Cargo tanks carrying chlorine at the scene of a 2004 train crash in South Carolina. A U.S. lawmaker today said crashes like these highlight the needs for better rail security (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency photograph/Getty Images). Senators Blast U.S. Rail Security Efforts at Hearing By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. senators today laid into the head of the Transportation Security Administration over what the lawmakers and government auditors say have been inadequate efforts to protect freight and passenger rail systems against a terrorist attack (see GSN, Sept. 22)...Full Story

Saddam “Spoofed” U.S. on Chemical, Biological Weapons, Former State Department Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. and foreign officials were justified in thinking Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons prior to the 2003 invasion given the successful Iraqi efforts to convince the world such weapons existed, a former senior State Department official said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 14)...Full Story

Nuclear Suppliers Group Holds off on White House Request to Exempt India from Rules The Nuclear Suppliers Group yesterday delayed making a decision on a Bush administration request to exempt India from international rules preventing nuclear cooperation, Reuters reported (see GSN, Oct. 19)...Full Story

	Thursday, October 20, 2005

Senators Blast U.S. Rail Security Efforts at Hearing By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. senators today laid into the head of the Transportation Security Administration over what the lawmakers and government auditors say have been inadequate efforts to protect freight and passenger rail systems against a terrorist attack (see GSN, Sept. 22). The security agency has no clear priorities for protecting the rails and has not completed a risk assessment that would guide spending decisions, senators and a Government Accountability Office representative said at a Commerce Committee hearing. Pressed by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) to lay out TSA rail security priorities in terms of geography and infrastructure, agency Director Edmund Hawley instead cited general elements of a preparedness program. Priorities include “information, communications, training, drilling, preparedness,” Hawley told McCain. “It's the flexible resources to be able to –“ he said before the furious McCain at last cut him off, saying, “I'm very disappointed that you're not being more forthcoming.” Without clearer priorities, McCain said, Congress cannot effectively oversee federal budgets and appropriations for rail security. “If we’re just going to give you a whole bunch of money and say, ‘Spend it however you want,’ then it doesn't matter,” McCain said, “but I don't think we're going to do that.” Fiscal 2006 Homeland Security Department appropriations include about $150 million for rail security programs. Given an overall TSA budget of nearly $4 billion, “That certainly raises questions about whether that's an appropriate amount,” GAO Homeland Security and Justice Director Cathleen Berrick said in response to a question from McCain. To know for sure how much is needed, though, the security agency would have to complete its ongoing risk assessment for U.S. rails, Berrick said. “The first step is the risk assessment to determine how much we need and where do we actually spend the money,” she said. The auditing office released a report last month calling for more federal leadership on rail security. The large extent to which responsibility for rail security is left to the industry raises concerns on whether the government has enough information and authority to ensure that trains are protected against terrorism, senators said. Hawley said his agency constantly monitors the companies’ security programs and that placing much of the responsibility with the companies is efficient because the firms are “highly motivated” by the probable financial consequences of a major security incident. Citing the possibility that mass casualties and death could quickly result from a terrorist attack on a rail tanker carrying chlorine or another toxic cargo, local officials have been seeking to restrict shipments of such materials through cities such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said an accident that left nine people dead in January in Graniteville, S.C., shows the deadly potential of chlorine, an early chemical weapon. "What we saw in Graniteville, S.C. — HAZMAT release — now, that has the same effect as a weapon of mass destruction," Lautenberg said. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) added that intelligence indicates rail protection should be a higher priority. “We know,” Boxer said, “because we've had evidence that's shown that the trains are definitely on the al-Qaeda list.” Back to top

