The U.S. Sept. 11 commission today released a report of its findings critical of the government’s antiterrorism efforts prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks (AFP photo/Brendan Smialowski). U.S. Sept. 11 Commission Releases Report The U.S. commission investigating the events of Sept. 11, 2001, today released a report critical of U.S. efforts against terrorism prior to the attacks, according to reports (see GSN, July 21). Among the report’s recommendations is the creation of a national intelligence director and reforms of congressional committees responsible for overseeing the intelligence community, according to the Washington Post. The report also calls for improved efforts against WMD proliferation, through measures such as the creation of an international legal regime that would enable the capture and prosecution of WMD smugglers; the expansion of the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led effort to interdict WMD-related cargo shipments; and increased support for the Cooperative Threat Reduction program (Eggen/Linzer, Washington Post, July 22)...Full Story

Appropriators Support Bush Missile Defense Plans By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — House and Senate appropriators last week approved funding for two controversial aspects of the Bush administration’s national missile defense program in reconciling their versions of the fiscal 2005 defense appropriations bill, while significantly cutting early funding for a boost-phase defense program (see GSN, June 15)...Full Story

Australia Used Flawed Iraq Intelligence, Report Says Australian intelligence officials used faulty information in their prewar assessment of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, but there was no indication that political pressure was used to “bolster the case for war,” according to an independent report released today on Australia’s intelligence agencies (see GSN, July 20)...Full Story

	Thursday, July 22, 2004

U.S. Sept. 11 Commission Releases Report The U.S. commission investigating the events of Sept. 11, 2001, today released a report critical of U.S. efforts against terrorism prior to the attacks, according to reports (see GSN, July 21). Among the report’s recommendations is the creation of a national intelligence director and reforms of congressional committees responsible for overseeing the intelligence community, according to the Washington Post. The report also calls for improved efforts against WMD proliferation, through measures such as the creation of an international legal regime that would enable the capture and prosecution of WMD smugglers; the expansion of the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led effort to interdict WMD-related cargo shipments; and increased support for the Cooperative Threat Reduction program (Eggen/Linzer, Washington Post, July 22). During a press conference today to release the report, commission Chairman Tom Kean said none of the U.S. antiterrorism efforts prior to Sept. 11 “had disturbed or even delayed” the attacks. “(They) penetrated the defenses of the most powerful nation in the world,” Kean said. “They inflicted unbearable trauma on our people, and at the same time they turned international order upside down,” he added (Hope Yen, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 22). Back to top

Australia Used Flawed Iraq Intelligence, Report Says Australian intelligence officials used faulty information in their prewar assessment of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, but there was no indication that political pressure was used to “bolster the case for war,” according to an independent report released today on Australia’s intelligence agencies (see GSN, July 20). “There has been a failure of intelligence on Iraq WMD. Intelligence was thin, ambiguous and incomplete,” says the report by former head of Australian intelligence Philip Flood. “The inquiry received no indication that any analyst or manager was the subject of either direct or implied pressure to come to a particular judgment on Iraq for policy reasons, or to bolster the case for war,” the report adds.  However, it also states that Australian assessments on Iraq’s capabilities were seemingly more accurate than those of the United States and the United Kingdom, Reuters reported. “It is significant that, using similar but not all the material available to the U.K. and the U.S., Australian assessments on Iraq’s capabilities were on the whole more cautious, and seem closer to the facts as we know them so far,” the report says. Prime Minister John Howard welcomed the report’s conclusion that Australia’s intelligence had not been politicized. Australia sent 2,000 troops to support the 2003 invasion. “We did not heavy the intelligence agencies. I reject (claims) that we took the country to war based on a lie,” Howard said. “If I had my time again I would take the same decision (on joining the Iraq war),” he added (Michelle Nichols, Reuters/AlertNet, July 22). Back to top       Singapore to Create Security Coordination Agency Singapore is set to establish a national agency for coordination of efforts to combat international terrorism, including potential attacks using biological, chemical and radiological weapons, the Straits Times reported yesterday (see GSN, July 20). The new National Security Coordination Secretariat would oversee two centers, one charged with tracking development of WMD response capabilities and the other set to manage internal and external intelligence sharing by the island nation’s security agencies. “The key to ensuring national security today lies in strengthening coordination and integration among government agencies involved in national security, particularly between the external and domestic intelligence agencies, because intelligence is a crucial weapon in the fight against transnational terrorism,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Security and Defense Tony Tan (Straits Times, July 21). Back to top

