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Report: Risk of Nuclear Warfare Rising
By Karl Ritter
The Associated Press
Monday 11 June 2007
The world's top military powers are gradually dismantling their stockpiles
of nuclear arms, but all are developing new missiles and warheads with smaller
yields that could increase the risk of atomic warfare, a Swedish research institute
said Monday.
In its annual report on military forces around the globe, the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute also said the rising number of nations with nuclear
weapons is raising the risk such arms could be used.
"The concern is that countries are starting to see these weapons as useable,
whereas during the Cold War they were seen as a deterrent," said Ian Anthony,
a nuclear expert at the institute.
SIPRI for the first time counted North Korea among the world's nuclear countries,
because of its underground test explosion of an atomic device last October.
While saying it remains unclear whether the communist country has developed
a deliverable nuclear weapon, the institute estimated North Korea could have
produced about six nuclear bombs, based on its stockpiles of plutonium.
Iran is a potential member of the nuclear club if it decides to turn its uranium
enrichment program to military use, Anthony said - something the U.S.
and its allies suspect is the Tehran regime's plan but Iranian leaders deny.
"Iran could appear on this list, but at the earliest five years from now,"
Anthony said.
The U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, Pakistan and India are known to have
nuclear weapons, while Israel is thought by most experts to have them.
The report estimated those nations had 11,530 warheads available for delivery
by missile or aircraft at the start of 2007, with Russia and the United States
accounting for more than 90 percent - 5,614 in Russia and 5,045 in the
U.S.
Both countries are reducing their stockpiles as part of bilateral treaties,
but are developing new weapons as they modernize their forces. Britain, France
and China also plan to deploy new nuclear weapons, the institute said.
India, Pakistan and Israel each have dozens of warheads, but their stockpiles
are believed to be only partly deployed, the institute said.
"India and Pakistan are both thought to be expanding their nuclear strike
capabilities, while Israel seems to be waiting to see how the situation in Iran
develops," it said.
The United States remained the world's biggest military spender last year,
devoting about $529 billion to its military forces while China overtook Japan
as Asia's top arms spender, the report said.
U.S. military spending grew from $505 billion in 2005 mainly because of the
"costly military operations" in Iraq and Afghanistan, SIPRI said.
"This massive increase in U.S. military spending has been one of the factors
contributing to the deterioration of the U.S. economy since 2001," it said.
The U.S. was followed by Britain and France in military spending, while China's
expenditures reached nearly $50 billion, making it the fourth biggest arms spender
in the world, SIPRI said. Japan was fifth at $43.7 billion.
Russia, which spent $34.7 billion on arms, has used its energy wealth to revive
national pride, to restore its influence "in surrounding countries and
to maximize its geopolitical power," SIPRI said.
All the numbers were figured in 2005 dollars.
International arms sales have grown since 2002, with China and India being
the biggest importers and the U.S. and Russia the two major exporters, the report
said.
Five Middle Eastern countries were among the top 10 importers of weapons.
"While much media attention was given to arms deliveries to Iran, mainly
from Russia, deliveries from the USA and European countries to Israel, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were significantly larger," the report
said.
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Associated Press writer Louise Nordstrom contributed to this report.
On the Net:
SIPRI: http://www.sipri.org.
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