The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings yesterday and today on the nomination of national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to serve as secretary of state. Rice was confirmed today in a 16-2 vote, with Democratic Senators John Kerry (Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.) opposing her appointment (AFP photo/Tim Sloan). Committee Approves Rice for State, Despite Questions By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today confirmed U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice in a 16-2 vote to be the next secretary of state following heated Democratic questioning about her integrity, the administration’s nonproliferation efforts, and its policies regarding Iraq. The decision followed two days of intense questioning from committee members (see GSN, Jan. 18)...Full Story

Energy Department Proposes Random Polygraph Tests By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department is considering administering random polygraph tests to some personnel as part of new counterintelligence regulations proposed this month (see GSN, Sept. 5, 2003)...Full Story

IAEA Wants to Conduct Second Parchin Inspection The International Atomic Energy Agency is asking Iran to allow inspectors to make another trip to the Parchin military complex, which the United States suspects is part of a secret nuclear weapons program, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 18)...Full Story

	Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Committee Approves Rice for State, Despite Questions By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today confirmed U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice in a 16-2 vote to be the next secretary of state following heated Democratic questioning about her integrity, the administration’s nonproliferation efforts, and its policies regarding Iraq. The decision followed two days of intense questioning from committee members (see GSN, Jan. 18). All Republicans and most Democrats, the latter with reservations, supported her nomination. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, said he would support Rice’s nomination in order to allow the president to choose his Cabinet. “I like her, I’ve been disappointed, but I think the obligation I have … is to be able to work with her where we can,” Biden said. Biden questioned her level of candor. “The questions we asked you in writing and then yesterday at the hearing I think gave you the opportunity to acknowledge some of the mistakes and misjudgments of the past four years.” “But instead of seizing the opportunity, it seems to me Dr. Rice you danced around it, sort of stuck to the party line, which seemed pretty consistent, ‘We’re always right, we haven’t made any mistakes, we’re never wrong,’” he said. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) voted against the nomination with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). The two lawmakers were Rice’s fiercest critics, with Boxer questioning the truthfulness of some of her testimony and both criticizing her role in previous Bush administration policy-making. “I chose to vote my concerns, not to overlook them. I chose to vote my gut, not custom,” Kerry said. “The fact is that Dr. Rice is one of the principal architects, implementers and defenders of a series of policies and choices that in my judgment have not made our country as secure as we ought to be in the aftermath of 9/11 and have alienated much of the world and certainly much-needed allies in our effort to reduce the costs in lives and dollars to the American people.” Boxer charged the “Bush administration used the fear of terror to make the war against Iraq appear to be a part of the response to 9/11.” Senator George Allen (R-Va.) praised Rice for her background, “the fact that she grew up in the segregated South, persevered,” and said “the key point in her testimony and all of the questions was we want to advance freedom and I think that should be a bipartisan goal and aspiration.” Rice defended her testimony, saying that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s history, including an unwillingness to fully account for past weapons of mass destruction holdings, justified the war. “We weren’t prepared to give Saddam Hussein the benefit of the doubt given his history and given the shadow of the future,” she said. Rice said the administration may have made some mistakes but said if the Iraq war turns out well, that will not matter. “I know enough about history to stand back and to recognize that you judge not at the moment but how it all adds up,” she said. More Charges on Iraq Boxer charged that Rice and the administration told the American public “half truth[s]” about Iraq in order to build support for the war, including by failing to note that the United States supported Iraq at the same time Baghdad used chemical weapons against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.  “Why didn’t you tell them the full story? Why didn’t you mention that it was Rumsfeld who favored the normalization of relations with Iraq during a time when it was using chemical weapons against Iran?” she said, referring to then-Middle East envoy, and now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Boxer said Rice misled the public about the nature of aluminum tubes once headed for Iraq by failing to note some intelligence community doubts they were for a nuclear weapons program. (see GSN, Oct. 4, 2004). She also said Rice improperly suggested Iraq was connected to the Sept. 11 attacks.  “To me it’s telling a half truth to the American people. It’s gaming the American people,” she said. “It seems to me … an unwillingness to give the American people the full story because the mission, the zeal of selling the war so important to Dr. Rice, because that was her job,” she said. Rice cited an Iraqi “attitude toward terrorism” and said there was a history of contacts with al-Qaeda that helped justify the war. She said “we didn’t go to war over aluminum tubes,” and noted Iraq’s history regarding weapons of mass destruction. Rice said the United States often previously supported regimes “in hopes that they would bring stability in the Middle East” and that “sometimes belonged to the freedom deficit,” adding, “We’re not going to do that anymore.” Questions About Nonproliferation Priority Kerry, meanwhile, questioned the administration’s level of commitment to securing weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union, stating “each year this administration has either cut or flat-lined the money for this enterprise.” “I don’t understand how the administration can choose to spend ð— now we’re going to be close to $300 billion in Iraq, to disarm weapons that weren’t there, and yet $1 billion a year to secure weapons that we know are there, potentially, because every fissionable site is a potential weapon ð— real, ascertainable, tangible,” he said. Rice said there were some bureaucratic obstacles, “principally in Russia,” to securing the material. She said, though, “We’re on a schedule to do this in four years [through the Energy Department’s threat reduction program]. I think we will get it done in four years. We’re also on a very active program of securing nuclear sites with the Russians through Nunn-Lugar,” referring to Pentagon threat reduction efforts. “I’m completely and totally dedicated to this program. I think Senator [Richard] Lugar (R-Ind.) would tell you that I’ve been one of its biggest advocates inside the administration, and I will continue to be one of its biggest advocates,” she said. Kerry said the administration has “allowed summit after summit with Russian President [Vladimir] Putin to go by without any action that has been taken to overcome” obstacles hindering such activities. “I’ve just represented to Senator Lugar that I intend to try and break through those bureaucratic obstacles,” Rice said. Kerry also asked what efforts the administration has made to ensure systems in Pakistan would prevent the loss of nuclear weapons to Islamic radicals in the event of a coup. “Senator, we have noted this problem, and we are prepared to try to deal with it. I would prefer not in open session to talk about this particular issue,” Rice said. Back to top       United States Urges Stricter Shipping Rules The United States is encouraging additional countries to enact more stringent shipping rules adopted by Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 13). “Terrorists are not just targeting the United States, they’re targeting globalization and the global economy,” said Keith Thomson, assistant commissioner in the Office of International Affairs at the Homeland Security Department. “Collectively we must all do more to secure what goes into, and through, all ports of the world, and not just the United States,” he added. Under post-Sept. 11 standards, shippers must supply U.S. authorities with details of cargo destined for the United States at least 24 hours before materials are loaded at a foreign port. Thomson said the United States favors worldwide adoption of the rule, plus coordination of risk management policy, information sharing and inspections.  The World Customs Organization broadly endorsed a draft framework covering those areas last month and a revised draft is expected to be ready for submission in June to the organization’s council, according to Thomson. “It’s likely that 10, 15, 20 countries who have the capacity to sign up will do so immediately” and others would follow, he said. He added that the United States expects about 10 more of the world’s leading ports to join the Container Security Initiative this year (Mark Trevelyan, Reuters, Jan. 18). Back to top

