Topic: Measures to Prevent Terrorists from Acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction
Country: Bangladesh
Delegate Name: Liam O’Sullivan
School: Fishers High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Bangladesh position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh recognizes the threat of weapons of mass destruction and calls for an international effort to disarm nations in possession of them and/or discourage their heinous use, as they not only affect the military personnel that they are aimed at, but civilian populations that must bear the consequences of their home country’s actions. Bangladesh detests weapons of mass destruction especially because of how densely populated our nation is. Given our history of being near large scale conflicts, such as the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, Bangladesh is wary of newer, more lethal methods of warfare, and any type that does not discriminate between soldier and civilian; friend or foe.
In the past, Bangladesh has not had the opportunity to take action against weapons of mass destruction, but its allies in the United States have. In 2003 president George Bush of the United States responded to claims of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and acted on them, beginning a war against that nation in the interest of disarming them. While attempts to disarm nations need not necessarily turn into an international dispute, the need for the disposal of these items is apparent. Doing so would be an extremely effective preventive measure in limiting the loss of life in future warfare. However, the extent of the measures the United Nations can take must be kept in check by recognition of national sovereignty, as unnecessary probing makes for poor diplomacy. The utmost discretion in dealing with these matters would also be welcome, as we are sure the international community would attest to after the result of the 2003 war.
To combat this issue, a separate international court should be established in order to properly oversee disarmament, prosecute abuses of weapons of mass destruction, and place laws and restrictions on development of new large-scale munitions in the future. However, to avoid bias the court will cycle through various qualified judges of various nations who do not openly or discretely hold any form of the weapons of mass destruction. Other efforts must be made, encouraging citizens to get behind an international effort to restrict the numbers of and use of weapons of mass destruction because ultimately, it is the people of the world who will pay the price for the use of weapons of mass destruction. Additionally, more emphasis should be placed in countries in risk of chemical attacks on neutralizing potential threats. This might avert another crisis like the sarin gas attack in Tokyo, 1995.
Geneva Protocol
http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Chemical/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/229055/Geneva-Protocol-on-Gas-Warfare
2003 Invasion of Iraq
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/343870/why-did-we-invade-iraq-victor-davis-hanson
1995 Tokyo Sarin Gas attack
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0320.html
