Sept. 11 commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton (at right) testifies today on the body’s intelligence reform recommendations before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, while commission Chairman Thomas Kean listens (AFP photo/Leslie Kossoff). First Congressional Hearing Held on Sept. 11 Report By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Key U.S. senators from both major parties today endorsed major intelligence and antiterrorism reforms recommended in the final report of the federal commission that studied the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (see GSN, July 29)...Full Story

U.S. Calls For Negotiations on Fissile Material Pact By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States yesterday called for a new round of negotiations to be held on the creation of a “legally binding” treaty that would ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons...Full Story

Kerry Gives Brief Mention to Proliferation Concern In Acceptance Speech at Democratic Party Convention By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) has said he would make preventing terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons his “No. 1” security goal as president, but in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination last night he gave proliferation only a single reference...Full Story

	Friday, July 30, 2004

First Congressional Hearing Held on Sept. 11 Report By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Key U.S. senators from both major parties today endorsed major intelligence and antiterrorism reforms recommended in the final report of the federal commission that studied the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (see GSN, July 29). In the first of a series of congressional hearings on the commission’s conclusions, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee’s chairwoman, Susan Collins (R-Maine), and its top Democrat, Joe Lieberman (Conn.), praised the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States for recommending a new national counterterrorism center and a national intelligence director to oversee 15 existing agencies. Collins said “the intelligence failures” that allowed the attacks to happen “were not the result of individual negligence but of institutional rigidity,” adding that “turf battles” and “power struggles” among agencies “cannot be allowed to doom needed reform.” “Massive reorganizations of government are always controversial,” she said, but “for the American people, it is results that count.” Sept. 11 commission Chairman Thomas Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton presented to the committee an outline of their proposals for the counterterrorism center, the intelligence “czar,” a multiagency information-sharing program and FBI reforms. The commission has endorsed the latter instead of the oft-proposed creation of a new domestic intelligence agency to take on some FBI responsibilities. The civilian-led counterterrorism center would deal with both intelligence and operations and would report to the intelligence director, who in turn would report directly to the president. The new structure, as described today by Hamilton, would involve intelligence agencies’ taking on roles like those of the various armed services within the Defense Department. Each agency would report to one of several “joint mission centers” set up by the national intelligence director to address specific areas of concern. “A joint mission center on WMD and proliferation, for example,” Hamilton said, “would bring together the imagery, signals and HUMINT [human intelligence] specialists, both collectors and analysts, who would work together jointly on behalf of the mission. All the resources of the community would be brought to bear on the key intelligence issues as identified by the national intelligence director.” The committee members and commission leaders portrayed the existing intelligence agencies as scattered and secretive. Before the attacks, Kean told the senators, “No one was able to draw relevant intelligence from anywhere within the government, assign responsibilities across the agencies ― and that’s foreign or domestic ― track progress and quickly bring these things forward so they could be resolved.” “In other words, as we’ve said, no one was the quarterback. No one was calling the play.  No one was assigning roles so that government agencies could execute as a team and not as individuals,” Kean said. “The intelligence community,” Hamilton added, “isn’t going to get its job done unless somebody is in charge. That is just not the case now, and we paid the price: Information wasn’t shared; agencies didn’t work together.” “We support a national intelligence director,” Hamilton said, “not for the purpose of naming another chief to sit on top of all the other chiefs. We support the creation of this position because it is the only way to catalyze transformation in the intelligence community and manage a transformed community afterward. … We see it as the only way to effect what we believe is necessary: a complete transformation of the way the intelligence community does its work.” President George W. Bush has already set up a working group on the commission’s recommendations and is apparently planning to issue executive orders to implement some of the proposals. Today’s hearing appeared to signal that Congress, too, would prove receptive to much in the panel’s report. Lieberman said the document “presents us this — committee and the Congress — with one of the most important opportunities that any of us will have to be of service to our country.” “You have created the model Congress must follow,” he said. Back to top