Energy Department Proposes Random Polygraph Tests By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department is considering administering random polygraph tests to some personnel as part of new counterintelligence regulations proposed this month (see GSN, Sept. 5, 2003). Those who could be subject to the random tests include personnel with access to classified nuclear weapons-related information, according to a notice published Jan. 7 in the Federal Register. One of the main goals of the random tests is “deterrence” against “damaging disclosures” by employees whose level of access to sensitive information did not warrant mandatory polygraph testing, the department said. Noting that the number of workers expected to be subject to random tests is “small,” the Energy Department said it plans to create a random test program that would be applied to the “minimum” number of people while still serving the deterrence goal. The proposed regulations would also result in a dramatic reduction in the number of employees who would be subject to mandatory screening, from potentially 20,000 to about 4,500, according to the Energy Department. The reduction would be achieved, the department said, by the narrowing the range of information that would require mandatory screening prior to being accessed. The Energy Department first began polygraph testing in the wake of the 1999 Wen Ho Lee controversy, which involved a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist accused of mishandling nuclear weapons codes. In late 2001, though, Congress ordered the department to create new polygraph regulations, taking into account the results of a study being conducted at the time by the National Academy of Sciences. That study, released in 2002, said polygraph tests were ineffective as a screening tool for potential security risks, warning of both “false positive” and “false negative” results. “Polygraph testing yields an unacceptable choice,” the study found. “Its accuracy in distinguishing actual or potential security violators from innocent test takers is insufficient to justify reliance on its use in employee security screening in federal agencies.” Opposition to polygraph testing has been greater at the U.S. national laboratories than in any other government sector, according to Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy. Scientists at the laboratories, he said yesterday, view polygraph tests as “idiotic, unfounded and degrading.” In its notice, the Energy Department said that polygraph testing is intended as a possible “trigger,” the result of which could lead to further investigation of potential security risks posed by an employee. As a result, the department said, the proposed regulations would maintain policies against taking “adverse” action or limiting information access based solely on polygraph results. “In every case of an adverse personnel action, it is DOE policy that such an action or decision is based on other information as well,” the notice says. The proposed regulations would also provide for the creation of a review board, convened by the agency’s director of the counterintelligence office, to consider the results of positive evaluations. Aftergood said the proposed regulations are “a big step in the right direction,” as they acknowledge concerns over problems with polygraph testing. The Energy Department plans to accept public comment on the proposed regulations until March 8, after which final regulations will be released. Back to top       IAEA Wants to Conduct Second Parchin Inspection The International Atomic Energy Agency is asking Iran to allow inspectors to make another trip to the Parchin military complex, which the United States suspects is part of a secret nuclear weapons program, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 18). Inspectors were granted partial access to the site last week, but the agency is interested in testing another part of the complex for radiation that could indicate weapons research, diplomats said yesterday. “The inspectors want to go back to another explosives bunker” that they apparently were not allowed to examine last week, one diplomat said. Responding to U.S. President George W. Bush’s assertion this week that he would not take any option “off the table” in dealing with Iran, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the European body “would not endorse” the “military option” (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 19). The European Commission said yesterday the EU would pursue diplomatic negotiations with Iran for as long as possible, Agence France-Presse reported. “The EU and the U.S. have the same objective in Iran, but have looked at different ways of attaining the goal,” said spokeswoman Emma Udwin. Udwin said U.S. officials denied claims made in a New Yorker article that U.S. commandos have entered Iran to conduct reconnaissance for possible air strikes on weapons facilities. European Union officials were in Washington last week and “there was no discussion of any such activities,” she said (Agence France-Presse/IranMania.com, Jan. 18). Iran today also dismissed the New Yorker report, according to AFP. “American commandos are not able to enter Iran so easily to spy. It would be simplistic to accept such an idea,” said Ali Agha Mohammadi, a spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. “We know our borders,” he added, calling such reports part of a “psychological campaign” against the Iranian government. Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday that the United States would not intimidate Iran. “We are not afraid of foreign enemies’ threats and sanctions, since they know well that throughout its Islamic and ancient history, Iran has been no place for adventurism,” Rafsanjani said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Jan. 19). British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today that diplomacy was the best option to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, according to Reuters. “Those who said we would not be able to negotiate any substantial text are wrong. Those who said we could not build up a degree of trust with Iranians, at the same time as building up a strong consensus with the U.S. and the nonaligned countries, are wrong,” he told the Financial Times. “It has taken a phenomenal amount of work, but so far so good. And it is a better strategy than the alternative,” he added (Reuters/Khaleej Times, Jan. 19). Elsewhere, Russia said yesterday that Iran’s nuclear program was peaceful, AFP reported. “I have no reason to believe that the situation will change from its current course and that the character of Iran’s nuclear program will change,” Interfax quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying. “Russia and Iran are leading a detailed dialogue, so that Iran’s nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful in nature,” he said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Jan. 18). Back to top       Nigeria Not Interested in Nuclear Weapons, President Tells IAEA Chief ElBaradei Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday that while his country is interested in civilian nuclear power, it has no plans to develop atomic weapons, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Oct. 1, 2004). During a visit by ElBaradei to the capital of Abuja, Obasanjo also called for IAEA aid to help manage the country’s radioactive materials, according to a statement by presidential spokeswoman Remi Oyo. ElBaradei later visited the Gamma Irradiation Plant near Abuja, according to AP. He is scheduled today to visit a research reactor at Ahmadu Bello University in the northern city of Zaria (Thompson Akpogo, Associated Press, Jan. 18). Back to top

