Philip Zelikow, an official in the first Bush White House and a historian of the presidency, called the denunciations "entirely appropriate."
Previously, he said, the US had shunned open confrontations, relying on "quiet pressure" with the idea that it was more effective. For instance, he said, two defectors warned Washington that thousands of Soviet scientists were developing and stockpiling germ weapons at dozens of sites throughout the Soviet Union in violation of the treaty.
After that, American officials tried quiet persuasion to get Moscow to change its ways. "That effort was not entirely successful," Zelikow recalled. "While the leaders agreed with us, they were unable to deal with their own internal problems and end the program."
A new awareness of the dangers of germ weapons began with the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax letters later sent to Capitol Hill and to news organizations, Zelikow said.
In the prepared text, Bolton asks, "Will we be courageous, unflinching and timely in our actions to develop effective tools to deal with the threat as it exists today? Or will we merely defer to slow-moving multilateral mechanisms that are oblivious to what is happening in the real world?"
But Mary Elizabeth Hoinkes, a former senior official in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, which has been merged into the State Department, called the approach ham-handed.
"Such finger-pointing is aimed at deflecting pressure on the Bush administration for its rejection of a serious verification system," she said.
Hoinkes noted that Washington would not previously have identified a suspected cheater before listing it in annual compliance reports and having discussions with the individual states.
She and other experts on the treaty noted that Bolton's list did not include Russia, China, Israel, Egypt and others that Washington also believes are violating the treaty.
Bolton's text makes clear that he could well have mentioned "other states," which he said the administration would be "contacting privately." Russia is one of the countries that is working in close conjunction with the administration's campaign against bin Laden.
Bolton's speech says that beyond bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, Washington's most serious concern is Iraq's germ-weapons efforts.
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