CIA Director George Tenet testified today before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (AFP photo/Luke Frazza). Terrorist Threat Persists Despite Al-Qaeda Setbacks, Tenet Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — While the United States is moving closer to fully dismantling terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organization, the end of the terrorist group will not eliminate the risk of continued attacks against the United States, CIA Director George Tenet said today (see GSN, Feb. 3)...Full Story

IAEA Blasts Iran on Centrifuge Designs, Uranium Traces, Polonium By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Casting doubt on Iran’s claims to be coming clean about its long-hidden illicit nuclear programs, Iranian officials told U.N. experts for the first time last month that Tehran in 1994 obtained foreign designs for P-2 uranium enrichment centrifuges and subsequently tested some components based on the designs, according to a report the International Atomic Energy Agency submitted today to its Board of Governors (see GSN, Feb. 23)...Full Story

North to Receive Nuclear Proposal Today, One Day Before Multilateral Talks Begin With the second round of six-country talks on North Korea’s nuclear program set to begin tomorrow in Beijing, Seoul’s chief delegate was expected today to lay out a three-phase proposal in a private meeting with the North, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, Feb. 23)...Full Story

	Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Terrorist Threat Persists Despite Al-Qaeda Setbacks, Tenet Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — While the United States is moving closer to fully dismantling terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organization, the end of the terrorist group will not eliminate the risk of continued attacks against the United States, CIA Director George Tenet said today (see GSN, Feb. 3). Tenet, along with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby, testified today before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to give their annual assessment of the terrorist and proliferation threats faced by the United States. In addition to the continuing threat posed by terrorists, the United States over the past year has achieved a mixed record on reducing the threat posed by countries whose nuclear programs make them proliferation concerns, according to the officials. In his prepared testimony, Tenet described the progress made over the past year-and-a-half in combating al-Qaeda. The United States has killed or captured al-Qaeda leaders involved in every aspect of the group’s operations, from attack planning to training to financing, Tenet said. The war on terrorism has caused massive disruptions to al-Qaeda’s leadership, resulting in local cells being forced to act increasingly on their own, Tenet said. Tenet warned the committee, however, that al-Qaeda remains a threat. He pointed to attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries, and to continued training and funding of regional operations. “Do not misunderstand me. I am not suggesting al-Qaeda is defeated. It is not.  We are still at war,” he said. Tenet also highlighted the growing threat posed by smaller and more regional terrorist groups influenced by al-Qaeda’s ideology, which he said portrays the United States as “Islam’s greatest foe.” “What I want to say to you now may be the most important thing I tell you today,” Tenet told the committee. “The steady growth of Osama bin Laden’s anti-U.S. sentiment through the wider Sunni extremist movement and the broad dissemination of al-Qaeda’s destructive expertise ensure that a serious threat will remain for the foreseeable future — with or without al-Qaeda in the picture,” he said. Tenet characterized the terrorist groups influenced by al-Qaeda as falling into two types. The first are smaller Sunni Islam extremist groups that have had connections to al-Qaeda itself, such as Ansar al-Islam in Iraq, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (see GSN, Jan. 9). The second type are small local terrorist groups with domestic agendas, such as the Moroccan-based Salifiya Jihadia, responsible for a set of bombings in Casablanca in May 2003, Tenet said. According to Tenet, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups maintain interest in conducting both crude and more sophisticated attacks using weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, June 3, 2003). He said the U.S. intelligence community has detected “a heightened risk” of attacks using various poisons — attacks that could grow in sophistication as non-al-Qaeda groups share methods and tactics. In addition, the U.S. intelligence community detected over the past year an increasing threat of more sophisticated WMD attacks, Tenet said. He said the most immediate threat facing the United States is al-Qaeda’s efforts to develop anthrax (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2003). Tenet also noted the dissemination of information on constructing a crude chemical weapons device that could cause casualties in a closed area, al-Qaeda’s continued pursuit of a “strategic nuclear capability” and its interest in developing radiological weapons.  DIA Director Lowell said there were also concerns about the possibility of states or rogue scientists providing WMD-related technical assistance to terrorist groups.  