The U.S. Senate today confirmed Condoleezza Rice to succeed Colin Powell as U.S. secretary of state. The two are shown at last’s week presidential inauguration ceremony (AFP photo). Senate Confirms Rice After Debating Iraqi WMD Threat By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate today voted 85-13 to confirm national security adviser Condoleezza Rice as the next secretary of state, following a scathing debate yesterday over the Bush administration’s case to go to war on Iraq in March 2003 over suspected weapons of mass destruction and Rice’s role in making that argument (see GSN, Jan. 25)...Full Story

U.S. Sees Progress on Closing Russian Plutonium-Producing Reactors, Energy Official Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — With the awarding late last month of a contract to refurbish an electrical power plant in the Russian city of Seversk, the U.S. Energy Department has made significant progress on a project to shut down three Russian nuclear reactors that produce weapon-grade plutonium, a department official said yesterday (see GSN, June 7, 2004)...Full Story

House Panel Recommends Nonproliferation Measures By Marina Malenic Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A U.S. House of Representatives panel today released a report recommending that Congress strengthen U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts by funding research and development of detection equipment and proliferation-resistant nuclear technologies, as well as emphasizing flexible, bilateral cooperation with allies over broad-based international organizations and treaties (see GSN, Jan. 20)...Full Story

	Wednesday, January 26, 2005

U.S. Homeland Security Department Lacks Priorities, Say Outside Experts, Department Watchdog By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Homeland Security Department is too disorganized, and its agencies spend too much time competing rather than cooperating with one another, expert witnesses told a Senate committee today (see GSN, Jan. 25). In testimony ahead of confirmation hearings next week on Homeland Security Secretary-designate Michael Chertoff, four outside experts and acting department inspector general Richard Skinner proposed various ways to strengthen the hand of the department’s top managers but generally agreed that clear, enforceable priorities are lacking (see GSN, Jan. 11). Skinner told the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the department needs “an operational plan that’s developed at the highest level.” “Exactly what do we want to accomplish this year, what do we want to accomplish in five years, with the resources that we have available to ourselves?”  Skinner asked. Spending by the department’s grant-making bodies, Skinner said, too often fails to reflect intelligence from its Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate. Port security grants, for example, have been doled out without setting information-based priorities, he said (see GSN, Jan. 3). Skinner cited a need to have Homeland Security’s agencies cooperate more effectively by setting department-wide priorities and then “reaching a consensus among all the elements within the department” on those priorities. Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow James Carafano told the panel that part of the solution to the department’s disorganization must be a “clear division of responsibilities between operators and supporters,” like the one he said exists in the Defense Department between those who fight wars and those who set policy. “Response is clearly an operation function,” he said, offering one example of his proposed division of powers. “Preparedness, on the other hand, you could argue, is a support function.” Homeland Security currently includes among its major elements a single Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. Carafano said the homeland security secretary is “absolutely” too weak to reorganize authority within the department to the extent needed. He said the secretary should be granted more power to do so and also suggested creating an undersecretary for policy — a proposal echoed by RAND Corp. Senior Policy Analyst Michael Wermuth, who called for an undersecretary for policy and planning. Wermuth recommended caution on making any major changes at Homeland Security, though. He said the department is still young and has already had its share of “turmoil” in its two years of existence. “Neither Congress nor DHS should rush to judgment about major changes in structure or authority,” Wermuth said. Brookings Institution Visiting Fellow Richard Falkenrath, who until last year was White House homeland security adviser, also opposed making major changes at Homeland Security in the near future. He said the department is about to have a new secretary, that its initial structure has not been given enough time to prove itself and that the secretary already has the power to carry out many organizational changes as he sees fit. “There may well be changes that need to occur, but I think this is exactly the wrong time for a statutorily driven internal reorganization of DHS,” Falkenrath said. Committee members stressed importance of smarter spending at the department, expressing skepticism about the agency’s need for more resources and about the likelihood that any would be forthcoming. Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said Homeland Security “cannot cover every risk than people dream up.” “If we did, then we would spend more on this than in defense of our nation, and we would give everybody what they want,” he said. “I’m very worried that this process could lead to the funding for Homeland Security being the latest piggy bank, Christmas tree, whatever you wish to call it.” “We cannot be a risk-free America,” Domenici said. “Something has to be at risk, or we just cannot afford a homeland security.” Back to top       Government Accountability Office Places Homeland Security Information Sharing on “High-Risk” List By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. efforts to improve the sharing of homeland security-related information were included on a list of government programs at “high risk” for fraud, waste and mismanagement released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2004). Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, “this area has received increased attention but the federal government still faces formidable challenges in gathering, identifying, analyzing and disseminating key information … in an appropriate and timely manner,” a GAO study says. Among the problems cited by congressional auditors was the failure of the Homeland Security Department to meet a December 2004 presidential deadline to prepare a plan on managing information-sharing responsibilities. In addition, failures to improve the consolidation and standardization of information have hindered attempts to consolidate terrorist watch lists and integrate fingerprint databases used by the Homeland Security and Justice departments, the study says. The study also notes poor efforts by the federal government in providing homeland security-related information to the private sector. As an example, the GAO report cites chemical industry officials complaining of not having received “specific and accurate threat information in a timely manner” from law enforcement agencies. This in turn, the study says, has resulted in the chemical industry being unable to design adequate facility security systems and in the government being unable to adequately assess the vulnerability of chemical facilities to terrorist attacks. This year marked the first time that homeland security-related information sharing was included on the GAO “high-risk” list, which the agency has prepared since 1990. The purpose of the list “is to bring light to areas that need attention,” said David Walker, the agency’s comptroller general. “History has shown that with light comes heat, and with heat comes action, and that’s exactly what it takes in order to achieve success at removing high-risk areas,” Walker said yesterday during a press conference to unveil the 2005 list. Walker was joined at the Capitol Hill press conference by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) and top committee Democrat Joseph Lieberman (Conn.); House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) and top committee Democrat Henry Waxman (D-Calif.); along with Senators George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii). Collins said the massive intelligence reform bill approved by Congress and signed into law late last year “should produce significant improvements” in information sharing. The law requires establishment of an information-sharing environment, the exchange of information among officials at all levels of government and the private sector and a council to support the dissemination of information. The Homeland Security Department today disputed the findings of the GAO report. “We disagree with the assessment,” department spokeswoman Michelle Petrovich said, adding that that agency “has created new comprehensive information-sharing capabilities that previously did not exist.” As examples, she cited the creation of a Web-based information sharing portal, known as the Homeland Security Information Network, that is available to all 50 states and 50 major urban areas, and is being expanded to the county level. Petrovich also said that over the past two years, about 200 departmental and FBI bulletins have been distributed to state and local officials, as well as the private sector. In addition to information sharing, the list this year also continues to include two other homeland security-related functions — implementing the Homeland Security Department, which has been on the list since 2003; and protecting information systems and critical infrastructures from attack, which has been in place since 1997. While not yet a “high risk” issue, the Government Accountability Office also noted the “emerging” area of completing comprehensive threat and risk assessments. Such assessments are needed, in part, to help the Homeland Security Department best determine how to allocate resources, the study says. The Senate homeland security panel is set to hold an oversight hearing on the Homeland Security Department today. The GAO list, Lieberman said yesterday, “sounds a clarion and urgent call to Congress and the administration to react, to respond, to act in a way that next year when a comptroller general makes his report, homeland security, which is inherently about protecting the American people from risk, is no longer on the high-risk list.” Back to top

