NationStates Jolt Archive

Firstly, apologies for the publicity stunt entitled "Religious Freedom and Warfare". Secondly, it would be nice if people made comments, even when they LIKE the resolution, rather than just bitching.
/rant
There follows the text of the resolution "UN Radiological Weapons Ban". Constructive (and other) comments are welcome.

UN Radiological Weapons Ban
A resolution to slash worldwide military spending.

Description: DEFINING for the purposes of this resolution, a radiological weapon as any weapon that relies largely or solely on the dispersion of radioactive material as a means of attack, and does not achieve critical mass during the course of its use;

NOTING that radiological weapons (most commonly referred to as dirty bombs) differ greatly in effect from nuclear weapons, but pose some of the same long term threats;

APPALLED at the economic, environmental, and public health risks posed by the use of such a weapon in an urban area or area of special scientific interest, especially given that such weapons are:
a) Indiscriminate and of little or no use for targeting military institutions,
Yet are:
b) Capable of causing severe economic damage and generating considerable fear;

CONCERNED by the availability of radiological material from which a radiological weapon could be constructed, particularly material such as is discarded along with other waste by heavy industry and the healthcare industry, as such material could be obtained with relative ease by terrorist groups;

CONVINCED that radiological weapons are both unnecessary for national defence and an unacceptable risk to the safety of citizens of UN members and the environment in which they live;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

1.The possession, production, trafficking or use (either directly or through proxy) of radiological weapons as defined by this resolution is forbidden to all UN member nations.

2. Any radiological weapon proscribed as described in this resolution which at any time is in the possession of a member nation or known to be in the possession of its citizenry must be immediately and completely destroyed through a method which incorporates all practical safeguards against any detonation of the weapon and/or dispersal of the radioactive material.

3. United Nations member states to take every practical precaution to prevent use of or access to radiological material by unauthorised individuals, especially in areas such as hospitals, which the public have access to on a regular basis.

4. United Nations member states to require all those who stockpile, or otherwise make use of, radiological material to:
a) Secure radioactive material from theft and unauthorized access,
b) Promptly report lost or stolen material to appropriate authorities and
c) Dispose of such material safely and/or to deliver it to the government for supervision,
In order to avoid:
d) Deliberate and malevolent use of the material and
e) Accidental access that could result in injury


Thank you for your time.

IC: (short version) Whatever Excruciatia's UN representative nation is will vote against, and Excruciatia will continue stockpiling, selling, servicing, training, using, you name it :D

Secondly, fluffy kitten resolution supporting nations don't have to make comments on them because they have the numbers to get them through anyway (at the moment) ;)

OOC: Would vote yes now if real world :)

IC: ...but not, sorry ;)

This looks good. Perhaps you could add something about cooperation in the development of defenses and cleanup of radiological damage from these weapons?

You will have Ceorana's full support in this.

Kingsley Thomas
Ambassador to the United Nations

I'm not wild about the grammar of the latter clauses ("United Nations members to..."), and clause 4 especially seems odd:

c) Dispose of such material safely and/or to deliver it to the government for supervision,
Presumably you mean that this should be done once it's finished being used...

d) Deliberate and malevolent use of the material and
e) Accidental access that could result in injury
These are unnecessary; at most, they should be in the preamble.

OOC:

New Ixion, are you sure you posted the right draft? I thought you had adopted the changes suggested on Reclamation. :confused:

New Ixion;11840105']Firstly, apologies for the publicity stunt entitled "Religious Freedom and Warfare". Secondly, it would be nice if people made comments, even when they LIKE the resolution, rather than just bitching.To be fair, "Great job, I love it!" doesn't provide much help. Part of the reason for posting in the forums is to find people who don't like it, so they can point out potential problems.

To be fair, "Great job, I love it!" doesn't provide much help. Part of the reason for posting in the forums is to find people who don't like it, so they can point out potential problems.
Ok, I'll bear this in mind.

I'm not wild about the grammar of the latter clauses ("United Nations members to..."), and clause 4 especially seems odd:


c) Dispose of such material safely and/or to deliver it to the government for supervision,
Presumably you mean that this should be done once it's finished being used...


d) Deliberate and malevolent use of the material and
e) Accidental access that could result in injury
These are unnecessary; at most, they should be in the preamble.
Good points, thank you. The first point has been seen to, and it turns out that Ausserland had already corrected the others.

