U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton (shown in a February photo) harshly criticized Iran during a meeting this week of NPT members at the United Nations (AFP photo/Toshifumi Kitamura). NPT Battered on Several Fronts, Diplomats Say By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — A common theme during the first sessions of this week’s meeting of parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was that the nuclear nonproliferation regime is under stress, both by the few countries that remain outside the treaty and by NPT some members (see GSN, April 27). Delegates at the annual meeting here highlighted two events that have strained the effectiveness of the nonproliferation regime: the 2003 withdrawal from the treaty by suspected nuclear weapons producer North Korea and this year’s exposure of an international nuclear proliferation network involving Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program. Pakistan is not a treaty member state, but as far as is known, Khan’s client nations were all NPT parties...Full Story

U.S. to Raise North Korea Arsenal Estimate North Korea is believed to hold at least eight nuclear weapons, according to new U.S. estimates raising the country’s suspected atomic holdings from “possibly two,” the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, April 26)...Full Story

U.S., China, Agree on New End-Use Verification Visit Procedures By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. and Chinese officials last week reached an agreement on improved procedures to help the United States monitor the ultimate uses of dual-use exports to China (see GSN, Feb. 12)...Full Story

	Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Most U.S. Antiterror Funding Not Yet Distributed By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Washington and U.S. states often consider neither needs nor risks when making decisions on distribution of antiterrorism and anti-WMD grants to emergency responders around the country, according to an analysis released by House Select Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) yesterday (see GSN, April 9). The analysis, produced by the committee’s staff, comes as states are under pressure to speed their transfer of funds from the Homeland Security Department to local emergency responders. Federal, state and local officials continue to debate how the funds should be distributed by the department’s Office for Domestic Preparedness and what is causing delays in the pipeline that Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has called a “logjam.” More than $5 billion of the $6.3 billion appropriated by Congress since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has not been disbursed to local emergency agencies, the Los Angeles Times reported today. The report indicates that the federal government often granted funds without a rigorous assessment of need or risk and that nearly one-third of states made decisions on distribution of the funds without any consideration of need or risk. It also finds that while Washington has awarded grants in a timely manner, no federal equipment or training standards guide state and local spending of the funds — “leading to many instances of questionable expenditures,” according to a committee release — and that overall, little of the money has been spent because of insufficient planning and bureaucratic barriers at the local level. States submitted statewide threat and need assessments to Homeland Security in January. The Office of Domestic Preparedness has been consolidating the plans and will use them in a bid to improve targeting of spending to prepare emergency responders for WMD and terrorist attacks (see GSN, Feb. 13). Department Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin said this month in a report that states and local jurisdictions had been slow in spending Office for Domestic Preparedness grants but said spending was not the best measure of progress. Ervin called for measures including better reporting requirements and performance standards, quick federal development of equipment and training standards to guide grant recipients’ spending. Back to top       Universities to Receive U.S. Security Research Funding By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Homeland Security Department plans to give $33 million over three years to two new university “centers of excellence” to study security strategies for food and foreign animals, Homeland Security Undersecretary for Science and Technology Charles McQueary said yesterday. Texas A&M University will receive $18 million to study diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, Rift Valley fever and avian influenza. Leading the project is Texas A&M Agriculture Bioterrorism Institute Director Neville Clarke. A University of Minnesota team led by professor Francis Busta of the school’s Food Science and Nutrition Department will be granted $15 million to “establish best practices and attract new researchers to manage and respond to food contamination events, both intentional and naturally occurring,” according to a Homeland Security release. “Research conducted at these institutions will greatly enhance our ability to protect against animal and plant pests and diseases and food pathogens,” Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman was quoted as saying in a press release. Speaking at a conference on security badges and identification technology, McQueary also mentioned plans in coming weeks to seek proposals for explosives detectors that would be deployed to head off attacks on U.S. trucks and trains, and suicide bomb attacks generally. He added that there are plans to expand the presence of chemical detectors in the Washington subway system. Detectors are now present in several stations, he said. Back to top