Senate Confirms Rice After Debating Iraqi WMD Threat By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate today voted 85-13 to confirm national security adviser Condoleezza Rice as the next secretary of state, following a scathing debate yesterday over the Bush administration’s case to go to war on Iraq in March 2003 over suspected weapons of mass destruction and Rice’s role in making that argument (see GSN, Jan. 25). While praising her credentials, some Democrats charged Rice and other top officials with lying or purposely misleading the U.S. public and Congress regarding U.S. intelligence findings to argue there was an urgent Iraqi threat. Republicans accused her critics of “partisan politics.” Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said that Rice and other officials misled the public into thinking Iraq posed an imminent nuclear threat to the United States, while at the same time arguing that war was justified regardless of an imminent threat. Rice “took a position on the front lines of the administration’s efforts to hype the danger of [former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein]’s weapons of mass destruction,” he said. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said, “In her public statements, she clearly overstated and exaggerated the intelligence concerning Iraq before the war in order to support the president’s decision to initiate military action against Iraq. Since the Iraq effort has run into great difficulty, she has also attempted to revise history as to why we went into Iraq.” “I don’t like to impugn anyone’s integrity, but I really don’t like being lied to repeatedly, flagrantly, intentionally,” said Senator Mark Dayton (D-Minn.), in perhaps the strongest criticism of Rice. She “misled the people of Minnesota and Americans everywhere about the situation in Iraq, before and after that war began.” Byrd and other Democrats cited widely reported prewar public statements by Rice, such as, “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud” and “We do know that he is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon,” citing a shipment of aluminum tubes, “that really are only suited for nuclear weapons programs.” The suitability of the tubes for that purpose had been disputed within the intelligence community. Critics also charged Rice had implied an Iraqi connection to the Sept. 11 attacks. “Dr. Rice’s statements in 2002 were not only wrong, they also did not accurately reflect the intelligence reports of the time,” Byrd said. Byrd said that Iraq was not planning to attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction, and that that fact prompted the administration to apply a preventive war doctrine. “Under this strategy, the president lays claim to an expansive power, to use our military to strike other nations first even if we have not been threatened or provoked to do so,” he said. Rice, he said, “spoke out forcefully in favor of the dangerous doctrine of pre-emptive war” and said her confirmation “will almost certainly be viewed as another endorsement of the administration’s unconstitutional doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, its bullying policies of unilateralism, and its callous rejection of our longstanding allies.”   The CIA’s Iraq Survey Group report last October concluded that Iraq did not have banned weapons prior to the war nor weapons programs, having destroyed them years earlier, and did not aspire to attack the United States. ‘Partisan Politics’ Republicans and some senior Democrats defended Rice’s nomination. Senator John Warner (R-Va.) said he found “the personal attacks on her character and integrity … somewhat astonishing … particularly as it relates to her lifetime dedication to what we call here in the Senate the standards for truthfulness.” The essence of criticism of Rice, he said, “was that she has been less than truthful. It turned in large measure on this issue of weapons of mass destruction,” and Warner said he was assured by then Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet that “without a doubt” Iraqi weapons of mass destruction would be discovered after the invasion. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) also faulted prewar intelligence, saying, “The truth is, we were all misled by this erroneous intelligence, and rather than point the finger of blame where no blame is due, what we ought to be about — and, indeed, what we have been doing — is correcting the reasons for that failure and making sure that it never happens again.” “I think our former director of the CIA is getting a bad rap here,” said Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.), who today voted for Rice after expressing reservations. Biden also said though he did not believe Rice had lied, but rather, that she had been misleading with characterizations about intelligence. Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said today senators who had accused Rice of lying were being “political and personal.” Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio), who voted to confirm, said “the administration has not been as candid and forthright with us during the last couple of years” and urged “more candor from this administration during the next four years.” Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) gave an unreserved endorsement of Rice, and said “the key architects” of administration foreign policy “were, in fact, the president, the vice president, and the secretary of defense.” “Barring serious questions about a nominee’s integrity and ability to serve, a president deserves to have his selections confirmed,” she said. Preventive War Debate Persists Cornyn praised the administration’s preventive war doctrine, and said its utility was demonstrated by Israel’s attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor in the early 1980s. “The fact that Israel continues to exist today was in part because its leaders had the wisdom and courage to take on a growing threat by the use of pre-emptive action — sometimes called preventive self-defense — whenever it was necessary,” he said. Cornyn, also invoking the ISG report, argued that even in hindsight Iraq had posed a potential threat.  He quoted a conclusion in the report that, “Saddam wanted to recreate Iraq’s WMD capability — which was essentially destroyed in 1991 — after sanctions were removed and Iraq’s economy stabilized.” “It is beyond debate that Saddam continued to have the intent to acquire WMD and there is little doubt that but for our intervention and the fact that he was pulled from a spider hole and put in prison awaiting future accountability at the hands of the Iraqi people that he would have fully reconstituted his program just as soon as he was able,” he said. In addition to desiring such weapons, Cornyn suggested, Hussein sought such weapons for aggression. “In the aftermath of the attacks of Sept. 11, President Bush decided, with the authorization of Congress at every turn, that if diplomacy would not yield a pacified Saddam, that if the U.N. declined to enforce its own resolutions requiring inspections and disarmament, we would, when necessary, use pre-emptive action against those who seek to harm America and those who threaten world peace and supply sanctuary to terrorists,” he said.  Byrd during his speech argued that while the U.S. intelligence community had judged Iraq to possess certain weapons of mass destruction, it did not consider probable that Hussein intended to use such weapons offensively against the United States. He cited declassified excerpts from an October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate that said the intelligence community had “low confidence” that Iraq “would use weapons of mass destruction,” “engage in clandestine attacks against the U.S. Homeland,” or “if sufficiently desperate,” because his regime was threatened, might share chemical or biological weapons with al-Qaeda. “The intelligence community had already addressed this scenario with great skepticism. …This is yet more evidence of an [administration] abuse of intelligence in order to build the case for an unprovoked war with Iraq,” Byrd said. The ISG report, following research and interviews of senior Iraqi officials during the ongoing U.S. occupation, concluded Hussein did not intend to attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction and “did not consider the United States a natural adversary.” Back to top       United Kingdom to Create Decontamination Service The British government yesterday announced plans to create a new service to aid in the decontamination of buildings and the environment from WMD agents (see GSN, Jan. 21). The new service will aid organizations in developing and testing decontamination plans, assess the ability of private companies to conduct decontamination efforts, ensure access to those services, and advise the government on creating a national decontamination capability, according to a statement released by the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. “The new Decontamination Service will have a U.K.-wide remit to help those responsible for clearing up after a CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear] incident, such as local authorities, to make sure they have considered and planned for decontamination,” Environment Minister Elliot Morley said in the press release. “It will also ensure that if there were an incident involving CBRN, authorities would be able to call upon a carefully assessed panel of specialist companies to carry out the decontamination operations,” he added (British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs release, Jan. 25). The British Royal Society praised the initiative, but said officials should consider expanding the service’s mandate. “The Society believes that such a service should also encompass the detection of CBRN materials in the event of an incident because the two measures are so intrinsically linked. Quickly and accurately establishing the nature of a release is essential to deciding what decontaminating steps need to be taken,” the science academy stated yesterday in a press release. “In addition, the service is limiting itself to the decontamination of buildings and the environment when easy access to expertise on the decontamination of people, animals and vehicles at the scene of an incident is also needed” (Royal Society release, Jan. 25). Back to top       DOD Seeking Integrated Approach to WMD Defense Acting U.S. Defense Department acquisition chief Michael Wynne has directed the Defense Science Board to prepare a new draft “architecture” to integrate Pentagon efforts to develop WMD defenses, InsideDefense.com reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 23, 2004). The project is expected to begin next month and to be completed by September, according to InsideDefense.com. For each type of weapon, the plan would include means of detecting, disarming and destroying devices as well as responding to the aftermath of a WMD incident (Jason Sherman, InsideDefense.com, Jan. 25). Back to top

