Despite the perceived threat of biological weapons that has been heightened by the anthrax attacks in the United States, a review conference on the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva broke down in disarray last weekend. To the angry disappointment of its allies, including Japan, it was the U.S. that stood in the way of agreement.
This treaty, which was signed by 144 nations in 1972 and took effect in 1975, prohibits the development, production and storage of biological weapons. However, its effectiveness has been held very much in doubt because it spells out only general principles. In the absence of a working mechanism of verification, there is no credible way to investigate alleged violations.
The Geneva meeting -- the latest in a series of review sessions held every five years -- started amid high expectations that agreement would be reached on enforcement rules. There was indeed a strong reason to anticipate such progress: This spring the final draft of a verification protocol had been worked out following six years of negotiations.