U.S. Scientists Devise Systems to Monitor Patient Records for Signs of Bioterrorism Scientists across the United States are creating “data mining” systems to monitor hospital patient records to detect the first signs of a bioterrorist attack, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 18). To support that effort, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have prepared the BioWar program to model the infection spread of a bioterror attack involving smallpox, anthrax or five other biological agents, along with potential patterns in people’s reaction to an incident. “You don’t want to run an actual attack on a city, of course. That would be unethical,” said Carnegie Mellon computer science professor Kathleen Carley, whose team designed the system. BioWar began as a project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Carley’s team is preparing BioWar for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army and the Marines, according to the Tribune-Review (Mark Houser, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review/PittsburghLive.com, Jan. 18). Back to top       New Details Emerge on 2004 Theft in Seattle of Laptop With Biological Defense Information A laptop computer containing information on biological defense research proposals was stolen last fall from a University of Washington researcher in Seattle, according to the Indian newspaper The Statesman (see GSN, Jan. 14). The computer contained “classified information” on laboratory security and “grant proposals for research that involved select agents for biodefense as defined under the U.S. Patriot Act and by the Centers for Disease Control,” according to an affidavit filed by a university police detective. The laptop’s owner is an infectious disease expert who has previously written a paper concerning a type of plague, the Statesman reported (Surajit Dasgupta, The Statesman, Jan. 18). Back to top       Taiwan Opens National Health Command Center for Epidemics, Bioterrorism Taiwan yesterday opened its new National Health Command Center, where the country plans to organize rapid responses to disease outbreaks and bioterrorism, Asia Pulse reported (see GSN, Jan. 14). Work on the center began after Taiwan coped with a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic between March and June 2003, officials said (Asia Pulse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 19). Back to top