U.S. Sees Progress on Closing Russian Plutonium-Producing Reactors, Energy Official Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — With the awarding late last month of a contract to refurbish an electrical power plant in the Russian city of Seversk, the U.S. Energy Department has made significant progress on a project to shut down three Russian nuclear reactors that produce weapon-grade plutonium, a department official said yesterday (see GSN, June 7, 2004). Awarding the $265 million contract to the U.S. firm Washington Group International was “critical” to the project’s successful completion, the official said. The three reactors — two located in the closed city of Seversk and one in the closed city of Zheleznogorsk — have been deemed by U.S. congressional auditors to pose a “serious proliferation threat” for annually producing a total of up to 1.2 metric tons of weapon-grade plutonium. Such material is enough for as many as 300 nuclear weapons annually, according to the Government Accountability Office. In addition, the reactors have been operating well in excess of their original estimated service life of 20 years and could pose environmental risks. Under the contract, Washington Group International will manage the refurbishment of a coal-fired electrical power plant in Seversk to allow Russia to shut down the two reactors located there while continuing to provide heat and electricity to residents of the Siberian city. On the Russian side, the Rosatomstroi firm and various Russian subcontractors will carry out the project. The United States and Russia have developed a “quid pro quo” agreement by which progress made in providing replacement heat- and power-generating capabilities is matched by progress in shutting down the reactors, the Energy Department official said. The Seversk coal plant is expected to be completely refurbished by 2009, though early progress could result in the closing of one of the reactors in 2007, the official added. “In fact, as a result of this contract, work has already been initiated at this site,” the official said in a written response to Global Security Newswire. The United States is also aiding the construction of a new fossil-fueled energy plant to replace the power generated by the reactor at Zheleznogorsk. That project is expected to be completed by 2011, the Energy Department official said. The U.S. firm Raytheon Technical Services Co. was chosen in 2003 to review the Russian preliminary design for the planned Zheleznogorsk fossil fuel plant. While the original cost for the reactor shutdown project has been previously estimated to be $466 million, some Energy Department officials have estimated the actual cost running to as much as $1 billion, according to the GAO. Back to top       House Panel Recommends Nonproliferation Measures By Marina Malenic Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A U.S. House of Representatives panel today released a report recommending that Congress strengthen U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts by funding research and development of detection equipment and proliferation-resistant nuclear technologies, as well as emphasizing flexible, bilateral cooperation with allies over broad-based international organizations and treaties (see GSN, Jan. 20). National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairwoman Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) said that the panel supports “strengthening treaties and international mechanisms, while recognizing that treaties alone are not the answer.” “International organizations and the bureaucracies they give rise to are not the best way to deal with these issues,” she said.  Instead, Wilson said the panel recommended working jointly with like-minded countries on a less formal basis to disrupt illicit trafficking of nuclear materials and technologies. “Ad-hoc, bilateral methods like the Proliferation Security Initiative are more flexible and more likely to yield results,” she added, referring to the U.S. program to sign pacts with other nations allowing for interdiction of suspected shipments of weapons of mass destruction on the high seas. The initiative is largely credited with helping to expose the trafficking network of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The report also urges Congress to fund domestic programs for development of proliferation-resistant nuclear energy technologies, as well as sensors and other real-time detection equipment. Other funding priorities listed in the report include strengthening U.S. intelligence capabilities and providing international assistance for export and border controls. The panel supported continued U.S. funding for Cooperative Threat Reduction activities to eliminate weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union. However, Wilson noted that several of her colleagues expressed concern about such efforts because funds can be difficult to monitor (see GSN, Jan. 18). “The concern I hear most from my colleagues is, ‘Is this money well spent?’” she said. “And there are some legitimate criticisms about diversion of funds for other purposes.” “There are some folks that want the kind of accountability that you get with any U.S. government program. … That’s sometimes hard to do when you’re dealing with a foreign government,” Wilson added. Still, the panel largely supported continued funding of such programs, according to Wilson. “There are some people who think we shouldn’t do any of this unless there is a good audit trail … but sometimes it is still worth it and you can still achieve results,” she said. Back to top       U.S. Senate Committee OKs Energy Nominee By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved unanimously on a voice vote the nomination of Samuel Bodman to head the Energy Department (see GSN, Jan. 20). Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said he expects the full Senate to “soon” approve the nomination. President George W. Bush nominated the deputy treasury secretary Dec. 10 to replace current Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Committee Democratic spokesman Bill Wicker said yesterday that he expected the full Senate to confirm Bodman “very quickly.” Wicker said he knew of no plans to delay or oppose the nomination on the Senate floor. Former Energy Undersecretary Ernest Moniz yesterday expressed support for Bush’s choice. “I’m very encouraged by it,” Moniz said in a telephone interview from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is a physics professor and where, in the late 1960s, Bodman was a professor of chemical engineering. Bodman brings experience, talent and strong support for science and technology, Moniz said. “The issue where he has the least experience is, in fact, the security area,” said Moniz, adding that there are indications Bodman plans to focus heavily on nonproliferation during his term as secretary. Appearing before the committee last week, Bodman expressed his intent to continue what he called ongoing improvements both to the U.S. nuclear-weapon complex and Washington’s nonproliferation programs. Domenici said today that although the department’s operations are diverse enough that any nominee could be accused of lacking the proper background, “what we have here is a real probability that this man has the credentials.” Back to top       EU Powers Make No Progress on Iran Diplomacy, According to Meeting Summary Documents The European powers have made no progress in persuading Iran to dismantle its uranium enrichment program, according to a confidential summary of talks obtained yesterday by the Associated Press (see GSN, Jan. 25). “Iran recognizes explicitly that its fuel-cycle program cannot be justified on economic grounds,” the document says, acknowledging Washington’s position that oil-rich Iran has no economic need for a nuclear energy program. The Europeans, however, have been unable to press Iran to permanently halt its enrichment-related activities. “The two positions cannot coexist,” said one Western European diplomat. “If the impasse cannot be resolved, then there will be no solution” (George Jahn, Associated Press/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jan. 25). Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer yesterday said that added cooperation between United States and European powers could help to resolve the Iranian nuclear situation, Agence France-Presse reported. “We have to make progress in the diplomatic efforts,” Fischer said before meeting with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and his expected replacement, Condoleezza Rice. Fischer added that the United States and the Europeans “are not very far apart” in their views on the dangers of a potentially nuclear-armed Iran. “I think if we can bring forward diplomacy in a closely coordinated manner between Europe and the United States, this would be an important step forward,” he added. “For us it is important that we do all we can to bring together the positions in an intense dialogue across the Atlantic so that we can make diplomatic progress” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Jan. 25). Elsewhere, Iran said it would initiate an “astonishing” retaliation to any attack by Israel or the United States, AFP reported. “We will counter any stupid action by Israel and its master with firmness and in an astonishing way,” Revolutionary Guards Brig. Gen. Mohammad-Ali Jafari told the Shargh newspaper (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 26). Back to top       Qadhafi Urges North Korea to End Nuclear Drive Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi met with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon yesterday and encouraged North Korea to follow Tripoli’s example of renouncing weapons of mass destruction, the Yonhap news agency reported (see GSN, Jan. 25). “The North Korean nuclear problem is a serious and dangerous issue and ... North Korea and Iran should take the same measures Libya took,” Ban quoted Qadhafi as saying during the meeting in Tripoli. Ban said Qadhafi told him that, once North Korea gives up its pursuit of atomic weapons, the international community should help Pyongyang develop a peaceful nuclear program. “I explained that if the North gives up nuclear weapons, we’re going to provide it with economic and energy assistance and a multilateral security guarantee,” Ban