A New York Congressman said today that Israel, Syria and Lebanon recently signed a 1925 Geneva convention barring the first use of chemical and biological warfare. Rep. Richard D. McCarthy, a Democrat and a leading opponent of CBW, chided the State Department for allegedly being unaware that the Middle East countries had acceded to the protocol which has never been signed by the United States. He urged Secretary of State William P. Rogers to take prompt action to do so.
He said he found it “encouraging” that Israel and the two Arab states, though in a de facto state of war, found it in their interests to renounce the use of CBW. He said it was difficult to understand why the U. S. had not adhered to the Geneva convention although it ostensibly honors it in principle.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
