By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Ky. – Under the gun to destroy the U.S. chemical weapons stockpiles – and now all but certain to miss their deadline – Army officials have a plan to hasten the process: Blow some of them up.
The Army would use explosives to destroy some of the Cold War-era weapons, which contain some of the nastiest compounds ever made, in two communities in Kentucky and Colorado that fought down another combustion-based plan years ago.
Some who live near the two installations worry it’s a face-saving measure, driven by pressure from U.S. adversaries, that puts the safety of citizens below the politics of diplomacy and won’t help the U.S. meet an already-blown deadline.