Saddam “Spoofed” U.S. on Chemical, Biological Weapons, Former State Department Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. and foreign officials were justified in thinking Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons prior to the 2003 invasion given the successful Iraqi efforts to convince the world such weapons existed, a former senior State Department official said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 14). However, there was no consensus within the Bush administration on whether Iraq was attempting to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program or posed an imminent threat to the United States, said retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Giving a sharp-tongued critique of White House decision-making, he charged that decisions on the war were driven by a small “cabal” of senior officials, led by Vice President Richard Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, to the exclusion of other voices in the government. Evidence Called Convincing Speaking at the New America Foundation think tank, Wilkerson said Iraq went to significant effort to persuade the U.S. intelligence community that it still had chemical and biological weapons and programs. “I saw satellite evidence, and I’ve looked at satellite pictures for much of my career … that would lead me to believe that [former Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein was spoofing us, was giving us disinformation,” he said. He said, for instance, “When you see a satellite photograph with all the signs of [an] … ammunition supply point for chemical weapons, and you match all those signs with your matrix of what should show with a chemical weapons ASP and they’re there, you have to conclude it’s a chemical ASP,” he said. “Especially when you see the next satellite photograph, which shows the U.N. inspectors wheeling in, in their white vehicles with black markings on them to that same ASP and everything has changed, everything is clean. None of those signs are there anymore,” he added.  Wilkerson was explaining Powell’s February 2003 presentation to the United Nations, in which Powell presented intercepted Iraqi communications, satellite photos, and other information that he said indicated Iraqi chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and efforts to conceal them. “The facts and Iraq’s behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction,” Powell said at the time. Deception for Deterrence Echoing the conclusions of a CIA-sponsored, post-invasion analysis on suspected Iraqi weapons commonly known as the “Duelfer Report,” Wilkerson said Iraq’s deceptions were probably motivated by an interest in deterring regional rival Iran and discouraging unrest from internal groups. “Saddam Hussein really cared about deterring the Persians, the Iranians, and his own people. He didn’t give a hang about us except on occasion. He had to convince those audiences that he still was a powerful man. So who better to do that through than the INC [Iraqi National Congress exile group], Ahmad Chalabi and his boys, and by spoofing our eyes in the sky and our little HUMINT [human intelligence], and the Brits and the French and the Germans,” he said. Iraq is believed to have used chemical weapons on its Kurdish people and Iranian forces during the 1980s and to have deployed them ineffectively against Iraqi Shiites in 1991. Iraq’s deception was thoroughly successful, Wilkerson said. “The consensus of the intelligence community was overwhelming. I can still hear [former CIA Director] George Tenet telling me and telling my boss in the bowels of the CIA that the information we were delivering [to the United Nations] which we had culled considerably … we had thrown whole reams of paper out that the White House had created, but George was convinced, [then CIA Deputy Director] John McLaughlin was convinced, that what we were presented was accurate,” he said. Wilkerson said the State Department’s intelligence bureau was also convinced of the existence of Iraqi chemical and biological weapons, as were French, German and British intelligence agencies. French intelligence was even convinced that Iraq was still operating a nuclear weapons program. “The French came in, in the middle of my deliberations at the CIA, and said ‘We have just spun aluminum tubes and by God we did it to this RPM [revolutions per minute]’ etc, etc, and it was all proof, proof positive that the [tubes] were not for motor casings, for artillery casings, but were for centrifuges,” he said.  “We were wrong. We were wrong,” Wilkerson said. Nuclear Threat in Question Wilkerson said there was not consensus among U.S. intelligence agencies that Iraq had resumed its nuclear weapons program destroyed by United Nations inspectors in the early 1990s, nor that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States. He noted that the State Department’s Intelligence and Research Bureau was not convinced of a nuclear program. “Frankly I wasn’t all that convinced by the evidence that I’d seen that he had a nuclear program,” Wilkerson said. In his presentation to the United Nations, though, Powell said he was certain.  “People will continue to debate this issue, but there is no doubt in my mind, these illicit procurement efforts [of the aluminum tubes] show that Saddam Hussein is very much focused on putting in place the key missing piece from his nuclear weapons program, the ability to produce fissile material,” he said. Powell also suggested an imminent Iraqi threat. “When we confront a regime that harbors ambitions for regional domination, hides weapons of mass destruction and provides haven and active support for terrorists, we are not confronting the past, we are confronting the present. And unless we act, we are confronting an even more frightening future,” he said. Cabal-Driven Security Policy Wilkerson did not say who within the U.S. government dissented on the urgency of an Iraqi threat. However, he argued at length yesterday that a “cabal” consisting principally of Cheney and Rumsfeld that bypassed the formal national security-making process made decisions on the war. “What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know being made,” he said. He described Powell, not identified as part of the cabal, as “the world’s most loyal soldier.” Due to the complexity of modern governance, Wilkerson argued, the federal bureaucracy must be involved in making policy in order for it to be implemented effectively. “When you cut the bureaucracy out of your decisions and then foist your decisions out of the blue on that bureaucracy, you can’t expect that bureaucracy to carry your decision out very well,” he said. By failing to involve the bureaucracy, he said, the administration has “courted disaster, in Iraq, in North Korea, in Iran, [and] generally with regard to domestic crises like [Hurricanes] Katrina, Rita …” Delivering one of his harshest lines, he said, “If something comes along that is truly serious, truly serious, something like a nuclear weapon going off in a major American city, or something like a major pandemic, you are going to see the ineptitude of this government” unseen in the history of the country. Back to top

