Brazilian Science and Technology Minister Roberto Amaral (shown in a 2003 picture) indicates on a Brazilian map the location of uranium reserves (AFP photo/Vanderlei Almeida). Scientist Says Brazil Has Right to Nuclear Secrets Brazil has a right to keep its “technical solutions” confidential and should not submit to further international inspections, according to a top Brazilian nuclear scientist (see GSN, April 6). “There is in no way a need for a further intrusion [of international inspectors] to check the uranium enrichment,” said scientist Luis Pinguelli Rosa, president of Electrobras, Brazil’s national electric company...Full Story

Senior U.S. Defense Official Criticizes National Intelligence Director Proposal By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Stephen Cambone yesterday told U.S. lawmakers that he opposes the creation of an “intelligence czar” to oversee the entire U.S. intelligence community — a proposal that some supporters have said would aid U.S. efforts against WMD proliferation (see GSN, April 2)...Full Story

Less Than Half of U.S Chemical Depots Have Begun Destroying Stocks, GAO Says Only four of the nine U.S. chemical weapons depots have begun destroying their stockpiles as the United States struggles to meet its Chemical Weapons Convention deadline, the Salt Lake Tribune reported today (see GSN, April 7)...Full Story

	Thursday, April 8, 2004

U.S. Troops Plan WMD Drill Today in Washington U.S. troops are scheduled to conduct a WMD incident response drill today at RFK Stadium in Washington, according to ABC 7 News (see GSN, March 4). The exercise, which will involve troops from the U.S. Marine Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, will simulate a mass casualty evacuation from the stadium (ABC 7 News, April 7). Back to top

Senior U.S. Defense Official Criticizes National Intelligence Director Proposal By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Stephen Cambone yesterday told U.S. lawmakers that he opposes the creation of an “intelligence czar” to oversee the entire U.S. intelligence community — a proposal that some supporters have said would aid U.S. efforts against WMD proliferation (see GSN, April 2). Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence this month introduced the Intelligence Transformation Act, which includes a proposal to create the Cabinet-level position of national director of intelligence. Such a position is needed, according to lawmakers, to improve coordination and collaboration among the various U.S. intelligence services. “In some ways the intelligence community is in the position the military was before 1986: too much duplication, too much competition, not enough coordination, not enough collaboration,” Representative Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) said during an April 1 press conference at the U.S. Capitol to announce the proposed legislation. Under the Democratic proposal, the new director of intelligence would have budgetary and statutory authority over the entire U.S. intelligence community. In addition, to better integrate military intelligence into the new structure, a deputy director of national intelligence position would be created that would also serve as defense undersecretary for intelligence. In testimony yesterday before a Senate Armed Services Committee subcommittee, however, Cambone spoke against the proposal. “I honestly do not see advantage to the creation of a different structure for the governance of the intelligence community than the one we have today,” he told the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. Potential interference with the “deep and abiding relationship” between the director of the CIA and the defense secretary would hurt the military, which uses intelligence generated by both its own services and the national foreign intelligence program, Cambone said. “It is easy to see the ways in which seams would begin to grow up between organizations and in which the Department of Defense would not be benefited, and in fact the intelligence community as a whole would be hurt by … that split,” he said. Cambone’s criticisms yesterday echoed those made by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld late last month. In an appearance before the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Rumsfeld warned that creation of a national director of intelligence could actually damage intelligence efforts. “There are some activities, like intelligence, and research and development, where it’s a serious mistake to think that you’re advantaged by relying on a single, centralized source. In fact, fostering multiple centers of information has proven to be better at promoting creativity and challenging conventional thinking,” Rumsfeld said. Rumsfeld also said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between national-related intelligence and military intelligence applicable to the battlefield. “I would say that just as it would be unwise to concentrate everything under a single intelligence czar in an effort to improve national intelligence, it would be equally undesirable to concentrate everything under the Department of Defense so that one could improve military intelligence,” he said. “There may be ways we can strengthen intelligence, but centralization is most certainly not one of them,” Rumsfeld added. Back to top