As for potential targets within the United States, Mueller told the committee that there are “strong indications” that al-Qaeda would revisit targets missed in previous attacks, such as the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Those sites have been previously suggested as intended targets during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. In addition, al-Qaeda continues to focus on possible attacks against U.S. transportation systems, “particularly the subways and bridges in major cities,” Mueller said. WMD Proliferation In their prepared testimonies, both Tenet and Lowell described in a country-by-country fashion the WMD threats posed by several countries of concern to the United States, including Iran and North Korea. Noting the decision made by Libya to dismantle its WMD programs, Tenet praised the successes achieved over the past year in reducing the WMD threat to the United States, but said more work needed to be done. “[The] picture is changing before our eyes — changing at a rate I have not seen since the end of the Cold War,” Tenet said. “Some of its shows our years of work paying off, and some of it shows the work ahead is harder,” he added. North Korea Both Tenet and Lowell devoted large sections of their prepared testimonies to the threats posed by North Korea, primarily by its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs (see related GSN story, today).  “The North Korean regime continues to threaten a range of U.S., regional and global security interests,” Tenet said. The two officials noted the U.S. intelligence community’s belief that North Korea has probably developed one or two nuclear weapons, and said its reported processing of 8,000 spent fuel rods previously stored at the Yongbyon facility has provided enough plutonium for several more warheads. They also said the United States suspects North Korea has developed a uranium enrichment capability in addition to its plutonium-based efforts. “Pyongyang is expected to increase its weapons inventory by the end of the decade through plutonium production and a possible unlocated uranium enrichment capability,” Lowell said. North Korea, however, has denied possessing a uranium enrichment program. The contentious issue is likely to be a key topic of discussion during a planned round of multilateral talks on North Korea’s nuclear efforts scheduled to begin tomorrow in Beijing. Lowell told the committee that North Korea sees its nuclear weapons program as “critical” to its survival. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il believes the rapid U.S. military success against Iraq demonstrated the weaknesses of North Korea’s conventional military forces and heightened the value of nuclear weapons, Lowell said.   He also said that “we do not know” what conditions would have to be offered to reach an agreement with North Korea that would result in Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons program and submitting to inspections. In addition to nuclear weapons, Tenet and Lowell also described North Korea’s ballistic missile efforts to the Senate intelligence panel. According to Tenet, North Korea may be near to becoming self-sufficient in developing missiles and continues to procure missile-related components and materials from other countries. While Pyongyang currently maintains a self-imposed moratorium on ballistic missile tests, its Taepodong 2 missile, capable of hitting targets within the United States with a nuclear warhead, “may be ready” now for flight-testing, Tenet said. Lowell said North Korea is also reportedly close to fielding a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, similar to the Russian SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missile. If the reports are accurate, Lowell said, such a North Korean missile could hit targets within Okinawa, Guam and possibly Alaska. Iran Regarding Iran, Tenet praised Tehran’s decision to acknowledge its covert nuclear program and to allow international inspections. Last year, Tenet said “no Iranian government, regardless of its ideological leanings, is likely to willingly abandon WMD programs that are seen as guaranteeing Iran’s security.”  He warned today, however, that Iran’s missile program poses both a “regional threat and a proliferation concern.” Last year, Iran announced plans to develop space-launch vehicles, which contain many of the same components as ICBMs, and it could be able to begin flight-testing such systems by the latter part of the decade, Tenet said. Lowell went even further , saying that Iran could have the “capability” to deploy an ICBM “by 2015.” He also said, though, that while Iran is wary of the large U.S. military presence in Iraq, “fears of war” between the United States and Iran have “eased.” U.S. progress in improving the political and economic situations of Iraqis, especially Iraq’s Shiite Muslim community, could improve relations between Washington and Tehran, Lowell said. Libya In his testimony, Tenet praised the decision announced by Libya late last year to fully disclose and dismantle its WMD programs and outlined the progress made in the effort. Tripoli has acknowledged possessing a nuclear weapons program and nuclear weapon designs and having produced about 25 tons of sulfur mustard agent and “small amounts of nerve agent.” The country’s leaders also provided access to deployed Scud B missiles, and information on indigenous missile design efforts and missile cooperation with North Korea. Tenet credited U.S. intelligence with having led to the decision by Col. Muammar Qadhafi to move to renounce