Nuclear Suppliers Group Holds off on White House Request to Exempt India from Rules The Nuclear Suppliers Group yesterday delayed making a decision on a Bush administration request to exempt India from international rules preventing nuclear cooperation, Reuters reported (see GSN, Oct. 19). While there was a positive response to the proposal, a U.S. official said the “decision was deferred until the future.”   The official said the White House had not anticipated action on the matter. The United Kingdom, France and Canada showed support for the idea, but Japan was less enthusiastic and Sweden asked “hard questions,” according to the official. The Nuclear Suppliers Group does not meet again until May, so a special meeting would be needed for the rules exemption to be approved before President George W. Bush visits India early next year. “I don't think it's going to be able to be done by the summit. It's much too difficult and sensitive an issue,” a second official said. This official said Congress should approve the plan before the Nuclear Suppliers Group so that U.S. companies can get into the Indian market before foreign competitors. The delay is aiding U.S. efforts to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council. India could be compelled to continue voting with the United States as long as the cooperation issue remains undecided, according to Reuters (Reuters/New York Times, Oct. 19). Meanwhile, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said yesterday that the United States would not repeat its India cooperation plan with other nations, Agence France-Presse reported. He said that India’s “responsible” nuclear record differentiates it from other rising nuclear powers. “This cooperation that we're extending to India is unique to India. It is not going to be replicated to other countries,” Burns said yesterday in Paris. He added that India differs from Pakistan and Iran by being “transparent” about its program. Burns also rejected the idea that Washington was unfairly supporting India’s nuclear program while opposing Iran’s nuclear growth. “If you look at India's record, actually it's the reverse of Iran's record. India has been a responsible country in safeguarding its nuclear technology over the past 30 years,” he said. The deal would bring India, which is not a signatory on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, “into effective compliance with all the international [nonproliferation] norms,” Burns said.  Pakistan, on the other hand, is “a country that has proliferated in the past to a major degree,” he added. Burns said that the United States has “a relationship with Pakistan, but it doesn't extend to the kind of civil nuclear energy cooperation we intend to have with India” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Oct. 19). Back to top       U.S. Defense Secretary Expresses Concern on Expansion of Chinese Nuclear Capabilities U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today expressed concern that China appears to be boosting its nuclear arsenal with longer-range delivery systems, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 6). “China of course is expanding its missile forces and enabling those forces to reach many areas of the world, well beyond the Pacific region,” Rumsfeld told the Academy of Military Sciences in Beijing. “As a result, countries with interests in the region are asking questions about China’s intentions,” he said. Beijing sought to reassure the United States. “As we have already said many times, China’s strengthening of its own defense ability is completely appropriate. There is nothing to be suspicious or worried about,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan. During a visit yesterday to the strategic nuclear forces headquarters, Gen. Jing Zhiyan told Rumsfeld that China remains committed to a policy of “no first use” of nuclear weapons, according to a senior U.S. defense official. Talk that Beijing is targeting other countries is “completely groundless,” Jing was quoted as telling Rumsfeld. The U.S. Defense Department released a reported in July that found China is upgrading its older long-range ballistic missile systems and that it plans to deploy a road-mobile intercontinental missile, an extended range intercontinental missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the coming years (see GSN, July 20; Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Oct. 20). Back to top       Blair Defends Plan to Replace Trident Missile The United Kingdom must maintain its nuclear arsenal, even though atomic weapons are not useful in the war on terrorism, Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 18). The Atomic Weapons Establishment’s budget has been doubled, the London Independent reported, but Blair said a final decision on replacing the submarine-launched Trident missile has not yet been made. The decision should be made “in the current Parliament,” Blair said. He appeared to indicate that he would try to avoid a House of Commons vote on the matter, according to the Independent. “I’m sure there will be a debate and I have no doubt at all that there will be a great deal of discussion as the months and years unfold. Although I do not think anyone pretends that the independent nuclear deterrent is a defense against terrorism, nonetheless I do believe it is an important part of our defense,” he said (Andy McSmith, Independent, Oct. 20). A group of lawmakers from Blair’s party are pressing for an emergency party vote on the matter to be taken later this month, the Daily Telegraph reported. Labor Party MP Paul Flynn said he was “very dissatisfied” that Blair had avoided his questions about taking a vote. “There are people in the military who think this is a very bad decision. Trident missiles didn’t stop [former Argentine leader Leopoldo] Galtieri invading the Falklands. We don’t need to spend pounds 20 billion on a useless status symbol,” Flynn said. “These missiles are lurking in deep waters but the weapons aren’t targeted at anybody,” he said (Toby Helm, Daily Telegraph, Oct. 20). Back to top       South Korea Urges Pyongyang to Declare All Nuclear Weapons, Programs, Installations South Korea today pressed Pyongyang to declare the full extend of its nuclear weapons complex to aid discussions next month on a concrete plan for North Korean atomic disarmament, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Oct. 19). “The most significant step to take at the November talks is to reach consensus on concrete action plans, or how to implement what has been agreed at the six-way talks,” said Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. “The action plans should include North Korea’s sincere declaration of nuclear weapons, nuclear programs and facilities and consultations among the countries concerned about the declaration,” Ban said. The remaining negotiating partners should, in return, simultaneously discuss the size and type of aid incentives for North Korea, as well as verification, he said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Oct. 20). A “road map” outlining steps leading to North Korea’s nuclear disarmament should be formulated at the next round of talks, said Russia’s top envoy to the forum, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev. “In our view it should focus on working out of the elements of the specific plan of the implementation of the reached agreements,” Alexeyev said. “It should become a kind of a ‘road map’ for further movement forward” (Valery Agarkov, ITAR-Tass/Kazinform, Oct. 20). Meanwhile, Governor Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) yesterday toured North Korea’s main nuclear research facility at Yongbyon and met with officials in Pyongyang, Richardson’s chief of staff, Billy Sparks, told the Associated Press (Joseph Coleman, Associated Press/Buffalo News, Oct. 19). Back to top       U.S. Continues to Support Iran-EU Nuclear Dialogue The United States yesterday reaffirmed its support for resumption of negotiations led by France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Iran’s nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Oct. 19). “We’re not part of the negotiating efforts, we will not be part of the negotiating effort anytime soon. But it’s very important that Iran return to negotiations, and so we support the EU-3 on that basis,” said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who discussed the subject with French officials while in Paris. Burns added that Iran’s international isolation on the nuclear issue should prompt it to come back to talks. “If you only have Venezuela on your side... and you don’t have China, Russia, India, Brazil the United States, Europe on your side, you’re rather isolated,” he said. “So we hope the Iranians will conclude ... that they don’t have a lot of countries with them and that the only possible avenue ahead is negotiations,” Burns said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Oct. 19). Back to top