U.S., China, Agree on New End-Use Verification Visit Procedures By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. and Chinese officials last week reached an agreement on improved procedures to help the United States monitor the ultimate uses of dual-use exports to China (see GSN, Feb. 12). The U.S. Commerce Department has the authority to conduct an end-use verification visit on any U.S.-controlled export of dual-use items or technologies. The purpose of such visits is to ensure that the item is not diverted to other entities or to other purposes than those described in the U.S. export license. The United States and China, though, have been in a lengthy dispute on end-use verification visits. In a report released earlier this year, the U.S. General Accounting Office said China had imposed restrictions on the number and manner of visits. Previously, senior Commerce officials had publicly warned that concerns about the effectiveness of end-use verification visits in China could affect the department’s ability to approve licenses for exports to some Chinese companies. Commerce last week said it had reached an agreement with China’s Commerce Ministry on new procedures to improve cooperation on end-use visits. The agreement was reached during a meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade chaired by Commerce Secretary Don Evans, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Zoellick and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi. According to the department, the new “end-use visit understanding” describes specific procedures for conducting end-use visits and provides a mechanism for consultations on issues related to end-use visits. The department said the agreement could allow for increased U.S. high-technology exports to China. The new agreement “provides an important example of the United States and China working together to solve practical problems to the benefit of both their peoples,” the department said in a press statement. China called last week’s joint commission meeting a “complete success.” Back to top       Qadhafi Calls for Abandonment of Weapons of Mass Destruction Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi yesterday called on the world to follow his country’s example in renouncing weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, April 27). Speaking in Brussels during his first visit to Europe in 15 years, Qadhafi said that his nation has “decided to lead the peace movement all over the world.” “Libya calls all other countries from America to China to discard and get rid of all weapons of mass destruction, programs of mass destruction,” Qadhafi said. “Libya has become an example to be followed,” he added. The European Union, in response to Libya’s efforts to dismantle its WMD programs, wants to restore formal ties with Tripoli as soon as possible, said European Commission President Romano Prodi. “We are committed to make Libya a full member of the Barcelona process,” he said, referring to the initiative launched in 1995 to improve ties between Europe and countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 28). Back to top

NPT Battered on Several Fronts, Diplomats Say By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — A common theme during the first sessions of this week’s meeting of parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was that the nuclear nonproliferation regime is under stress, both by the few countries that remain outside the treaty and by NPT some members (see GSN, April 27). Delegates at the annual meeting here highlighted two events that have strained the effectiveness of the nonproliferation regime: the 2003 withdrawal from the treaty by suspected nuclear weapons producer North Korea and this year’s exposure of an international nuclear proliferation network involving Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program. Pakistan is not a treaty member state, but as far as is known, Khan’s client nations were all NPT parties. Besides these two issues, Canadian Ambassador Paul Meyer said Monday that other “shock waves” over the last year included “the revelation of the prolonged failure of Iran to honor its commitments” under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement and the disclosure of Libya’s research into nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Libya’s cooperation in eliminating its nascent weapons programs, “while laudable, cannot blind us to the negative implications of its previous actions,” he said. “These assaults on the treaty’s authority and integrity should not be left unanswered,” Meyer said. Concerning the disarmament obligations the treaty’s Article 6 places on the nuclear weapons states, many non-nuclear countries said not enough has been done. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the observer for the Holy See, said, “Nuclear weapon states have not given evidence of fulfillment of their Article 6 obligation, that is, the negotiation of effective measures related to the elimination of the nuclear arsenals.” Meyer said reductions “should be undertaken in a way that renders them irreversible, that is transparent as to the results and provides for verification of these results.” He added, “It is also essential to demonstrate to those outside the NPT regime that security is not seen as dependent on acquiring nuclear arsenals.” Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said his country’s nuclear arsenal reductions “demonstrate its continued commitment to strict compliance with its nuclear disarmament obligations.” “General and complete nuclear disarmament is a goal to which we should move in a phased manner, on the basis of a comprehensive approach and without putting forward unrealistic goals or targets,” he added. However, he also made veiled criticisms of Russia’s partner in arms reduction, the United States, saying disarmament “may not be pursued in isolation from other types of weapons or outside of the overall political situation in the world.” That situation includes “political alliances and their enlargement” — a reference to NATO expansion — and a call for the withdrawal of all nuclear weapons from foreign soil. “Let me stress that all our nuclear weapons are stationed within the territory” of Russia, said Antonov. “We expect reciprocity,” he added. The United States is the only nuclear power to station its weapons in other countries. Besides Russia, the other four nuclear states belonging to the treaty — the United States, United Kingdom, France and China — addressed the meeting earlier in the session, outlining their own achievements under Article 6. While the nuclear powers pointed to the decreasing number of warheads in their arsenals, critics said they are not decreasing quickly or in an irreversible manner. In addition, strategic doctrines that consider the possible use of nuclear weapons were considered inconsistent with disarmament obligations. “It continues to be a discordant note in international relationships that some states, which profess ardent support for the NPT, are still attached to military policies which hold that nuclear weapons are essential as the supreme guarantee of security,” Migliore said. “Nuclear weapon states should be pressed to reveal under what security conditions and assurances they could eliminate their nuclear arsenals,” he said. While some countries said the primary burden for maintaining the treaty lies with the nuclear powers eliminating their nuclear weapons, Australian Ambassador John Dauth flipped this argument saying, “It is simply not conceivable that a world free of nuclear weapons will be achieved in the absence of complete and permanent assurances of nuclear nonproliferation.” Citing the Khan network, he said, “Our fears that existing measures were insufficient to stop determined proliferators have been confirmed.” Many countries criticized Iran — Dauth said, “Iran is still far from resolving international concerns about its nuclear program” — but none was as blunt as the United States. “Iran is lying,” U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said yesterday. “It is clear that the primary role of Iran’s ‘nuclear power’ program is to serve as a cover and a pretext for the import of nuclear technology and expertise that can be used to support nuclear weapons development,” he added. Speaking shortly after Bolton yesterday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Gholam Ali Khoshroo said that “after years of being systematically denied the exercise of its inalienable right” to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Iran “had to mobilize all its national capacity to develop a national capability for peaceful use of nuclear energy.” He added, “We have been vigilant regarding compliance with our obligations” under the treaty not to divert the technology for military uses. “In response to politically instigated questions over the nature of the nuclear program of Iran, we have embarked upon a vast program of cooperation with the IAEA on the basis of full transparency,” Khoshroo said. After a year “of robust verification by the IAEA inspectors,” he added, there has been “no indication of diversion and we are confident that this process will attest the peaceful nature of our nuclear program.” The IAEA inspections have found inconsistencies between what Iran says it is doing and what the evidence suggests, but the agency has not definitively said Iran is violating the treaty by seeking nuclear weapons. Back to top       U.S. to Raise North Korea Arsenal Estimate North Korea is believed to hold at least eight nuclear weapons, according to new U.S. estimates raising the country’s suspected atomic holdings from “possibly two,” the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, April 26). Expected to be completed within a month, the report is based on a wide array of circumstantial evidence, including detailed analysis of plutonium byproducts found on the clothing of members of an unofficial U.S. delegation that visited North Korean nuclear facilities several months ago. Intelligence officials have also concluded that a North Korean uranium enrichment program will be operating by 2007 and able to produce enough highly enriched uranium for up to six weapons a year, one official said. Pyongyang has acknowledged possessing a plutonium nuclear program but has denied developing a uranium enrichment effort (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, April 28). Meanwhile, the Bush administration offered North Korea $100,000 in financial aid, as well as medical supplies and a team of emergency medicine experts, in the wake of a train explosion last week that left as many as 8,000 people homeless, the New York Times reported. “This is a humanitarian tragedy,” said Secretary of State Colin Powell. “Children have been injured, homes lost, and America has always been a giving nation that will respond in time of need,” he added. Powell also indicated optimism that the six-party negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear programs will proceed despite the humanitarian emergency. “We believe that there is a sufficient basis to hope and expect that six-party talks will get under way again and that the North