Kerry Gives Brief Mention to Proliferation Concern In Acceptance Speech at Democratic Party Convention By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) has said he would make preventing terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons his “No. 1” security goal as president, but in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination last night he gave proliferation only a single reference. “We need to lead a global effort against nuclear proliferation — to keep the most dangerous weapons in the world out of the most dangerous hands in the world,” Kerry said, in his nearly hour-long nationally televised speech that discussed at length his national security priorities. Kerry spoke more about plans for defeating the terrorist network al-Qaeda, promising to add 40,000 active duty troops to the U.S. armed forces and double U.S. special forces for conducting antiterrorist operations. He did not mention, though, the issues of North Korean and Iranian nuclear proliferation or of securing nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere around the world. Kerry in a speech proposing nonproliferation initiatives last month, and since, has said if elected he would make preventing terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons his “No. 1 security goal” (see GSN, June 2). Kerry’s single mention of proliferation last night should not be read as a lack of focus on the issue, said Robert Einhorn, a proliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There were lots of things he had to do in a relatively short amount of time, and by touching on this subject he showed he gives it priority,” said Einhorn, a U.S. government nonproliferation official from the 1970s until August 2001. “I think Senator Kerry in what he’s been saying over the last several months is committed to making this the top national security priority. He’s proposed some specific policies to elevate the priority it would be given in his administration. I think it’s quite credible,” he said. Others on Proliferation Other Democrats speaking at the convention also gave mention to the proliferation issue. “Our nation’s at risk, and we are engaged in a life and death struggle against terrorists who are seeking nuclear and biological weapons,” said retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who campaigned against Kerry during the primary season. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Kerry as president would “stop the spread of the globe’s most dangerous weapons by concentrating on where those weapons are instead of where they are not.” The 2004 Democratic Party platform approved at the convention this week listed keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists as a top security priority along with “defeating terrorism.” “There is no greater threat to American security than the possibility of terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction. Preventing terrorists from gaining access to these weapons must be our No. 1 security goal,” it said. It charged that the Bush administration has “failed to take effective steps to stop the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs.” Not on Bush’s ‘Agenda’ Republicans have not yet unveiled a 2004 platform, with their convention not scheduled to begin until Aug. 30. A Web page describing Bush’s national security agenda on his campaign site, however, does not mention proliferation, except where it lists a plan for developing “bunker-defeating munitions to target the growing threats of deeply hidden weapons of mass destruction.”  It also cites Bush’s efforts to field a national missile defense system, which is intended to defend the United States against long-range ballistic missiles that would be presumably armed with weapons of mass destruction. Bush has in the past declared the possibility that terrorists or “rogue” states could acquire weapons of mass destruction the greatest threat facing the United States, and formulated a strategy for preventive action, potentially including war, for addressing the challenge. “We must be prepared to stop rogue states and their terrorist clients before they are able to threaten or use weapons of mass destruction against the United States and our allies and friends,” states a national security strategy document released by the White House in 2002. Bush also in recent months has touted successful U.S.-British efforts to persuade Libya to renounce its weapons of mass destruction capabilities and to roll up elements of an international proliferation network associated with Pakistani nuclear weapons program founder Abdul Qadeer Khan. “The results of these efforts are solid and they’re clear,” he said in a July 22 speech, also noting the capture or killing of al-Qaeda members and the removal of “two terrorist regimes from power,” apparently meaning those in Iraq and Afghanistan.  “Because of these achievements, America and the world are safer,” he said. Einhorn said the Bush administration, nevertheless, might view itself vulnerable to charges it has not done enough to secure global weapons of mass destruction. “I think in the last several months the Bush administration has been reacting somewhat defensively on these issues and some of its initiatives seem to have been taken in order to bolster the administration’s record in an election year,” he said, citing an administration plan announced in May to spend more money to collect highly enriched uranium at research reactor sites around the world. “The Kerry campaign has been urging rapid action on that. So it’s interesting that after two or three years of not giving much priority to this subject, this becomes a major initiative the summer before the presidential election,” he said. Back to top       NATO Begins Anti-WMD Force Deployment for Olympics NATO has begun sending forces to Athens to protect the Olympic Games from attack by weapons of mass destruction, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, July 28). The NATO operation, named Distinguished Games, includes the Multinational Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Task Force, the alliance said in a statement yesterday. NATO forces are expected to be in place by this weekend at their base of operations in Halkida, north of Athens (Agence France-Presse/Sunday Times, July 29). Back to top       U.S. Suspect to Divulge Details of Alleged Libyan Assassination Plot Against Saudi Leader A U.S. Muslim activist who told investigators he met with Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi twice last year to discuss an assassination plot just as Qadhafi was moving to renounce terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, is expected to provide further details of the plot in a plea bargain today (see GSN, June 10). American Muslim Council founder Abdurahman Alamoudi is scheduled to appear today in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to plead guilty to three charges from a 34-count indictment, which includes charges of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of illegal Libyan funds according to USA Today. Although none of the charges against Alamoudi links him directly to the alleged plot against Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the terms of the plea agreement require him to cooperate with U.S. investigators looking into the plot, a person familiar with the case told USA Today (Kevin Johnson, USA Today, July 30). The United States is investigating the alleged plot. A senior U.S. official said in June that American policy toward Libya could undergo a “180-degree” shift if the plan is confirmed. Alamoudi “deeply regrets” his part in the assassination plan, said his lawyer, James McLoughlin Jr. “The situation unfolded far beyond any expectations he had,” McLoughlin said, according to the Washington Post. “He is now and will continue to cooperate with the government.” If a federal judge accepts the agreement, Alamoudi faces up to 23 years in prison, including additional time for supporting terrorism, the Post reported. He could have faced life in prison under the original charges (Markon/Mintz, Washington Post, July 30). Back to top

U.S. Calls For Negotiations on Fissile Material Pact By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States yesterday called for a new round of negotiations to be held on the creation of a “legally binding” treaty that would ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. During a weekly plenary meeting of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, the United States called for the creation of a new negotiation mandate on a fissile material cutoff treaty, a Bush administration official told Global Security Newswire yesterday. The United States has determined after an extensive policy review that such a treaty would “advance our national security interests,” the official said. According to the administration official, the United States supports creation of a treaty that would ban the future production of highly enriched uranium and plutonium for weapons purposes. One potential area of dispute, though, is on a verification mechanism for the proposed treaty. The United States has “serious concerns,” the administration official said, as to whether an “effectively verifiable” treaty is “realistically achievable.” In addition, the United States in Geneva reaffirmed its “15-plus”-year moratorium on the production of fissile materials for weapons purposes, and called on other countries to make similar public announcements, the administration official said. In 1995, the U.N. Conference on Disarmament agreed to begin negotiations on a treaty that would include a verification mechanism, but that negotiation mandate expired at the end of the 1995 conference session. The mandate was renewed in 1998, but expired after three weeks.  A fissile material cutoff treaty is an “essential component” in nuclear nonproliferation efforts, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. He warned, though, that the administration’s stance on a verification mechanism for the treaty could “set back” progress on negotiations. “While negotiating verification may be difficult, it is technically possible,” he said. In a speech in June on nonproliferation, U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry (Mass.) called for a verifiable ban to the production of fissile materials for weapons purposes. Tom Clements of Greenpeace International said yesterday that the treaty would also need to address limiting or disposing of stockpiles of weapons materials, which would include materials that have been produced by India, Pakistan and Israel. In addition, the U.S. stance on seeking a treaty that would ban the production of fissile materials for use in “weapons program” would only cover those materials in designated military programs and could provide a loophole by allowing countries to claim that they were producing weapon-usable materials for civilian efforts, he said. The conference’s presidency, currently held by Morocco, is expected to begin consultations on the negotiation mandate with the three political groups consisting of the organization’s 65 members — the Western Group; the Eastern Group, made up of Russia and other former Soviet states; and the Group of 21, which consists of China and members of the Nonaligned Movement.  