Scientist Says Brazil Has Right to Nuclear Secrets Brazil has a right to keep its “technical solutions” confidential and should not submit to further international inspections, according to a top Brazilian nuclear scientist (see GSN, April 6). “There is in no way a need for a further intrusion [of international inspectors] to check the uranium enrichment,” said scientist Luis Pinguelli Rosa, president of Electrobras, Brazil’s national electric company. “There are no conceptual secrets,” Pinguelli said. “But there are advanced technological solutions,” such as equipment setup and materials used, “that Brazil has the right to guard,” he added. He also said Brazil should stand up to the “imperial position” of the United States (Agence France-Presse/Daily Times, April 6). The United States has commended Brazil for its nonproliferation record in recent years, while at the same time supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in its pursuit of inspections at the Resende nuclear plant being constructed outside Rio de Janeiro (Marina Malenic, GSN, April 8). Back to top       UAE Shuts Down Alleged Nuclear Front Company The United Arab Emirates has frozen the assets of a computer company that was allegedly part of Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan’s nuclear network, according to the U.A.E. Central Bank (see GSN, March 3). The Dubai-based SMB Group was founded by Sri Lankan businessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir. U.S. President George W. Bush said in February that SMB was a front for nuclear proliferation activities and called Tahir the “chief financial officer and money launderer” for Khan’s network. “All SMB-related accounts have been frozen,” U.A.E. Central Bank Governor Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi said. “The U.A.E. has shut down the firm and has formed a committee to investigate this company,” he added. Earlier this year, Tahir was named as the head of Gulf Technical Industries; diplomats in Vienna said the Dubai company might have been the headquarters of a nuclear black market. Tahir is under investigation by the Malaysian government for his nuclear activities, but Malaysian officials said his movement was not restricted (Reuters/Yahoo!News, April 4). Back to top       North Korea Seeks Normal Ties With Japan; U.S., Japan, South Korea Hold Talks North Korea wants to normalize relations with Japan, including resolving differences over Pyongyang’s nuclear program, during Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s term in office, a former Japanese legislator said yesterday (see GSN, April 6). Taku Yamasaki, who held unofficial meetings with North Korean officials in China last week, said, “I was convinced that North Korea hopes to normalize diplomatic ties by realizing the Pyongyang Declaration on the nuclear, missile, abduction and other issues during the prime minister’s tenure.” Koizumi on Friday criticized Yamasaki and another lawmaker, both members of Koizumi’s Liberal Democratic Party, for the unofficial meeting (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, April 7). Meanwhile, South Korea, Japan and the United States yesterday began two-day talks in California on the nuclear issue. Diplomats from the three countries discussed beginning the lower-level working groups agreed upon during the last round of six-way nuclear talks between China, the United States, Russia, Japan, and the two Koreas (Xinhua, April 7). Back to top       Japanese Official to Meet With Qadhafi in Libya Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa is expected to travel Saturday to Libya for talks with leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi, the Daily Yomiuri reported today (see GSN, March 26). During the visit, Aisawa is expected to ask for information on the international nuclear network and on Libya’s relations with North Korea, the Yomiuri reported (Daily Yomiuri, April 8). Back to top

U.S. Bioterror Early Warning System Steps Up Surveillance of Pharmacy Sales, Emergency Room Visits The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been operating an experimental component of a bioterror early warning system since late last year, attempting to detect large-scale public health emergencies by searching for unusual patterns in drug sales and emergency room visits. Called BioSense, the program monitors databases of over-the-counter drug sales and common symptoms such as fever, rash, diarrhea and nausea reported in hospital emergency rooms. The system is meant to catch outbreaks as quickly as possible, and will later be expanded to search for school absenteeism and increases in visits to doctors, the Chicago Tribune reported. The program joins BioWatch, a 31-city network of air sensors that detect toxic substances (see GSN, Nov. 17, 2003). The Bush administration’s fiscal 2005 budget request seeks $130 million for BioSense and requests that BioWatch be doubled in size. Supporters of the effort believe increased surveillance of symptoms is crucial, while critics are concerned that the program will impose additional burdens on an already overextended public health system and that the database system remains largely untested (Graham/Kotulak, Chicago Tribune, April 8). Back to top