Koreans will see it in their interests to do that, separately and distinct from this humanitarian issue,” Powell said (Christopher Marquis, New York Times, April 27). Back to top       U.S. Says Iran May Be Running Covert Nuclear Program Iran may be hiding a nuclear program aimed at developing weapons behind the public effort examined by international inspectors, U.S. officials said yesterday (see GSN, April 27). “We are beginning to see indications that there is a parallel military program,” one official told the Associated Press, adding that the “limited evidence” was not enough to draw firm conclusions. Another official discussed “explicit concerns” that the Iranian military is directing nuclear efforts to produce weapons. “Between 350 and 400 nuclear physicists, experts and researchers” are involved in the nuclear weapons operation, said Alireza Jafarzadeh, a former spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exiled Iranian opposition group listed by the United States as a terrorist organization. Jafarzadeh said that a “new military special unit” was recently formed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to control a program separate from the project being assessed by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. Comments about a clandestine nuclear program are “baseless allegations,” said Pirooz Hosseini, Iran’s chief delegate to the agency. He added that accurate information on Iran’s nuclear programs “will come from the IAEA and not from these kinds of people” (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, April 27). Back to top       U.S. Seeking Other Customers of Nuclear Network, Bolton Says The United States is working to track down other countries that may have obtained nuclear technology through the international network orchestrated by top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said yesterday (see GSN, April 19). Earlier this year, Khan confessed to having provided nuclear technologies to Iran, Libya and North Korea. During a press conference at the United Nations yesterday, Bolton said the United States is “very interested” in learning if Khan provided technology to other countries as well (see GSN, April 27). “There’s a lot of information that we don’t necessarily have corroboration for. … There’s more out there than we can discuss publicly,” Bolton said. “It’s one of the reasons why the depth of our concern about the international black market in weapons of mass destruction and related materials is as substantial as it is,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 28). Back to top       China Ends Negotiations For German Nuclear Facility China appears to have abandoned a planned purchase of a nuclear fuel rod enrichment facility from the Germany company Siemens, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Dec. 9, 2003). The Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday that negotiations over the sale had ended. A ministry spokesman said that while there had been some “initial contacts” on the issue, those contacts “have stopped.” The announcement is expected to help improve relations between China and Germany ahead of a planned visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Berlin next week, the Times reported (Hugh Williamson, Financial Times, April 28). Back to top       U.S. Energy Department Likely to Miss Deadline, GAO Reports By Marina Malenic Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department is unlikely to meet a fiscal 2006 deadline for installing security upgrades at U.S. nuclear facilities, according to a report released yesterday by the General Accounting Office (see GSN, April 27). “Some sites estimate that it could take as long as five years, given adequate funding,” Robin Nazzaro, GAO director for natural resources and the environment, told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. Nazzaro said the department had not increased safety measures sufficiently to respond to a post-9/11 intelligence assessment of the risk of an attack, known as the “postulated threat,” on U.S. nuclear facilities. She added that due to the delay, enriched plutonium and uranium might have to be transferred from some nuclear facilities. “The DOE is preparing to defend against a terrorist force that is significantly smaller than was identified in the postulated threats,” Nazzaro warned. Energy needs to re-evaluate procedures “because the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks suggested larger groups of terrorists with broad aspirations of causing mass casualties and panic,” she added. Nazzaro said another concern with the department’s latest Design Basis Threat — which identifies the capabilities of potential terrorist forces and is a key component of the agency’s nuclear security program — is that “the criteria for determining the severity of radiological, chemical or biological sabotage may be insufficient.” “The criterion used for protection against radiological sabotage is based on acute radiation doses received by individuals. This may not fully capture or characterize the damage that a major radiological disposal might cause,” Nazzaro said. “A worst-case analysis at one DOE site showed that while radiological dispersal would not pose immediate acute health problems for the general public, the public could experience measurable increases in cancer, mortality over a period of decades after such an event,” Nazzaro added. Back to top       U.S. Set to Support Brazilian as Nonproliferation Conference Chairman The Unites States said yesterday it plans to support having a Brazilian official lead the 2005 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review conference, despite