2LT International News
Biden: Final U.S. chemical weapons stockpile destroyed
Jul 11, 2023
WASHINGTON D.C.: President Joe Biden said the US has destroyed the last of its declared chemical weapons stockpile.
Ratified by the US Senate in 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention stipulates that the US and other signatories must destroy their chemical weapons stockpile by 30th September, 2023.
In a statement, Biden said, “Today, I am proud to announce that the US has safely destroyed the final munition in that stockpile, bringing us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons.”
The stockpiles at the US Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Pueblo, Colorado, and Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky, have been destroyed.
In 2022, the last M55 rocket with the VX nerve agent was destroyed at the plant in Kentucky.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the stockpile of chemical warfare agents in the US reached nearly 40,000 tons by 1968.
In a statement, US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said, “Chemical weapons are responsible for some of the most horrific episodes of human loss. Though the use of these deadly agents will always be a stain on history, today our nation has finally fulfilled our promise to rid our arsenal of this evil.”
