Hans Blix addresses nuclear disarmament

WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- With global threats shifting from state to non-state actors, there is no longer a need for the current nuclear arsenal, said former weapons inspector Hans Blix.

U.S. President Barack Obama in an April 5 speech in Prague, Czech Republic, announced his intention to pursue global nuclear disarmament.

"I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," the president said.

In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Hans Blix, the former head of the U.N. nuclear monitoring team in Iraq, backed those sentiments, saying the military doctrines employed in the global fight against terrorist negated the need for nuclear weapons.

"Nuclear weapons are becoming very expensive theoretical gadgets," he said. "The world does not need nuclear weapons to fight terrorism."

He went on to say that as the international community moves beyond the agitated climate in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the sea change in military doctrine may renew calls to disarm.

"As Sept. 11 is gradually fading, confidence in militarism gradually failing, and interdependence rapidly accelerating, the chances are now good that we shall move toward a revival of disarmament," he said.