's in a Latin American country, President Kennedy blockaded the country, confronted the Soviet ships, and nearly provoked nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
On April 21 the Latin American and Caribbean branch of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will meet in Cartagena to discuss the ongoing implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. At the top of the agenda should be Venezuela's apparent contempt for its obligations under the Convention.
Meanwhile the United States should demand some answers from Spain. Most importantly, is this information accurate, or has Europa Press just published the Spanish equivalent of the Rathergate memos? These allegations are sufficiently disturbing that Europa Press needs to publish the entire leaked report, and submit it to the world's scrutiny
Assuming the story is accurate: President Luis Zapatero was elected in the aftermath of the 3-11 Madrid bombing. The Europa Press source dates the sales to Venezuela from the first half of 2004, meaning it could have been either the Socialist Zapatero or his pro-American predecessor Jose Maria Aznar who arranged the sale. Which administration is responsible? My first guess is that since Zapatero hasn't taken the opportunity to decry his opposition's perfidious practice of selling weapons to rogue dictators, he may end up with tapas on his face.
More important than who sold the weapons is how much they sold, whether delivery has been completed, whether the sales were only for that quarter or they have been ongoing, and whether the exports were limited to Venezuela. If Spain is not forthcoming with answers about its WMD sales, Americans should consider a boycott of Rioja. And the U.S. should ultimately consider designating both Venezuela and Spain "states of proliferation concern" under the Proliferation Security Initiative, encouraging the interdiction and search of Spanish ships just as we do with North Korean vessels suspected of carrying illegal weapons.
If this threat is real, the Bush administration must react strongly to make certain that WMD's aren't finding their way into the Americas. Our intelligence services need to figure out what Chavez is doing with these weapons. And our diplomatic service needs to make it brutally clear to Spain that we will not tolerate further arming of Chavez's regime. As Admiral Dewey might have said, you may fire when ready, Condi.
Clinton W. Taylor (clinton_w_taylor@hotmail.com) is a lawyer and a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Stanford. He was a Boren National Security Fellow in Bolivia in 2001.
Below is the English translation of the report that Mr. Taylor cites in his story.
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200504071515
07.04.05 During the first semester of 2004 Spain sold chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials to Venezuela worth €539.603 according to a report entitled "Spanish exports of defence materials and related products and technologies". The report, produced by Spain's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, was revealed to Europe Press. Venezuela appeared as the twelfth buyer of such defence material to Spain for the period that saw José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero winning the vote over Partido Popular.
Chemical Warfare
Report's statistics show that Venezuela was the only country under the category "countries to which chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials were sold". Worth noting that the said category includes "biological and nerve agents destined to chemical warfare" of which Venezuela bought €30.374.
Another €509.229 consisted of "paramilitary and security material" which encompasses "firearms or gas weapons, bombs, grenades, explosives, armoured and all terrain vehicles, water canons, telescopic sights and night vision devices, etc."
Hugo Chavez is fast becoming a problem for this nation. If what Mr. Taylor has printed is true, then this man is a threat to the nation. His rhetoric against us mirrors much of the same rhetoric used by our detractors around the world, but more importantly, it is close to what was used by Castro when he first rose to power.
And Chavez has the money to continue being a problem for us. His is the dictator of the fifth-largest oil producing country in the world, and is now a part of OPEC. He has threatened to cut off our oil on numerous occasions. He is expanding his oil empire by gaining exploration deals with Argentina, Brazil, India, and China. And his oil revenues aren’t just going to "feed the poor". They’re going towards the purchase of weapons. He recently purchased 30 attack helicopters from Russia, and over 100,000 Kalishnikov rifles. Rumors running through the intel industry is he’s courting Putin for some advanced MiGs.
Political science professor Anibal Romero called Chavez a "dangerous fellow, a confused person who is deeply anti-American and is prepared to do terrible things." (HT: FOX News for the quote)
If this man is as serious a threat as he appears to be, then why in the name of all that is holy are we dealing with him. The move to begin drilling in ANWaR is a good move, but it’s not enough to make this problem go away. More stringent moves are needed. And despite the fact that Dr. Rice has condemned Chavez, stating during her confirmation hearings that he represents a "negative force in the region", many in the State Department refuse to acknowledge this.
