The USA reached a disarmament milestone Friday by destroying the last remaining munitions in its chemical weapons stockpile, President Biden said in a press release.
“For greater than 30 years, the United States has worked tirelessly to eliminate our chemical weapons stockpile. Today, I’m proud to announce that the United States has safely destroyed the last munitions from this stockpile – bringing us one step closer to a world free of the horrors of chemical weapons. Biden’s statement80, issued by the White House on Friday.
The last remaining ammunition in the obsolete U.S. arsenal was a sarin-filled M55 rocket that was destroyed Friday at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, in response to the Pentagon.
“Successive administrations have decided that these weapons should never be developed or used again, an achievement that not only completes our long-standing commitment under the Chemical Weapons Convention, but can be the first time a world body has verified the destruction of a complete category of declared weapons. mass destruction,” Biden said. “I’m grateful to the 1000’s of Americans who’ve devoted their time and skills to this noble and difficult mission for greater than three a long time.”
![Joe Biden](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/2023-07-08T001932Z_1618145251_RC2LY1ATCNO8_RTRMADP_3_USA-CHINA-BIDEN.jpg?w=1024)
In 1986, Congress ordered the destruction of the entire US chemical weapons arsenal, which at its peak included over 30,000 tons of chemical warfare agents in munitions and bulk containers.
Efforts to securely destroy US stockpiles of chemical weapons began in 1990.
Over the years, additional regulations have required the Pentagon to explore ways to destroy chemical weapons by means aside from incineration.
![Canisters of mustard gas that are part of the United States' chemical weapons stockpile await destruction at the U.S. Army's Pueblo Chemical Depot on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Pueblo, Colorado.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Chemical_Weapons_97657-02fe3.jpg?w=1024)
A joint-venture team led by Bechtel National, Inc. and Parsons Corporation destroyed the last remaining ammunition in Kentucky Friday using “explosive neutralization and destruction technology” that has been used to eliminate greater than 100,000 mustard- and nerve agent-filled rounds and nerve agent-filled rockets in the Bluegrass state as of June 2019. , in response to the Pentagon.
“Today – as we mark this necessary milestone – we must also renew our commitment to making a future free of chemical weapons,” Biden’s statement continued. “I proceed to encourage other nations to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention in order that the global ban on chemical weapons can reach its full potential.”
The president also called on some U.S. opponents to abide by the arms treaty and criticized the deployment of chemical weapons by their armed forces.
![Technicians work to destroy U.S. chemical weapons stockpiles at the U.S. Army's Pueblo Chemical Depot on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Pueblo, Colorado.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Chemical_Weapons_84044-b706e.jpg?w=1024)
“Russia and Syria should return to the Chemical Weapons Convention and admit to their undeclared programs which were used to commit brazen atrocities and attacks. We are going to proceed to support the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to forestall the accumulation, production and use of chemical weapons worldwide. And along with our partners, we won’t rest until we will finally and perpetually rid the world of this scourge,” Biden said.
The milestone comes on the same day that the president decided to incorporate the controversial and widely banned cluster munitions in a latest military aid package for Ukraine.
Cluster rounds are powerful artillery rounds that spread dozens of smaller explosive rounds over a bigger area, increasing lethality as they opened up to hit multiple targets, much like rounds spreading out from a single shotgun round.
Two-thirds of the NATO alliance members – including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the Czech Republic – have banned these munitions attributable to the weapons’ nasty record of causing civilian casualties.