Brazil’s refusal to allow thorough inspections of its nuclear facilities, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, April 20). “We are going to support Ambassador [Sergio] Duarte,” said Undersecretary of State John Bolton. Brazil, though, should resolve its differences with the International Atomic Energy Agency so that “it doesn’t cast a pall over the review conference next year,” he added (Carol Giacomo, Reuters, April 27). Back to top       ElBaradei to Visit Israel International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is to visit Israel this summer, Reuters reported today (see GSN, April 21). “This is a routine visit that has been in the works for months,” according to Gabriella Gafni, Israel’s permanent representative to the agency in Vienna. “We expect Mr. ElBaradei to visit Israel in the summer, probably early July,” she added. Gafni and an IAEA spokeswoman refused to discuss details of ElBaradei’s visit. ElBaradei suggested in November that Israel should sign the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and open its nuclear sites to international inspections, according to Reuters. “In my view every country in the Middle East, including Israel, will benefit from establishing a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East as part and parcel of a comprehensive peace in the region,” ElBaradei said at the time (Reuters, April 28). Back to top

Anthrax Survivors Suffered Long-Term Effects, Study Finds By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire Survivors of the 2001 anthrax mail attacks suffered continuing mental and physical problems similar to those seen in victims of a natural disaster or sexual assault, according to a study released this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (see GSN, April 22). “Events like natural disasters or rapes or terrorist attacks are all traumatic,” Dori Reissman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an interview with Global Security Newswire. “What they share in common with each other is the trauma,” she said. From September to December 2002, Reissman and colleagues studied 15 of the 16 adult anthrax survivors using a clinical interview, questionnaires and reviews of available medical records. Little is known about the long-term effects on contact with anthrax, and Reissman said researchers ultimately found no causal link between the study participants’ infection and their ongoing health problems. They did find, though, that the infected adults experienced physical ills, psychological distress and a reduced quality of life. They had chronic coughs, fatigue, joint swelling and pain and memory loss, and suffered from depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders and displays of hostility, researchers found. Survivors who had inhaled anthrax suffered worse health problems than those who became ill through skin contact with the biological agent. Eight of the study participants had not returned to work by December 2002, more than a year after anthrax was delivered by mail to Washington, New York and other areas in the still-unsolved series of attacks. This study supports other work that found survivors of acts of terrorism experienced chronic physical and mental troubles, researchers said. “What that indicates is that something about the traumatic physical experience is evoking that physical and psychological [response],” Reissman said. Mental and physical health professionals treating anthrax survivors should work closely together to ensure each victim receives the best possible care, Reissman said. At the institutional level, health care providers should also study the psychological impacts of terrorist acts, researchers said. “Standard assessment of terrorism survivors should include medically unexplained health complaints and psychiatric comorbidity, such as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety disorders,” the report states. “Systems of care should be coordinated to minimize functional impairment and improve health-related quality of life,” it adds. Back to top       U.S. Agencies Announce Coordinated Effort to Address Bioterrorist Threats By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Three top Bush administration officials today announced a presidential directive that sets out the U.S. strategy to prepare for possible bioterrorist attacks in the United States or overseas (see GSN, Feb. 3). The publicly released directive, an edited version of a longer classified document, orders no new major programs but specifies the responsibilities of U.S. agencies in preventing, detecting and responding to acts of bioterrorism. The full document, entitled Biodefense for the 21st Century, was not released in order to prevent disclosing information about U.S. vulnerabilities, according to senior administration officials who spoke at a press briefing this morning at the Health and Human Services Department. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz formally introduced the new directive that President George W. Bush reportedly signed last week. “With today’s announcement, the president has put forward a new initiative that will fully integrate our current bioterrorism efforts across the public health, medical, law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security community,” Ridge said. Jerome Hauer, a former senior HHS official and sometime critic of U.S. bioterrorist response policies, praised the new directive, saying that poor interagency coordination had inhibited U.S. readiness efforts in the past. The new directive should enhance U.S. ability to develop new technologies, share intelligence and speed reporting of possible incidents, he said. The directive is “more to show continued coordination and cooperation” among the agencies than to announce new programs, Hauer told Global Security Newswire. He also applauded Thompson’s efforts, saying the former Wisconsin governor recognized the bioterrorist threat soon after taking his post in 2001. Thompson’s department “has done an enormous amount in the last three years, and a lot of that started before Sept. 11,” Hauer said. Under the initiative, the Health and Human Services Department would take the lead responsibility for anticipating future biological threats, including ways in which terrorists might use biotechnology or new toxins. In addition, the department would coordinate development of medical countermeasures in the United States and preparing for the medical response needed to treat mass casualties. In particular, Thompson said his department is “working to create a national surge capacity” to quickly provide hospitals and agencies with medical supplies to treat large numbers of stricken patients. This capacity would supplement existing “push packages” that can deliver supplies to any medical facility in the nation within 10 hours. Efforts to be led by the Homeland Security Department include the BioWatch surveillance program, a network of environmental sensors designed to detect biological agents (see GSN, Nov. 17, 2003). Ridge said the department requested $118 million in fiscal 2005 to fund and expand the BioWatch program and added that his agency would lead a new interagency group, the National Biosurveillance Group, to integrate threat information and distribute it to appropriate officials (see GSN, Jan. 30). The plan calls for the Defense Department to continue leading an effort to build a “national bioforensics analysis” facility at Fort Detrick, Md., where scientists would work to identify the origin of biological agents discovered or used in the United States. Back to top       Experimental Smallpox Vaccine Prevents Monkey Deaths An experimental smallpox vaccine made from pieces of the live virus protected monkeys from dying of monkeypox, a primate version of smallpox, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, April 13). “This is an extremely primitive version of a vaccine that might ultimately be used in the future,” said Jay Hooper, a virologist who led the experiment at the U.S. Army infectious disease laboratories at Fort Detrick, Md. While three vaccinated monkeys developed the characteristic pox rash and became mildly ill, the vaccine kept them from dying, the Post said. Results indicate the experimental treatment could be used as a substitute for the present virus. Some military personnel have suffered complications from the vaccine, while many civilian health care workers have refused to take the inoculation (David Brown, Washington Post, April 28). Back to top

U.S. System Seen Ready For North Korean Attack This Year The planned U.S. national missile defense system should be ready to protect the country against a North Korean ballistic missile attack by the end of the year, U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish said yesterday (see GSN, April 26). By the end of the year, the United States is expected to have 10 missile interceptors deployed at two sites in Alaska and California, according to the Associated Press. Kadish said yesterday that no decision has been made yet on when to put the first interceptors on alert, but added that several are set to be ready for test firing by September. Before the interceptors are put on alert, though, they will undergo two intercept tests, with the first set to occur by early summer, AP reported. “If they both fail, we’ve got big problems,” Kadish said. “We expect them to be successful,” he added (John Lumpkin, Associated Press/Washington Times, April 28). Kadish also said yesterday that the results of the intercept tests might not affect deployment of the interceptors, according to the Washington Post. “They’re parallel paths,” he said of the testing and fielding efforts. Kadish rejected criticism that the missile defense system would have undergone insufficient testing by the time it is deployed, saying that the Alaskan facility is set to be used both as a testing site and an operational site. “The criticism we get is that we’re not operationally testing the system before we put it in place,” Kadish said. “My response to that — which people don’t seem to want to accept — is, you can’t operationally test the system until you put it in place,” he added (Bradley Graham, Washington Post, April 28). Meanwhile, Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), head of the Republican Policy Committee, said this week that congressional Democrats are likely to increase their opposition to missile defense efforts as Congress considers the fiscal 2005 defense authorization and appropriations bills (see GSN, April 27). Kyl said yesterday that Democrats would likely argue that funding exists for either counterterrorism efforts or missile defense, but not both. Democratic lawmakers are expected to offer “crippling amendments” to both the defense appropriations bill and authorization bill to weaken missile defense development, he said. Kyl also said, though, that Republican lawmakers are “not doing much of anything” to defend missile defense efforts. “Tell whoever you have to to raise the flag on it. Let’s not get into intramural scrimmaging this year; let’s circle the wagons and protect the program because it is under assault,” he said during a breakfast hosted by the National Defense University Foundation (Jeremy Feiler, Inside Missile Defense, April 28).         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.