weapons of mass destruction and to dismantle his own WMD programs. “Our picture of Libya’s WMD programs allowed CIA officers and their British colleagues to press the Libyans on the right questions, to expose inconsistencies and to convince them that holding back was counterproductive,” he said. Tenet’s praise of Libya and its efforts to dismantle its WMD programs stands in contrast to assessments included in his testimony during last year’s threat hearing. Then, Tenet said that Libya “clearly intends to re-establish” an offensive chemical weapons capability and that it had produced “at least” 100 tons of chemical agents. Iraq Tenet today also briefly touched on what has been one of the key perceived WMD threats to the United States over the past year — Iraq. During last year’s threat hearing, Tenet laid out a detailed overview of prewar Iraq’s suspected WMD efforts, including mobile biological weapons production facilities and a “pattern of clandestine procurements designed to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program.” Since the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom almost a year ago, however, coalition forces searching Iraq for evidence of alleged WMD stockpiles and programs have found almost nothing. During his testimony today, Tenet only called for the Iraq Survey Group to continue its search, citing the need to “explore every avenue in our quest to understand Iraq’s program” and to prevent materials or expertise from falling into the hands of other countries of concern or terrorists. Back to top       Australian Foreign Minister Defends WMD Basis for Iraq War Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday that the decision to invade Iraq on the basis that it was developing weapons of mass destruction would in time be vindicated (see GSN, Feb. 23). So far, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, and former U.S. chief weapons inspector David Kay has said it is unlikely that WMD stockpiles or evidence of large-scale WMD programs would ever be found. However, Downer criticized those who have called for inquiries into prewar intelligence on Iraq, saying the investigation of that country’s prewar WMD capacity is not completed (Virginia Marsh, Financial Times, Feb. 24). Back to top       Air Force Developing “Shredder” Weapon to Attack Enemy WMD The Air Force Research Laboratory is continuing work on a chemical and biological defeat weapon called the Shredder, according to Defense Daily (see GSN, Oct. 9, 2002). The Air Force last summer awarded Alliant Techsystems a $15 million contract to develop the weapon, which combines an explosive warhead with a WMD-neutralizing material “that decreases agent release” from targeted weapons. Both the Air Force and the Navy have worked for years to develop advanced agent defeat weapons, which attempt to minimize collateral damage. Both services have had difficulty creating explosive fills that can destroy chemical or biological weapons without releasing their materials into the air (Sharon Weinberger, Defense Daily, Feb. 24). Back to top

IAEA Blasts Iran on Centrifuge Designs, Uranium Traces, Polonium By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Casting doubt on Iran’s claims to be coming clean about its long-hidden illicit nuclear programs, Iranian officials told U.N. experts for the first time last month that Tehran in 1994 obtained foreign designs for P-2 uranium enrichment centrifuges and subsequently tested some components based on the designs, according to a report the International Atomic Energy Agency submitted today to its Board of Governors (see GSN, Feb. 23). The agency said Iran did not mention the designs in an Oct. 21, 2003, letter to the agency that Tehran has claimed provided a complete picture of Iran’s previously secret nuclear activities. Iran’s omission from the letter “of any reference to its possession of the P-2 centrifuge design drawings and associated research, manufacturing and testing activities is a matter of serious concern” that “runs counter to Iran’s declaration,” the agency said. In addition, the agency disputed Iran’s estimates of how much plutonium it has produced in reprocessing experiments (see GSN, Nov. 11, 2003). The IAEA’s concern was based on environmental sampling in and around Iranian nuclear facilities. The confidential report, obtained today by Global Security Newswire, comes ahead of a Board of Governors meeting scheduled to begin March 8 at agency headquarters in Vienna. At recent board meetings, the United States has pushed unsuccessfully but with growing insistency for the board to refer the Iran case to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions on the country. At its last meeting, held in November, the board passed a resolution saying it considered it “essential that the declarations that have now been made by Iran amount to the correct, complete and final picture of Iran’s past and present nuclear program, to be verified by the agency.” The 35-member panel added that “any further serious Iranian failures [that] come to light” would trigger an emergency board meeting, potentially leading to a finding of Iranian “noncompliance” with its IAEA safeguards agreement and a consequent Security Council referral (see GSN, Nov. 26, 2003). The P-2 centrifuge program was only one of several areas where the agency indicated Iran has fallen short of responding completely to international concerns. The IAEA said Iran must still provide “clarification” about its centrifuge work