OOC:

New Ixion, are you sure you posted the right draft? I thought you had adopted the changes suggested on Reclamation.
I was unable to access Reclamation when I posted this, so I assumed I had the most up-to-date version saved. Apparently I did not, so I will try again. The second draft is as follows:

THE UNITED NATIONS,

NOTING that radiological weapons (commonly referred to as dirty bombs) differ greatly in effect from nuclear weapons, but pose equal or even greater long term threats;

APPALLED at the economic, environmental, and public health risks posed by the use of radiological weapons, given that such weapons are indiscriminate and of little or no use for targeting military activities, yet are capable of causing severe damage to both persons and property, and generating extreme fear;

DEEPLY CONCERNED by the availability of radiological material from which a radiological weapon could be constructed, particularly material that is discarded along with other waste, as such material could be obtained and put to use with relative ease by terrorist groups, and

CONVINCED that radiological weapons are both unnecessary for national defence and an unacceptable risk to the safety of citizens of UN member nations and the environments in which they live;

1. DEFINES, for the purposes of this resolution, a radiological weapon as any weapon that relies largely or solely on the dispersion of radioactive material as a means of attack, and does not achieve critical mass during the course of its use.

2. DEFINES, for the purposes of this resolution, radiological material as radioactive material which might reasonably have application in construction of a radiological weapon.

3. PROHIBITS the possession, production, trafficking or use (either directly or through proxy) of radiological weapons as defined by this resolution.

4. MANDATES that all radiological weapons in the possession of member nations or known to be in the possession of their citizens must be immediately and completely destroyed through a method which incorporates all practical safeguards against detonation of the weapon and dispersal of the radioactive material.

5. REQUIRES all member nations to take every reasonable precaution to prevent the use of or access to radiological material by unauthorised individuals, especially in areas such as hospitals, to which the public have access on a regular basis.

6. REQUIRES all member nations to ensure that all those who maintain or make use of radiological material:

a. Take all practicable steps to secure radiological material against loss or theft,

b. Promptly report loss or theft of such material to appropriate authorities, and

c. Dispose of such material safely or deliver it to the appropriate government authorities for proper destruction upon the completion if its use.

1. DEFINES, for the purposes of this resolution, a radiological weapon as any weapon that relies largely or solely on the dispersion of radioactive material as a means of attack, and does not achieve critical mass during the course of its use.

2. DEFINES, for the purposes of this resolution, radiological material as radioactive material which might reasonably have application in construction of a radiological weapon.

I would suggest combining them into one clause, like this:

1. DEFINES, for the purposes of this resolution:
a. "radiological weapon" as any weapon that relies largely or solely on the dispersion of radioactive material as a means of attack, and does not achieve critical mass during the course of its use.
b. "radiological material" as radioactive material which might reasonably have application in construction of a radiological weapon.

I think it makes it easier to read and cuts down on clauses. But it's your choice.

c. Dispose of such material safely or deliver it to the appropriate government authorities for proper destruction upon the completion if its use.

This doesn't read well for me, I'd suggest:

c. See that such material is disposed of safely upon completion of its use.

5. REQUIRES all member nations to take every reasonable precaution to prevent the use of or access to radiological material by unauthorised individuals, especially in areas such as hospitals, to which the public have access on a regular basis.

I don't think the stuff about hospitals is really relevant; it just adds more information to an issue that a lot of members (OOC: including me, before I looked it up) have no real clue about. Also "access to" should come before "use of": you have to access something before you can use it.

a. Take all practicable steps to secure radiological material against loss or theft,

b. Promptly report loss or theft of such material to appropriate authorities, and

I think it ought to be "loss, dispersal or theft", as we don't want the material being strewn around everywhere.

3. PROHIBITS the possession, production, trafficking or use (either directly or through proxy) of radiological weapons as defined by this resolution.
You can cut the bolded part.

You can cut the bolded part.

Agree. It's not necessary.

Lorelei M. Ahlmann
Ambassador-at-Large

1.The possession, production, trafficking or use (either directly or through proxy) of radiological weapons as defined by this resolution is forbidden to all UN member nations.Am I to understand from this passage that if we raid a terror hideout in Paradise City and find a dirty bomb, we would not be able to seize it or transport it to a safer location, but rather destroy it on site?

Am I to understand from this passage that if we raid a terror hideout in Paradise City and find a dirty bomb, we would not be able to seize it or transport it to a safer location, but rather destroy it on site?