Our intelligence agencies recognize this threat, and senior DoD officials agree that this man can’t be allowed to have these weapons. He is fueling the guerillas fighting in Latin America and Central America. He has clearly distinct ties to FARC, the narco-terrorist organization. And he has his hands in every little pot in South America. He is catering to the hardline elements within the various countries to turn all of Latin America into his own little empire.
Mr. Taylor is correct: The last time we dealt with a threat this close to this nation, Pres. Kennedy blockaded Cuba. It may be time to use something other than words to deal with this man.
Publius II
In March, I blogged on my original site on 13 March about Hugo Chavez. The subject was about the recent pact he had signed with Iran. That pact also included his support for a nuclear Iran. Now we know why. A news article I found in the Arizona Republic on Wednesday shows that Chavez, too, wants to get his hands on nuclear technology. And as if that weren’t bad enough I popped this up on a search of the web. It is written by Clinton W. Taylor.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1381229/posts
Spain's Europa Press news agency reports reports that Venezuela purchased "biological and nerve agents" as well as dual-use materials from Spain sometime during the first half of 2004. According to a report about defense expenditures obtained by Europa Press, Venezuela was the only country listed under the category of "states to which chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials were sold." (English translation here)
The accusation comes in the wake of Spain's announcement that it will sell conventional weaponry -- planes and Russian rifles -- to Venezuela. I found the story through Iberian blogger Barcepundit, who notes that "If Rumsfeld was reportedly angry about the sale of planes and boats, boy I can only imagine what he'll think about this."
The amount of biological or nerve agents probably isn't large -- Europa Press sets the purchase price at 30,000 Euros, which isn't out of line with the price of a single kilogram of South American heroin. I'm not familiar with the going rates on the WMD black market, but hopefully doomsday weapons are scarcer and therefore more expensive than heroin. (A further 500,000 Euros was spent on the dual-use materials which might be legitimately destined for the petroleum and leather-tanning industries.) But any amount of WMD in the hands of the Castroite Chavez regime is too much.
President Chavez may be a thuggish autocrat, but he isn't stupid enough to use chemical or biological weapons against American civilians, at least directly. He may see them as insurance against the possibility of an American invasion; however, the United States demonstrated in Iraq that threats of chemical retaliation will not deter us should we decide to invade.
A more likely scenario is the use of these WMD's for international extortion against South American governments. Chavez's alleged links to Colombia's narcoterrorist FARC and to Evo Morales's cocaleros in Bolivia suggest he could find a vector for the weapons should he need one. The implicit threat of arming insurgent groups with WMD's may compel these governments -- especially the precarious democracy in Bolivia -- to accommodate Venezuela's policies or to reject ours.
Interestingly, Spain and Venezuela have both ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, Article I of which requires that:
Each State Party to this Convention undertakes never under any circumstances: (a) To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to anyone; (b) To use chemical weapons; (c) To engage in any military preparations to use chemical weapons; (d) To assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.
Taken slightly more seriously than the CWC, however, is the Monroe Doctrine -- the longstanding U.S. policy that Europe messes around in the Americas at its own peril. Spain was reminded of this rule quite forcefully in 1898, in a war that ended in its greatest defeat since 1588. The last time a foreign power tried to set up WMD's in a Latin American country, President Kennedy blockaded the country, confronted the Soviet ships, and nearly provoked nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
On April 21 the Latin American and Caribbean branch of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will meet in Cartagena to discuss the ongoing implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. At the top of the agenda should be Venezuela's apparent contempt for its obligations under the Convention.
Meanwhile the United States should demand some answers from Spain. Most importantly, is this information accurate, or has Europa Press just published the Spanish equivalent of the Rathergate memos? These allegations are sufficiently disturbing that Europa Press needs to publish the entire leaked report, and submit it to the world's scrutiny
Assuming the story is accurate: President Luis Zapatero was elected in the aftermath of the 3-11 Madrid bombing. The Europa Press source dates the sales to Venezuela from the first half of 2004, meaning it could have been either the Socialist Zapatero or his pro-American predecessor Jose Maria Aznar who arranged the sale. Which administration is responsible? My first guess is that since Zapatero hasn't taken the opportunity to decry his opposition's perfidious practice of selling weapons to rogue dictators, he may end up with tapas on his face.