Of the five nuclear-weapons states, the United Kingdom has indicated that it would support beginning negotiations without an immediate emphasis on verification, the administration official said. In addition, France has said that it is conducting its own policy review on the issue and that it would take the U.S. position “into account,” the official said. Neither China nor Russia has yet issued public responses. The administration official warned yesterday that it could take “a couple of … years” before progress on the treaty was made, noting that the “bureaucratic muscles of the conference have atrophied.” Back to top       Iranian Efforts Could Prompt Other Middle Eastern Countries to Re-Examine Nuclear Policies, Experts Warn By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Iran’s development of a declared nuclear weapons capability could lead non-nuclear countries in the Middle East to re-examine their atomic weapons policies, according to a book released last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (see related GSN story, today). The Nuclear Tipping Point examines the nuclear histories and policies of four Middle Eastern countries — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. None of the four countries is likely to renounce past decisions to abstain from seeking nuclear weapons, according to the book. However, that could change in the face of long-standing tensions between the Arab and Sunni Muslim states of the Middle East and non-Arab Shiite Muslim Iran and the increased military and diplomatic strength such weapons would give Tehran. “A rogue state’s successful acquisition of a nuclear weapon could trigger a range of potentially destabilizing regional responses, including the further proliferation of nuclear weapons beyond the rogue,” the book’s authors wrote. The risk of non-nuclear countries reconsidering their policies has not been a “conscious focus” of U.S. policy, said CSIS Senior Adviser Robert Einhorn, one of the book’s authors. “We need to start thinking about these issues right now,” he told Global Security Newswire Wednesday. Iran argues that its nuclear program is solely peaceful, but Western leaders fear it is developing a nuclear weapons program. There has been growing suspicion that Syria may be seeking to obtain nuclear weapons-related technologies, including reported speculation that Damascus might have been a client of top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has acknowledged providing nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. The International Atomic Energy Agency said earlier this month, though, that there are no signs that Syria is conducting nuclear weapons-related activities (see GSN, July 21). Even so, “Syria is on people’s watch list at a minimum,” Einhorn said. Iran’s development of a nuclear weapons capability would present Syria with a “confusing and conflicting situation,” wrote Henry L. Stimson Center President Ellen Laipson in the book. While Iran and Syria have been engaged in an informal strategic partnership since the 1980s against Israel, Damascus still maintains a strong attachment to an ideal of pan-Arab unity and non-Arab Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons would serve as a “blow to the Arab psyche,” she wrote.  Were Iran to obtain and then lose a nuclear weapon capability, either through a deliberate choice to surrender the arms or through a military strike, it may serve to push Syria farther into the non-nuclear camp, according to Laipson. “It would make it harder to sustain the argument for expending scarce resources on nuclear weapons and could tip the balance in favor of a more prudent, slow, hedging strategy or total avoidance of considering any nuclear weapons,” she wrote. Back to top       Iran Issues May Go To Security Council, Powell Says It appears probable that Iran’s nuclear efforts would be brought to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday as representatives from the United Kingdom, France and Germany met with Iranian officials to discuss reining in Iran’s atomic efforts, according to the Washington Post (see GSN, July 29). Iran promised the three European powers last year that it would suspend nuclear enrichment in exchange for a trade deal. Iran in recent weeks has reportedly moved back toward centrifuge development and uranium enrichment, which prompted yesterday’s meeting. “The discussions are continuing with Iranian authorities toward obtaining all the guarantees relative to the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program,” said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous. The meeting was aimed at re-establishing trust, he added. However, Powell said the United States believes Iran is developing nuclear arms and suggested the European efforts would be unsuccessful. “It is getting more and more likely that this matter is going to have to be referred to the Security Council,” said Powell, while traveling in Kuwait.  “It is our judgment that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. The world has to take note of this,” he added. Iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is peaceful. “Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology should be respected,” Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said yesterday. “We have started a process of cooperating with the EU and the IAEA and are determined to continue that,” he added. The United States said it would decide whether to bring up Iran in the Security Council after the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors meeting in September. “This is a subject that not only concerns us but is bothersome and troubling to the other members of the board of governors,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli (Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, July 30). Meanwhile, in a report critical of the war on international terrorism, a committee of British members of Parliament said Russia’s support for Iran’s nuclear program could exacerbate the problem of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the London Independent reported (see GSN, July 13). Iran’s nuclear ambitions “continue to pose an intense challenge for the international community,” the report by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee says. “The continued exertion of diplomatic pressure by the European troika, the U.S. and the Russian Federation is essential to its resolution,” it continues (Ben Russell, Independent, July 30). Back to top       Sharon Links Regional Peace to Israel’s Willingness to Give Up “Deterrent Capability” Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said publicly for the first time yesterday that Israel could look at relinquishing its “deterrent capability” if its neighbors gave up their weapons of mass destruction amid a comprehensive Middle East peace, the Lebanon Daily Star reported (see GSN, July 9). “It could be one day when we arrive at a comprehensive peace and everyone disarms completely, we will also be ready to consider taking steps,” Sharon said during a meeting of his Likud party. Sharon mentioned Libya’s decisions to dismantle its WMD programs, and international efforts to ensure that Iran is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons. However, he said Israel still faces an “existential danger” and that the United States has made it clear that Israel “is not to be touched when it comes to its deterrent capability.” That capability is believed by experts to include a nuclear arsenal of up to 200 warheads, although Israel does not actually acknowledge possessing atomic weapons (Daily Star, July 30). Meanwhile, Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu is facing a criminal investigation on suspicion that he violated a court order while speaking to foreign reporters following his release from prison in April (see GSN, July 26). Israeli secret services believe Vanunu referred to forbidden topics during interviews with the BBC and London Sunday Times, according to Associated Press. Vanunu is also barred from speaking to foreign media. Vanunu, who spent 18 years in prison, could face another prison sentence if charged and convicted of violating the court order, according to AP (Steve Weizman, AP/San Jose Mercury News, July 30). Back to top       U.S. Says North Korea Must Address All Nuclear Work U.S. envoy Joseph DeTrani told Chinese officials yesterday in Beijing that Washington continues to insist that all North Korea’s nuclear programs be addressed in any resolution to the standoff, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 28). “In these meetings, DeTrani is conveying the well-known U.S. position which includes the necessity for any resolution to the North Korean nuclear problem to address all North Korean nuclear programs,” said a U.S. Embassy spokesman (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 30). Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States are planning to hold talks in Washington next week in preparation for the next round of six-party talks in September, AFP reported. Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly are expected to meet Aug. 2-3, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said (AFP/SpaceWar.com, July 30). A South Korean official also said yesterday that working-level talks are likely to be held in Beijing during the third week of August, according to the Yonhap News Agency. China has proposed the talks be held Aug. 11-14, while other participants prefer Aug. 18-21, the official said. “China, the presiding country, presented its idea with regard to the schedule of working group talks and is collecting views from other participants and coordinating them,” the official said. “For now, it is likely that the meeting will be held in the third week of August,” the official added (BBC Monitoring, July 29). Back to top       NATO Invited to Observe Russian Disaster Exercise NATO officials are expected to be on hand next week to observe a Russian exercise simulating a military response to a nuclear disaster, according to Associated Press (see GSN, April 7). The purpose of the exercise is to practice measures to stop terrorists attempting to seize nuclear weapons and to cope with a potential nuclear disaster, the Interfax-Military News Agency reported yesterday. Back to top