FBI Denies Energy Department Request to Investigate Los Alamos Security Incident The FBI for now has declined a request by U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to have the agency investigate the disappearance of classified computer disks at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, July 21). Abraham yesterday issued a public memo calling on Energy Department officials to ask the FBI Los Alamos field office to begin an investigation into the incident. FBI officials have said, though, that there is no Los Alamos field office, according to the Times. The FBI’s Albuquerque office has been in contact with Los Alamos, but does not plan to assign any agents to investigate the missing disks and would instead monitor the situation, bureau spokesman Bill Elwell said. “We are not initiating a separate investigation. We want them (the Los Alamos lab’s internal security force) to exhaust all of their avenues. They are questioning their own employees and that can be easier than those employees sitting down with an FBI agent,” Elwell said (Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, July 22). Meanwhile, Los Alamos is set to ask employees to report co-workers who violate security procedures, laboratory spokesman James Fallin said (Ralph Blumenthal, New York Times, July 22). Back to top

Chemical Weapons Incineration Resumes at Tooele Chemical munitions destruction resumed yesterday afternoon at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Utah after officials concluded that an alarm on Saturday was set off by an “interferent” rather than a chemical agent leak, Deseret Chemical Depot officials said in a press release (see GSN, July 21). One of two liquid incinerators used to destroy chemical agents was the probable source of the interferent, the press release states. That furnace was shut down while the investigation continues. “While we have not yet identified the interferent, we’re absolutely certain the substance is not chemical agent,” said Gary McCloskey, general manager of facility contractor EG&G Defense Materials Inc. “We’ve been working closely with the U.S. Army, the Center[s] for Disease Control [and Prevention] and Utah regulatory officials, and the state concurs with our decision to resume operations while we continue to investigate the interferent source,” he added (Deseret Chemical Depot release, July 21). Back to top

Russian Firm Sanctioned for Missile-Related Transfers By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States today imposed sanctions against a Russian entity for allegedly engaging in missile proliferation activities (see GSN, April 5). A decision was made last month to penalize the Federal Research and Production Complex Altay for violating the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and the Export Administration Act of 1979. The company, described as a “state unitary enterprise” on its Web site, was sanctioned for transferring an item listed in Category 2 of the Missile Technology Control Regime annex to a non-MTCR country, a U.S. State Department official said today, refusing to provide further details. Category 2 items cover a wide range of dual-use items and technologies capable of being used to develop ballistic missiles. The sanctions, which are set expire in two years, prevent U.S. companies from exporting items controlled by the regime and U.S. control lists to the Russian company. In addition, the company would be prevented from entering into contracts with the U.S. government for items listed on the MTCR annex.  The State Department official said that a separate penalty could also have been imposed that would have prevented the Russian company from exporting any items to the United States for two years. Such sanctions were not imposed, though, because no determination was made that the alleged transfer made the required “substantial contribution” to a missile program, the official said. This is the first time that the United States has sanctioned the Federal Research and Production Complex Altay for alleged missile proliferation activities, the State Department official said. The United States last imposed sanctions against Russian entities in April, when the Baranov Engine Building Association Overhaul Facility and Russian national Vadim Vorobey were among 13 entities from seven countries penalized for alleged WMD- and missile-related transfers to Iran. The United States continues to have “long-standing concerns” about the ability of would-be proliferators to obtain items and technologies from Russian entities, the State Department official said.  Russian officials have been notified of today’s sanctions but have yet to issue a reaction, the State Department official said.  A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Washington refused to comment on today’s sanctions. Russia, however, believes that unilaterally imposed sanctions are “counterproductive,” embassy spokesman Yevgeniy Khorishko said, adding that the United States has yet to provide “proof” that Russian entities have violated international nonproliferation regimes. Back to top

