In praise of weapons controls

IT IS only fitting—and prudent—that a century which has outdone all others in perfecting weapons that can cause unprecedented destruction should now outdo itself in efforts to control them. This week the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the production, stockpiling and use of one lot of horrific weapons, gets fully under way. Next week the guardians of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will be given new powers to hunt out secret bomb-builders and otherwise tighten nuclear controls. Meanwhile, work continues on ways to outlaw still more gruesome biological weapons. Most governments agree that the spread of all such weapons is now the greatest threat to world peace. Swifter, more certain detection of rule-breakers is vital to the anti-proliferation cause. But the difficulties do not end there.