More important than who sold the weapons is how much they sold, whether delivery has been completed, whether the sales were only for that quarter or they have been ongoing, and whether the exports were limited to Venezuela. If Spain is not forthcoming with answers about its WMD sales, Americans should consider a boycott of Rioja. And the U.S. should ultimately consider designating both Venezuela and Spain "states of proliferation concern" under the Proliferation Security Initiative, encouraging the interdiction and search of Spanish ships just as we do with North Korean vessels suspected of carrying illegal weapons.
If this threat is real, the Bush administration must react strongly to make certain that WMD's aren't finding their way into the Americas. Our intelligence services need to figure out what Chavez is doing with these weapons. And our diplomatic service needs to make it brutally clear to Spain that we will not tolerate further arming of Chavez's regime. As Admiral Dewey might have said, you may fire when ready, Condi.
Clinton W. Taylor (clinton_w_taylor@hotmail.com) is a lawyer and a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Stanford. He was a Boren National Security Fellow in Bolivia in 2001.
Below is the English translation of the report that Mr. Taylor cites in his story.
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200504071515
07.04.05 During the first semester of 2004 Spain sold chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials to Venezuela worth €539.603 according to a report entitled "Spanish exports of defence materials and related products and technologies". The report, produced by Spain's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, was revealed to Europe Press. Venezuela appeared as the twelfth buyer of such defence material to Spain for the period that saw José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero winning the vote over Partido Popular.
Chemical Warfare
Report's statistics show that Venezuela was the only country under the category "countries to which chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials were sold". Worth noting that the said category includes "biological and nerve agents destined to chemical warfare" of which Venezuela bought €30.374.
Another €509.229 consisted of "paramilitary and security material" which encompasses "firearms or gas weapons, bombs, grenades, explosives, armoured and all terrain vehicles, water canons, telescopic sights and night vision devices, etc."
Hugo Chavez is fast becoming a problem for this nation. If what Mr. Taylor has printed is true, then this man is a threat to the nation. His rhetoric against us mirrors much of the same rhetoric used by our detractors around the world, but more importantly, it is close to what was used by Castro when he first rose to power.
And Chavez has the money to continue being a problem for us. His is the dictator of the fifth-largest oil producing country in the world, and is now a part of OPEC. He has threatened to cut off our oil on numerous occasions. He is expanding his oil empire by gaining exploration deals with Argentina, Brazil, India, and China. And his oil revenues aren’t just going to "feed the poor". They’re going towards the purchase of weapons. He recently purchased 30 attack helicopters from Russia, and over 100,000 Kalishnikov rifles. Rumors running through the intel industry is he’s courting Putin for some advanced MiGs.
Political science professor Anibal Romero called Chavez a "dangerous fellow, a confused person who is deeply anti-American and is prepared to do terrible things." (HT: FOX News for the quote)
If this man is as serious a threat as he appears to be, then why in the name of all that is holy are we dealing with him. The move to begin drilling in ANWaR is a good move, but it’s not enough to make this problem go away. More stringent moves are needed. And despite the fact that Dr. Rice has condemned Chavez, stating during her confirmation hearings that he represents a "negative force in the region", many in the State Department refuse to acknowledge this.
Our intelligence agencies recognize this threat, and senior DoD officials agree that this man can’t be allowed to have these weapons. He is fueling the guerillas fighting in Latin America and Central America. He has clearly distinct ties to FARC, the narco-terrorist organization. And he has his hands in every little pot in South America. He is catering to the hardline elements within the various countries to turn all of Latin America into his own little empire.
Mr. Taylor is correct: The last time we dealt with a threat this close to this nation, Pres. Kennedy blockaded Cuba. It may be time to use something other than words to deal with this man.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 2:03 PM
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