No, you must immediately contact a non UN member who can possess, produce, traffic and use dirty bombs because UN resolutions don't apply to them. Or you can contact the UN gnomes because they are not technically UN member nations.

Personally I trust neither.

Personally I'm a little concerned that you allowed a terrorist organization to smuggle a dirty bomb into Paradise City in the first place.

No, you must immediately contact a non UN member who can possess, produce, traffic and use dirty bombs because UN resolutions don't apply to them.For a modest fee...

That's a reasonable point, inasmuch as while I think saying you can't take it to another site to destroy it is probably an extreme reading of the proposal, I really don't think you could keep it to inspect for evidence, which might be problematic. If we found a dirty bomb, we'd want to know where it came from: I'm not sure this resolution would allow us to take it apart and try to find where it was assembled, and where the materials might have come from, and so on.

Personally I'm a little concerned that you allowed a terrorist organization to smuggle a dirty bomb into Paradise City in the first place.

Under the UN Counterterrorism Initiative and our recently signed regional defense pact, The Allied Antarctic Asskickers Treaty (http://z11.invisionfree.com/Antarctic_Oasis/index.php?showtopic=158), Cluichstan, along with many other nations, has been providing the Federal Republic with intelligence on the movements of terrorist groups attempting to operate in Paradise City. Thus, the chances of a terrorist organisation managing to pull off such a scenario has been reduced dramatically, but there is always the possibility that a situation like that described by my Kennyite friend could occur. That said, we are curious as to how the author of the proposal will respond to the esteemed delegate from OMGTKK, as well as to our Gruenberger friend.

Cordially,
Defense Minister Sheik Nottap bin Cluich

Am I to understand from this passage that if we raid a terror hideout in Paradise City and find a dirty bomb, we would not be able to seize it or transport it to a safer location, but rather destroy it on site?
This is a good point, although IMO, it is clause 4 that causes the problem here.
4. MANDATES that all radiological weapons in the possession of member nations or known to be in the possession of their citizens must be immediately and completely destroyed through a method which incorporates all practical safeguards against detonation of the weapon and dispersal of the radioactive material.
I am considering a full reply to be made shortly.

That's a reasonable point, inasmuch as while I think saying you can't take it to another site to destroy it is probably an extreme reading of the proposal, I really don't think you could keep it to inspect for evidence, which might be problematic. If we found a dirty bomb, we'd want to know where it came from: I'm not sure this resolution would allow us to take it apart and try to find where it was assembled, and where the materials might have come from, and so on.
By my interpretation, there is nothing to prevent you from keeping the components as evidence provided that the weapon has been properly disabled; whilst possession of a weapon is forbidden, possession of radiological material is not, especially not to those who are likely to use the proper safeguards.

In addition, I feel that there is relatively little one could learn from a radiological weapon, as in most cases these would simply be canisters of radiological material attached to conventional explosives and a triggering mechanism. The absence of high-technology and ease of assembly are what makes these weapons a good bet for terrorist groups, and why a resolution is necessary.

Under the UN Counterterrorism Initiative and our recently signed regional defense pact, The Allied Antarctic Asskickers Treaty (http://z11.invisionfree.com/Antarctic_Oasis/index.php?showtopic=158), Cluichstan, along with many other nations, has been providing the Federal Republic with intelligence on the movements of terrorist groups attempting to operate in Paradise City. Thus, the chances of a terrorist organisation managing to pull off such a scenario has been reduced dramatically, but there is always the possibility that a situation like that described by my Kennyite friend could occur. That said, we are curious as to how the author of the proposal will respond to the esteemed delegate from OMGTKK, as well as to our Gruenberger friend.