Less Than Half of U.S Chemical Depots Have Begun Destroying Stocks, GAO Says Only four of the nine U.S. chemical weapons depots have begun destroying their stockpiles as the United States struggles to meet its Chemical Weapons Convention deadline, the Salt Lake Tribune reported today (see GSN, April 7). According to the General Accounting Office, the four sites are: *         the closed Johnson Atoll site, which destroyed its entire chemical weapons stockpile (see GSN, Nov. 7, 2003); *         the Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah, which has destroyed 47 percent of its stockpile (see GSN, March 30); *         the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, which has destroyed 8 percent of its stockpile (see GSN, April 6); and *         the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, which has destroyed 5 percent of its stockpile (see GSN, April 2). The United States will probably miss the treaty’s extended deadline of December 2012 to destroy its stockpile if technical problems, safety problems, community opposition, mismanagement and other issues are not addressed, the General Accounting Office said (see GSN, Oct. 31, 2003). In total, the United States has eliminated 8,691 tons of the 31,500 total tons of chemical weapons agents stored at the nine sites, according to the office (Dawn House, Salt Lake Tribune, April 8). Back to top       U.S. Army Sought to Secure Chemical Weapons Sites After Sept. 11, Officer Says The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were a wake-up call to the U.S. Army on the safety of its chemical weapons storage sites, a senior Army officer said Tuesday (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2003). Al-Qaeda’s use of hijacked airliners as weapons “made us ponder the fact that many of our sites — including our stockpile of Cold War chemical weapons — would provide other weapons of mass destruction, on our own soil,” said Lt. Gen. Richard Hack, deputy commander of the Army Material Command. The Army called up 21,000 National Guard troops to defend 34 critical sites, Hack said. For example, in 2002-2003, the Virginia Army National Guard sent 325 soldiers to help defend the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. In addition, the Army has spent $28 million to improve defenses at its chemical weapons sites, Hack said, “All of which are … much more secure today” (Peter Bacque, Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 7). Back to top       Chemical Weapons Threaten EU-Syrian Trade Deal Efforts to force Syria to relinquish its suspected chemical weapons program have stalled work on a trade deal the country’s leaders are negotiating with the European Union, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 12). Last year, the EU and Syria reached an agreement on language in the trade agreement concerning a ban on weapons of mass destruction, but Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom later demanded a stronger commitment, a senior European diplomat said. Syria rejected the new language in January, saying that no similar demands to renounce weapons of mass destruction had been made on Israel, the Post reported. Syria has proposed a WMD ban across its region, the Post said. Talks held last week between EU and Syrian officials failed to resolve the issue, according to the Post. “We want this agreement, but not at any cost,” Syrian Expatriate Affairs Minister Buthaina Shabaan said (Daniel Williams, Washington Post, April 8). Back to top       Delaware House Committee Passes Resolution Opposing Army VX Disposal Plan A Delaware House of Representatives committee yesterday voted unanimously to release a resolution for consideration by the full House opposing a U.S. Army plan for treatment and disposal of VX nerve agent (see GSN, April 1). Members of the Business, Corporations and Commerce Committee urged the Army to treat the nerve agent and its wastewater byproduct at the Indiana depot where the VX is stored, instead of shipping the byproduct to a Dupont facility in New Jersey for treatment and disposal in the Delaware River. “Is it not possible to handle this where it currently exists?” asked Representative Stephanie Ulbrich (R-Newark). The resolution has already been passed by the Delaware Senate. Members of the New Jersey and Delaware U.S. congressional delegations requested a formal review of the Army’s plan by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health. Col. Jesse Barber of the Army Chemical Materials Agency said yesterday he expected to receive the results of that review within 60 to 90 days. “Should the CDC raise major issues, I would not proceed forward,” Barber said (Randall Chase, Associated Press/New York Newsday, April 8). Back to top

U.N. Disarmament Commission Suffers Stalemate By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — Nearly a week into its three-week session, the U.N. Disarmament Commission does not have an agreed agenda, and thus has held no substantive sessions (see GSN, April 18, 2003). The commission, which began its session Monday, held a meeting yesterday at which various proposals for agenda items were presented under the general headings of nuclear and conventional disarmament, but the meeting ended without consensus. Every year the commission decides by consensus to deal with two substantive items — one on nuclear and one on conventional disarmament — in the months leading up to the annual spring session. This year, the commission started without an agreement. The Nonaligned Movement, the United States, the European Union and Japan all presented variations of agenda items. The Nonaligned Movement and Japan want to deal with nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation “in all its aspects” — a proposal the United States and others have said is too broad. The United States proposed an item on “strategies for dealing with illicit activities that undermine nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation objectives.” The EU proposal focused on verification of disarmament agreements. On the conventional item, the United States suggested “problems in compliance with existing conventional disarmament measures, to which member states are parties, and approaches to improving compliance.” The Nonaligned Movement and Japan proposed similar wording: “verification mechanisms and instruments of international treaties and agreements, to which member states are parties, in the field of disarmament.” The EU language was “best practices and regional approaches to illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons.” Several nonaligned delegates said they were concerned that the U.S. proposals used words such as “measures” and “objectives” rather than the more specific “treaties.” The United States and Japan also proposed a third item on “improving the effectiveness of the U.N. disarmament machinery.” Unlike the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament, which can negotiate treaties, the commission’s mandate is to devise guidelines or norms that carry no legal weight. All commission decisions must be by consensus. The last time the commission agreed to guidelines was 1999. Undersecretary General for Disarmament Affairs Nobuyasu Abe said on Monday the response to the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction “lies not in discarding the multilateral system or collective international efforts, but in the increased joint efforts to strengthen the multilateral system of international peace and security.” He asked the commission to agree to a “good, relevant agenda,” adding, “The world is waiting for you to come out with correct answers to urgent questions we are facing.”   Back to top

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