Russia Begins Work on Weapons Disposal Plant Russia yesterday began construction of a chemical weapons disposal plant at Maradykovskiy, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, Jan. 18). About 7,000 metric tons of chemical weapons in 40,000 munitions are stored at Maradykovskiy, ITAR-Tass reported. The planned disposal facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2008 and to complete work by 2011. The site is set to destroy aerial munitions and rockets containing a mixture of mustard gas and blister agent (ITAR-Tass/BBC Monitoring, Jan. 18). Back to top

Norwegian Rocket Launches to Help “Fine-Tune” U.S. Radar, Russian Missile Defense Expert Claims A Russian expert has claimed that a planned set of Norwegian weather rocket launches are intended to help “fine-tune the U.S. Arctic military radar program,” ITAR-Tass reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 18, 2004). Norway plans through Feb. 10 to launch more than 10 weather rockets in the “view zone” of the U.S. Globus-2 radar, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The radar is located in Norway, 40 kilometers from the Russian border, “in direct proximity to a number of Russian strategic facilities,” the ministry said. Missile defense expert Lt.-Gen. Anatoliy Sokolov said the flight paths were chosen so the rockets could be “tracked by U.S. radars located in northern Europe and Greenland” (ITAR-Tass/BBC Worldwide Monitoring, Jan. 18). Back to top

U.S. Mayors Criticize Homeland Security Department for Providing Insufficient Funds, Information U.S. mayors complained yesterday that the U.S. Homeland Security Department is not providing their cities with adequate funding or information about potential terrorist threats, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 27, 2004). “We mayors are expected to find out about differences in the security code through watching CNN,” Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said during a session with Homeland Security officials at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting. “I don’t get it from e-mail or fax; I don’t get a telephone call.” The mayors also complained that states are grabbing their federal funding, AP reported.  Homeland Security officials said the agency was responding to mayors’ needs. “That’s the role of the mayors: to protect their cities and get as many resources as they can,” said Homeland Security Department local coordination director David Hagy. “And our job in the Department of Homeland Security is to make sure that the entire pool of money is efficiently and effectively sent out.” Mayors also raised concerns about hazardous materials being transported through their cities. Mayor Bob Young of Augusta, Ga., compared this month’s wreck of a railcar carrying chlorine, which killed nine people in South Carolina, to a weapon of mass destruction (see GSN, Jan. 12). “We’ve been crying for three years, asking the federal government to please assist us with one easy step: tell us what’s coming through our cities,” Young said (Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 18).   Back to top

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