Photo by Tom Jacobs

The turnover and ultimate destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons will be a step closer to a peaceful world.  The process is fraught with uncertainties, but it’s extremely helpful that the U.S. people have rejected military intervention.  Getting rid of Syria’s chemical weapons can provide an opening for a halt to all arms shipments by all parties into Syria, and hopefully leads to a ceasefire and a peace conference.

Getting rid of Syria’s chemical weapons also opens the door ever so slightly to further reduction of weapons of mass destruction.  Israel has chemical weapons but has never ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.  Nor has Egypt.  Now is the hour.

The United States never has signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and in August authorized a $641 million sale of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia.  The U.S. (and Saudi Arabia, Israel, Russia and China) should sign the cluster bomb treaty, and the authorization for that sale of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia should be revoked.

The path to peace is rough and twisted.  One small step has been taken.  Let’s not turn back now.

Ed Flaherty