Cordially,
Defense Minister Sheik Nottap bin Cluich


The Beloved President for Life of The Democratic Republic of Excruciatia reads Defense Minister Sheik Nottap bin Cluich's post, and considers it a dare (OOC: :D)

He orders the (OOC: *cough*) "Freedom Fighter" (OOC: *cough*) Division of Policarmy to assemble 2 groups of 5 men each to attempt the smuggling and detonation of a dirty bomb in Paradise City... (OOC: Or if that doesn't work maybe the establishment of a couple of the Excruciatian equivalent of McDonalds in the city...which could be even worse ;) I almost wish it would have been one of my sane nation regions that was invaded to get me in to UN, wouldn't mind voting for this one...Oh well :))

The Beloved President for Life of The Democratic Republic of Excruciatia reads Defense Minister Sheik Nottap bin Cluich's post, and considers it a dare (OOC: :D)

He orders the (OOC: *cough*) "Freedom Fighter" (OOC: *cough*) Division of Policarmy to assemble 2 groups of 5 men each to attempt the smuggling and detonation of a dirty bomb in Paradise City... (OOC: Or if that doesn't work maybe the establishment of a couple of the Excruciatian equivalent of McDonalds in the city...which could be even worse ;) I almost wish it would have been one of my sane nation regions that was invaded to get me in to UN, wouldn't mind voting for this one...Oh well :))


Hey, man, thanks for announcing your intentions. It'll be much easier for our forces to help the Kennyites disrupt that mission.

Love, luck and lollipops,
Sheik Larebil bin Cluich
Cluichstani Ambassador to the UN

OOC: Not a problem Sheik :) I'ld just hate the poor blokes to be as bored as I was at work last night ;)

Okay, how's this? This is a new operative clause that would go between clauses 3 and 4 of the updated resolution (below). There's probably a better word than 'NOTES' - I'm open to suggestions for this and constructive comments on the rest.

4. NOTES that nothing in clauses 2 and 3 prohibits the law enforcement or intelligence services of member nations from:

a. Confiscating a radiological weapon or moving such a device to a secure facility for the purposes of carrying out the obligations stated in clause 3,

b. Remaining in possession of a fully deactivated weapon provided that it is used solely for the purposes of use as evidence in a valid criminal prosecution.

The text of the updated resolution is as follows:
THE UNITED NATIONS,

NOTING that radiological weapons (commonly referred to as dirty bombs) differ greatly in effect from nuclear weapons, but pose equal or even greater long term threats;

APPALLED at the economic, environmental, and public health risks posed by the use of radiological weapons, given that such weapons are indiscriminate and of little or no use for targeting military activities, yet are capable of causing severe damage to both persons and property, and generating extreme fear;

DEEPLY CONCERNED by the availability of radiological material from which a radiological weapon could be constructed, particularly material that is discarded along with other waste, as such material could be obtained and put to use with relative ease by terrorist groups, and

CONVINCED that radiological weapons are both unnecessary for national defence and an unacceptable risk to the safety of citizens of UN member nations and the environments in which they live;

1. DEFINES, for the purposes of this resolution:
a. "radiological weapon" as any weapon that relies largely or solely on the dispersion of radioactive material as a means of attack, and does not achieve critical mass during the course of its use.
b. "radiological material" as radioactive material which might reasonably have application in construction of a radiological weapon.

2. PROHIBITS the possession, production, trafficking or use (either directly or through proxy) of radiological weapons.

3. MANDATES that all radiological weapons in the possession of member nations or known to be in the possession of their citizens must be immediately and completely destroyed through a method which incorporates all practical safeguards against detonation of the weapon and dispersal of the radioactive material.

4. REQUIRES all member nations to take every reasonable precaution to prevent the access to or use of radiological material by unauthorised individuals.

5. REQUIRES all member nations to ensure that all those who maintain or make use of radiological material:

a. Take all practicable steps to secure radiological material against loss, dispersal or theft,

b. Promptly report loss, dispersal or theft of such material to appropriate authorities, and

c. Dispose of such material safely or deliver it to the appropriate government authorities for proper disposal upon the completion if its use.

well, this is a large issue but ill tell you one thing. if you bomb me, radioactive material will be everywhere.

The government of the St Edmundan Antarctic considers this proposal to cover a matter that could reasonably be considered the UN's business, and will probably vote in its favour (assuming that the final text doesn't contain any clauses with which we strongly disagree) when it reaches the General Assembly.
With regard to the clause REQUIRES all member nations to take every reasonable precaution to prevent the access to or use of radiological material by unauthorised individuals. Presumably the definitions of "authorised individuals" & "unauthorised" individuals" are left for the individual member nations to define for themselves? (We consider that to be acceptable...) And presumably nations can set different definitions for different categories of radiological material? For example, household smoke-detectors ( at least the type that I'm aware of, anyway) contain (tiny amounts of) radiological material, which could theoretically be harvested & massed together for the production of such weapons, but in their case there would presumably have to be a fairly wide authorisation...