The State Department’s Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Destruction Program
In 2000, Congress and the Bush administration created a small annual fund for destruction programs to ensure U.S. efforts to secure and destroy SALW stockpiles became more coordinated and regularized. Launched in 2001, the SALW destruction program is administered through the State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (WRA), sometimes in conjunction with the Defense Department’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).
The State Department’s 2006 report, To Walk the Earth in Safety, outlines how the program works:
Destruction and enhanced stockpile security programs are established at the request of the host nation government; interested governments must make a formal inquiry through the appropriate U.S. Embassy. An interagency team will make an initial assessment of the size and condition of excess SA/LW stockpiles, storage procedures, and associated infrastructures. After the survey, PM/WRA may establish U.S.-funded destruction operations within the host country, taking into account factors such as regional stability, counter-terrorism and force protection, and mitigation of the humanitarian impact of illicit SA/LW and abandoned ordnance.
Additionally, through a similar process, PM/WRA and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) offer technical assistance on physical security and stockpile management issues to inform weapons custodians and ammunition technicians of U.S. standards and procedures. The U.S. Department of State and DTRA work closely with the host nation to develop and execute projects that meet the needs of the requesting government, are cost-effective, and promote regional security. Since the program’s inception in 2001 through the end of 2005, more than 800,000 weapons, 80 million rounds of ammunition, and over 17,000 MANPADS since 2003, have been destroyed. By the end of 2005, PM/WRA had implemented SA/LW destruction programs in the following countries with their cooperation: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Romania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, and Sudan.
Next Steps for Improvement and the FY08 Budget Request
Despite this success, the comparatively low funding level for the program has limited the WRA capacity, and many dangerous stockpiles remain. In 2006, recognizing the security threat posed by these weapons and the need for a more robust clean-up strategy, similar to that of the Cooperative Threat Reduction programs for nuclear materials, Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced S. 2566, the Conventional Arms Disarmament Act of 2006. Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) introduced a similar bill, HR 5333, the Shoulder Fired Missile Threat Reduction Act in the House. Portions of these bills were passed into law at the end of 2006 as part of the State Department authorization process. The provisions included language that authorized the State Department to provide assistance to secure or eliminate MANPADS and other small arms.
This authorization helped pave the way for a significantly increased budget request for the small arms and light weapons destruction program. For FY08, the Bush administration requested $44.7 million in the State Department’s annual budget, up from $8.6 million last year.
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