and laser enrichment research, as well as activities related to polonium, which the agency called “a concern.” Among other applications, polonium can be used to facilitate the timing of a nuclear explosion. Iran still must resolve questions regarding low-enriched and high-enriched uranium traces found at two facilities in the country “and associated concerns,” the agency added. “Until this matter is satisfactorily resolved,” the IAEA said, “it will be very difficult for the agency to confirm that there has not been any undeclared nuclear material or activities.” “The agency is still waiting for Iran to provide requested information detailing the origin of the centrifuge equipment and components, the locations in Iran to which such equipment and components were moved and the associated details of time scales and the names of individuals involved. The resolution of this issue will depend to a great extent on the cooperation of the country from which the imported items are believed to have originated,” the agency said. The agency cited similarities in “the timelines of the [uranium] conversion and centrifuge programs” of Iran and Libya, calling the basic technology used by the two countries “very similar and … largely obtained from the same foreign sources.” The IAEA said it is “investigating … the supply routes and sources of such technology and related equipment and nuclear and non-nuclear materials” (see GSN, Feb. 23). In a related development, Iran said today that by next week it would temporarily cease all facets of uranium enrichment activity, apparently resolving a dispute over the terms of its November announcement that it would suspend such activity. The dispute centered on what the suspension entails, with the United States seeking an end to all enrichment-related activities, while Iran continued to assemble centrifuges at least until mid-January, according to today’s report. Iran refrained, however, from using them to enrich any uranium and has now agreed to place them under IAEA seal. Back to top       North to Receive Nuclear Proposal Today, One Day Before Multilateral Talks Begin With the second round of six-country talks on North Korea’s nuclear program set to begin tomorrow in Beijing, Seoul’s chief delegate was expected today to lay out a three-phase proposal in a private meeting with the North, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, Feb. 23). Lee Soo-hyuck said he would present the plan to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, which U.S. and Japanese delegates have backed, in a presummit bilateral meeting at 8 p.m. local time today (Andrew Ward, Financial Times, Feb. 24). The first phase of the plan calls for North Korea to declare its willingness to abandon all nuclear weapons programs. In exchange, the United States would state its readiness to give security assurances to North Korea. In the second phase, North Korea would freeze its nuclear facilities, return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and accept inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Once these steps were verified, the United States would provide energy assistance to North Korea and provide additional rewards. Finally, North Korea would eliminate all its nuclear programs and the United States would deliver a written security assurance (Martin Perry, Agence France-Presse, Feb. 24). Meanwhile, China said today that it would discuss converting the forum into a semi-permanent mechanism aimed at maintaining a nuclear-free zone on the Korean peninsula, according to the Agence France-Presse. “We believe that the DPRK (North Korea) issue is a complicated issue and that the whole process of seeking a solution is a long, drawn-out process,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said today. “During the second round of talks, China hopes to have wide-ranging discussions with the related parties on a specific proposal on maintaining a mechanism for the talks and we hope that this round of talks can reach a certain consensus on this,” she added (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 24) Elsewhere, for the first time since the Vietnam War, B-52 bombers have been sent to the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, according to Pacific Daily News. The first three of six aircraft arrived on the island Sunday (Katie Worth, Pacific Daily News, Feb. 23). Back to top       IAEA Learning Details of International Nuclear Network From Libya The International Atomic Energy Agency is learning more details about the international nuclear black market from Libya, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 23). The IAEA is “getting more details, getting names of more individuals, more companies,” ElBaradei said after the first of two days of meetings with Libyan officials in Tripoli. “We’re still understanding the network, still trying to see if other countries have received the technology, have received the weapons design,” he said. ElBaradei, who is scheduled to meet today with Libyan Foreign Minister Abdulrahman Mohamed Shalgam, also said yesterday that he hoped Libya could finish dismantling its WMD development programs by June. “We have discussed in detail where we are and what needs to be done, and we agree that we will make every effort to come to a closure on this issue by June,” he said (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse, Feb. 24). Several elements of Libya’s nuclear weapons program remain in place, three months after Tripoli pledged to