Appropriators Support Bush Missile Defense Plans By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — House and Senate appropriators last week approved funding for two controversial aspects of the Bush administration’s national missile defense program in reconciling their versions of the fiscal 2005 defense appropriations bill, while significantly cutting early funding for a boost-phase defense program (see GSN, June 15). Their conference report on the $416.2 billion bill, which provides $10 billion for missile defense, was filed yesterday and released to the public. Third Interceptor Base At a closed-door conference to hammer out differences in the bill, members of the House-Senate conference approved some initial funding for the first 10 interceptor missiles intended for a new national missile defense interceptor base of undetermined location in fiscal 2006-7. Recent news stories have said the administration is negotiating with several European countries to house a third U.S. antimissile missile base, apparently intended to protect the United States against some future ICBM challenge from Southwest Asia (see GSN, June 28). The administration this year plans to activate elements of a system around the Pacific for defense against a potential North Korean ICBM capability (see GSN, July 13). Missile Defense Agency officials, however, will not say where they would like to put the third base.  The Senate elsewhere this year, through the defense authorization process, recommended against funding the additional missiles, citing a lack of knowledge about the placement of the third site. Senate and House conferees this week began reconciling differences over their versions of that bill. NFIRE The defense appropriators also funded a plan to test a space-based interceptor in fiscal 2006 called the Near Field Infrared Experiments (NFIRE), which critics say could challenge a global space weapons taboo. Defense officials have said the test could, but is not intended to, produce an intercept (see GSN, June 15). The House Appropriations Committee cut the $68 million in requested funding for the program. Senate appropriators approved the funding, as did the conferees. The Senate Armed Services Committee, meanwhile, directed that “the test, if it proceeds as planned, be conducted in such a manner as to prevent an impact.” Kinetic Energy Interceptor The conferees cut $297 million in early funding from the Kinetic Energy Interceptor program, which is designed to develop land-, sea- and space-launched interceptors for striking enemy ICBMs in “boost phase,” or soon after launch (see GSN, June 3). No explanation was provided. They approved $348 million for the program, which includes the money for NFIRE. They added, meanwhile, $200 million for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense intercept program, bringing its overall funding to $4.6 billion for fiscal 2005.  That additional money was provided to address “significant funding challenges associated with the decision to begin fielding missile defense for the United States in late 2004.” They wrote that the Missile Defense Agency should fully fund the program for fiscal 2006, including by providing budget requests for operations, support and security costs. Back to top

Utility Searches Cooling Pond to Locate Fuel Rods at Closed California Nuclear Power Plant About 4 pounds of uranium might be missing from a nuclear power reactor near Eureka, Calif. that has not operated since 1976, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 15). Pacific Gas and Electric on July 7 began searching the reactor pool of the Humboldt Bay nuclear plant for three fuel-rod fragments, according to the Associated Press. The utility was “very confident” the fragments would turn up in the 22,000-cubic-foot pool, said utility company spokesman John Nelson (Associated Press/KESQ News, July 17). Company analysts uncovered the problem on June 23 when they noticed a discrepancy in PG&E records, AP reported. Documents apparently indicate both that the fuel rods were shipped out of the reactor in 1969 and that they are still stored in the spent fuel pool, according to a letter from U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission demanding an explanation for the incident (Representative Ed Markey release, July 21). Back to top       U.S., Russia to Help Secure Kyrgyz Uranium Waste The United States and Russia have pledged to provide Kyrgyzstan with a total of $560,000 to help secure Soviet-era radioactive waste dumps, Kyrgyz Emergencies Ministry spokesman Emil Akmatov said yesterday (see GSN, July 7). The United States plans to provide $400,000 and Russia will provide $160,000 to help secure and clean uranium waste dumps in Kaji-Say, about 250 kilometers from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Akmatov said. Beginning next month, Russia will conduct an assessment of the sites and the United States will fund improved security and removal of 170,000 cubic meters of uranium waste, the Associated Press reported (Associated Press/Environmental News Network, July 22).   Back to top

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