South African “Dr. Death” Won’t Be Retried The man who led the South African apartheid government’s chemical and biological warfare efforts for 12 years will not be retried for crimes of which he was acquitted in 2002, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 12). Filing old charges against Wouter Basson, known as “Dr. Death,” would constitute double jeopardy, the legal principle that a person must not be tried twice for the same crime, said prosecution spokesman Makhosini Nkosi. “The National Prosecution Authority has concluded that a fresh prosecution of Dr. Wouter Basson ... is by law not permissible,” Nkosi said. Basson headed the former white minority government’s chemical and biological weapons program while South Africa was fighting black nationalists at home and in neighboring countries, AFP reported. During his 30-month trial, the Pretoria High Court was presented with evidence of plots to kill leading black politicians with toxins, according to AFP. Evidence not presented at that trial technically could still be unearthed for a new prosecution against Basson, said legal expert Robin Palmer. However, such a move was unlikely to occur, he said. “Once they have decided not to prosecute I don’t think they will proceed any further on this particular point,” Palmer told SABC radio (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 19). Back to top       U.S. Awards Contract for Smallpox Vaccine The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded AlphaVax of North Carolina a $3.3 million grant for preclinical development of a smallpox vaccine, the Triangle Business Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, June 14). The U.S. government has awarded more than $500 million for preparation of new smallpox vaccines. It is now considering proposals for production of between 20 million and 80 million doses of a modified vaccine (see GSN, Aug. 16; Triangle Business Journal, Oct. 19). Back to top

Democratic Republic of the Congo Joins CWC The Democratic Republic of the Congo has joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 22). The country deposited its instrument of ratification with the United Nations on Oct. 12, and will become a state party to the treaty on Nov. 11.  It is the 175th nation to join the treaty, according to an OPCW release (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Oct. 19). Back to top       Mustard Leaks Contained at Deseret Chemical Depot Workers at Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah yesterday detected and contained two 155 mm projectiles leaking mustard gas (see GSN, Oct. 14). Depot personnel donned protective clothing to place the projectiles in airtight storage containers, according to a U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release. No vapor escaped the munitions storage igloo and the surrounding community was in no danger, the release said (Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Oct. 19). Back to top       Former Iraqi Soldier Details 1988 Chemical Attack A former Iraqi tank commander involved in the 1988 chemical attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja has helped make the case against deposed leader Saddam Hussein, the London Evening Standard reported (see GSN, Oct. 19). Rahee Karim surrendered to invading coalition forces in 2003. They told him he would not be prosecuted if he offered detailed information on what happened in Halabja. Karim said he commanded a squad of 30 vehicles in the attack that killed more than 5,000 people and injured 7,000. “It was shameful. It is a period of my life I cannot forget. I pray to my God to forgive me, to help me understand what I did,” he said. “I believe I should be punished and so should the officers who were there. Our punishment must be a war crime for everyone to remember the consequences.” Karim said Iraqi forces used sarin, tabun, VX, mustard gas and cyanide in the attack. Chemical suits protected Karim and his men. “There was not a sound [afterward], even the animals and birds were killed. No one spoke,” he said (Evening Standard, Oct. 19).   Back to top

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