Doctors Prepare Checklist of Anthrax Symptoms A group of U.S. doctors has prepared a list of symptoms of anthrax infection to help medical personnel determine whether they are treating a victim of a biological attack or someone suffering a natural illness, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, June 14). Anthrax infection shares symptoms with pneumonia or a strong case of influenza. In the face of a potential bioterror incident, days spent verifying a person’s illness could be disastrous, as people who inhale anthrax need to be treated immediately with antibiotics, AFP reported. Dr. Demetrios Kyriacou at Northwestern University in Chicago and colleagues compared 47 historical anthrax cases against 376 people who contracted pneumonia or influenza. They found that anthrax victims were more likely to experience nausea and vomiting, along with fainting or signs of confusion. People infected with anthrax also suffered from swollen tissue in the chest caused by lymph-node enlargement, while X-rays indicated fluid was collecting in the lungs. Those symptoms could be mild or even not found in early stages of anthrax infection, Kyriacou acknowledged, according to AFP. The study is set to be published in this week’s issue of the British medical weekly The Lancet (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 30). Back to top       Kazakhstan Opening Laboratory on Infectious Diseases Kazakhstan is strengthening its efforts to prevent biological weapons attacks with the opening of a reference laboratory on dangerous infectious diseases and by equipping regional centers that chart the spread of disease around the country, the Kazakh deputy health care minister said yesterday (see GSN, July 16). “This year, within the framework of the program to counter the proliferation of bacteriological warfare, negotiations are under way on building the central reference laboratory for especially dangerous infectious diseases and equipping regional laboratories and epidemiological stations which monitor especially dangerous infectious diseases in 12 Kazakh regions,” said Anatoliy Belonog, who is also the country’s chief public health officer. The Kazakh Health Ministry is working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health care agencies in Russia and other Central Asian nations to promote the nation’s biological safety, Belonog said (Interfax-Kazakhstan News Agency/BBC Monitoring, July 29). Back to top

U.S., Denmark to Sign Radar Upgrade Agreement The United States will be able to upgrade its early warning radar in Greenland for use in U.S. missile defense following signing of an accord with Denmark Aug. 6, according to Associated Press (see GSN, May 27). U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Greenland for the ceremony with Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller and Greenland Deputy Premier Josef Motzfeldt. Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, which handles the island’s defense and foreign affairs matters. Improving the U.S. Thule Air Base radar on Greenland’s far northwest coast would give the planned U.S. ballistic missile defense system a well-located, more precise sensor for tracking long-range ballistic missiles launched from Southwest Asian countries, such as Iran (Associated Press/San Diego Union-Tribune, July 29). Back to top       U.S.-Israeli Missile Intercept Exercise Successful An improved version of a joint U.S.-Israeli Arrow antiballistic missile destroyed a missile during a test yesterday off the coast of California, Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 27). “The objective of the test was to demonstrate the Arrow system’s improved performance against a target that represents a threat to Israel,” the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said in a press release. “The test represented a realistic scenario that could not have been tested in Israel due to test-field safety restrictions,” the agency added. The target missile was “a short-range target representative of a threat Israel might encounter,” said agency spokesman Chris Taylor, who would not confirm whether it was a Scud missile. The exercise was the 12th Arrow intercept test, according to AP. The complete system, which also includes radar and communications equipment, has now been tested seven times. Yesterday’s test was “the first attempt against a target which represents the real threat,” according to Israeli Defense Ministry official Ariyeh Hertzog. “It was a perfect trial, from the point of view of acquiring the target and destroying it,” he said (John Antczak, AP/Amarillo Globe- News, July 29). Back to top

Ridge May Resign After Election Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told colleagues he is considering resigning after the November election, several senior department officials said (see GSN, Oct. 9, 2001). Ridge said he is tired by the continuing effort of reorganizing the 22 agencies that formed the Homeland Security Department after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. He also cited financial concerns, saying his teenage children would soon be entering college, officials said. Ridge earns $175,700 a year as a Cabinet member, according to Associated Press. Ridge would make a final decision on resignation later this year, Assistant Homeland Secretary Susan Neely said. “Secretary Ridge is focused entirely on the job the president has asked him to do,” Neely said Wednesday. Although Ridge has told colleagues he is seriously considering resignation, he has emphasized that his plans could change in the event of another terror attack or a discussion with the U.S. President George W. Bush, said one senior official (Associated Press/Houston Chronicle, July 30).                               Back to top

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