scrap them, ElBaradei said. A member of ElBaradei’s delegation said Libya still possesses assembled uranium enrichment centrifuge equipment (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 24). Libya has told the IAEA that it wants to maintain several nuclear facilities, including a uranium conversion plant the United States wants dismantled, Western diplomats said. “Two of the facilities are quite innocent but the conversion plant is a sensitive one,” a Western diplomat said. “Some countries don’t want Libya to keep the plant. The U.S. wants to take it out of Libya.” (Reuters/Planet Ark, Feb. 24). Diplomats said, though, that Libya is only making a half-hearted attempt to maintain the conversion plant and they expect Tripoli to agree to it being dismantled. Libya also wants to maintain a research reactor, according to Western diplomats. ElBaradei said discussions are being held to convert the research reactor to use low-enriched uranium fuel rather than weapon-grade uranium (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Feb. 24). Meanwhile, the Bush administration is set to lift a ban on U.S. travel to Libya, but most other sanctions will remain in place in the near future, U.S. officials said yesterday. The Bush administration has decided to send a U.S. diplomat to Libya and is considering allowing Libyan students to attend U.S. universities, according to the Washington Post. U.S. and British officials have developed a timetable for additional rewards for Libya as its WMD programs end, a senior U.S. official said (Washington Post, Feb. 24). Back to top       Former Pakistani Prime Minister Says She Refused to Export Nuclear Technology Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said yesterday that Pakistani military officials and scientists sought her permission several times to export nuclear technology, but she refused (see GSN, Feb. 23). Bhutto told the Financial Times that she, along with senior civilian and military officials, developed a nuclear policy in 1988 that banned nuclear exports. She served as prime minister from 1988-1990 and from 1993-1996. Despite her policy, senior military officials and scientists urged her to approve nuclear exports late in her first term as a way to raise money. Bhutto said she told the military officials and scientists that only Iran, Iraq and Libya would be interested in Pakistani nuclear technology, and the amount of money collected (projected to be up to $100 million per country) would not offset the international isolation Pakistan would suffer. She also said that she had not considered North Korea as a potential purchaser at the time. “It was something that I was disabusing them of, that they could not get it. If they chose to sell it, only three countries would buy it, because it wasn’t like McDonald’s hamburgers that would have a huge consumer market,” Bhutto said (Stephen Fidler, Financial Times, Feb. 24). Back to top       Malaysia Defends Itself Against U.S. Nuclear Allegations Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressed doubt yesterday that the United States would impose sanctions on his country over a local company’s role in the nuclear weapons black market, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 23). “I don’t think the U.S will go to that extent of imposing sanctions because of this one small incident,” the prime minister told a news conference yesterday. Abdullah was responding to a Newsweek article reporting that Washington was considering imposing economic sanctions on Malaysia after a company owned by his son was accused of supplying parts to a nuclear smuggling ring. Abdullah said that Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, the Sri Lankan businessman reported to have acted as a middleman for the sale of uranium enrichment centrifuge parts to Libya, “is not detained.” The prime minister added, “What he did was entirely a business deal” (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 24). U.S. President George W. Bush called Tahir, 44, the “chief financial officer and money launderer” for Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has admitted to supplying nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (see GSN, Feb. 19). According to a report release by Malaysian police on Friday, the oil-and-gas company Scomi Precision Engineering was “misled” into making 25,000 parts for centrifuges to enrich uranium (Patrick McDowell, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 24) According to Malaysian investigators, Tahir left the Scomi staff “with the impression” that the parts were meant for the oil and gas industry.  Malaysian officials have so far rejected the idea of limiting exports of dual-use items such as those in place in the United States and other developed countries (Alan Sipress, Washington Post, Feb. 24). Back to top

FBI Says Ricin Investigation Is Stalling The FBI has said that the investigation into two letters containing the poison ricin sent last fall to the White House and the U.S. Transportation Department is beginning to “slow down” because of a lack of leads in the case, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 23). The two letters contained notes criticizing new trucking regulations and were signed “Fallen Angel.” One, addressed to the Transportation Department, was found at South Carolina mail processing facility on Oct. 15. The second, addressed to the White House, was found in November at an offsite mail facility in Washington. No letter has been discovered in a third ricin incident, in which a small amount of the powder was found Feb. 2 in the Dirksen Senate office mailroom used by the staff of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn). Yesterday, in an effort to drum up new leads in the case, the FBI released a copy of the typewritten letter addressed to the White House. That letter threatened to turn Washington into a “ghost town” if the new trucking regulations were not reversed, according to AP. The envelope had a handwritten address for the White House, which is the only handwriting sample obtained in the case so far, FBI spokesman Tom O’Neill said. “We’re hoping that somebody is going to recognize that handwriting,” O’Neill said. “Really, we’re just trying to get some new leads. The investigation is starting to slow down,” he added (Curt Anderson, Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 24). Back to top

Indian Missile Plant Accident Might Be Linked to Agni An explosion yesterday at the Sriharikota cosmodrome in southern India might be connected to testing on the Agni ballistic missile, according to the reports (see GSN, Dec. 31, 2003). The blast killed at least six workers and left three in critical condition, according to ITAR-Tass(Yury Sidorov, ITAR-Tass, Feb. 24). The accident occurred when a rocket component ignited at the plant which makes solid fuel for rocket boosters. “The propellant in the segment caught fire and caused severe damage to the building, in which the operations were going on,” said S.K. Dar, a spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organization (K.S. Jayaraman, Space.com/USAToday, Feb. 24). Back to top

Canada Would Consider Basing U.S. Missile Interceptors Canada has not ruled out the possibility of allowing the United States to deploy missile interceptors on Canadian territory, Canadian Defense Minister David Pratt said Sunday, although he acknowledged that the United States has not made such a request (see GSN, Jan. 16). “We do not know at this point” what the United States is planning, he told the House of Commons. The United States has not yet requested money or territory for missile defense efforts, said James Wright, assistant deputy minister for global and security policy at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. “We have not been presented with a bill,” Wright said. “We have not been presented with a wish-list of Canadian territory,” he said (Graham Fraser, Toronto Star, Feb. 24). Canadian lawmakers are scheduled to vote today on a motion calling on Canada to end missile defense talks with the United States. The nonbinding motion says that “the government should oppose the proposed American antimissile defense shield and, therefore, cease all discussions with the Bush administration on possible Canadian participation” (Fraser, Toronto Star). “Now he [Pratt] tells us he may approve American-controlled missile bases on Canadian soil,” said lawmaker Alexa McDonough. “This flies in the face of Canadian independence and Canadian values,” McDonough said (CBC News, Feb. 23). Australia to Upgrade Radar Meanwhile, Australia is set to spend almost $50 million to upgrade a radar network that could serve as Canberra’s contribution to U.S. missile defense efforts, according to SBS.com (see GSN, Jan 16; SBS.com, Feb. 24). Back to top

Biosecurity Standards Allowed Quick Catch of Bird Flu A strain of bird flu that can be fatal to poultry has been detected on a Texas farm, U.S. and state officials said yesterday, indicating that biosecurity detection and surveillance measures have improved and are working, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 3, 2003). Biosecurity standards allowed officials to quickly diagnose and contain the bird flu, according to Ron DeHaven, chief veterinary officer with the U.S. Agriculture Department. Although the mad cow scare late last year and the recent bird flu outbreaks were spread naturally and detected quickly, the incidents indicate the vulnerability of U.S. agriculture to both intentional and accidental contamination, according to officials. A terrorist attack on the food system could have a dire impact on food production, a vital sector of the U.S. economy, officials said. One in eight Americans works in an occupation directly related to food production, according to a study published this year by the Rand National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center. “Unfortunately, the agriculture and food industries are vulnerable to deliberate [and accidental] disruption,” Peter Chalk, an associate political scientist at Rand said in the report. “The fiscal downstream effect of a major act of sabotage against the food industry would … be multidimensional, reverberating through other sectors of the U.S. economy and ultimately impacting directly on the American consumer,” he added. Senator Jim Talent (R-Miss.) has promoted creation of an agroterrorism center to assess risks and manage potential efforts to spread disease. The bird flu and mad cow cases should spur such efforts onward, he said. Talent expressed concern, however, that current biosecurity standards are not sufficient. “The safety system we have was designed to deal with unintentionally occurring situations. We have to ask about intentional incidents,” he said. “Is the system ready for that? I think we don’t know yet,” he added (Jeffrey Sparshott, Washington Times, Feb. 24). Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

© Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.