said. Ban said he also delivered an invitation from President Roh Moo-hyun for Qadhafi to visit Seoul, and the Libyan leader said he would do so at an “appropriate time,” according to Yonhap (Yonhap, Jan. 26). Back to top       Egypt Admits Failure to Report Past Nuclear Work Egypt yesterday acknowledged that it had not fully informed the International Atomic Energy Agency about past nuclear experiments, but reiterated that its nuclear program was peaceful, according to Reuters (see GSN, Jan. 25). “The difference in interpreting some aspects of the safeguards agreement ... led to a failure to inform the IAEA about some experiments and research activities which were undertaken and which are allowed to be undertaken,” the official Middle East News Agency said, citing an Egyptian official. “This issue is being dealt with to settle it through complete cooperation and transparency between Egypt and the IAEA, and Egypt is showing good intentions in dealing with the agency in this regard,” MENA said. The U.N. agency sent inspectors to examine an Egyptian plutonium reprocessing plant after determining that scientists in the country had performed undeclared experiments involving uranium, according to Western diplomats (Reuters, Jan. 25). Back to top

Florida Could Be Model for Readiness, Officials Say Florida has emerged at the forefront of bioterrorism preparedness since the 2001 anthrax attacks killed one worker and infected two others at the American Media building in Boca Raton, the Christian Science Monitor reported today (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2004). The Trust for America’s Health, an independent research group in Washington, last year assessed states’ public-health readiness in 10 categories. Both Florida and North Carolina received high marks in nine of the 10 categories, according to the Monitor. Florida scored highly largely because of its strong public-health infrastructure, said Florida Health Secretary John Agwunobi. “I’m pleased this recognizes the work we’ve done, but it isn’t something that allows us to sit back because we are still nowhere near where we want to be,” Agwunobi said. The state’s five-year public-health plan calls for additional resources against bioterrorism, officials said. In the event of a WMD attack, Florida hospitals have the capacity to treat 500 people per 1 million of population, and can admit 50 per 1 million. Spending on public health has increased from $1.73 billion in fiscal 2000 to $2.17 billion in fiscal 2005, the Monitor reported. Florida has also created an Internet-based instant-warning system that allows doctors and health workers to report suspicious disease symptoms to the state’s entire medical community. The state’s disease reporting requirements are among the strictest in the country, according to the Monitor (Richard Luscombe, Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 26). Back to top

Colorado Senators Look to Block DOD Study of Relocating State’s Chemical Weapons Stockpile The U.S. senators from Colorado said they planned to introduce legislation today blocking the study of chemical weapons relocation, in an effort to prevent Colorado’s stockpile from being shipped to another location for destruction, according to a press release (see GSN, Jan. 24). The Defense Department earlier this month directed the Army to consider options to help the United States meet its 2012 treaty deadline to fully eliminate its chemical weapons. Among the alternatives to be studied is moving some munitions to already-constructed chemical weapon destruction facilities. Stockpiles at Pueblo, Colo,, and Blue Grass, Ky., are seen as most likely to be moved as budget problems could delay construction of disposal facilities at those sites until 2011. Senators Wayne Allard (R) and Ken Salazar (D) said the Defense Department’s Jan. 10 directive conflicts with a commitment they received from Pentagon officials last week that destruction would occur at Pueblo. The public announcement of the study came one day after the senators’ meeting with the Pentagon officials. “It is extremely disturbing to me that the Pentagon would study the possibility of relocating the Pueblo’s chemical weapon stockpile after the Pentagon assured Senator Salazar and myself last week that such an option was unrealistic, not to mention illegal,” Allard said in a press release issued yesterday by his office. The three-month Army study is set to cost $150,000, the press release states. Three prior studies conducted over the past 20 years determined that chemical weapons relocation was impractical, the Allard press release states. “Studying whether to relocate the stockpile is an incredible waste of time and scarce defense dollars,” Allard said in the release. “The money should be used to pay for the rising cost of disposing of these weapons, not a meaningless intellectual exercise.” Added Salazar: “We believe we were given a good faith commitment last week that the destruction of the weapons would continue at Pueblo using the water neutralization technology agreed upon and that the munitions would not be transferred elsewhere. While we wait for the promised clarification on these matters, Senator Allard and I believe it is necessary to emphasize our resolve. This legislation helps provide that emphasis” (Senator Wayne Allard press release, Jan. 25). A spokeswoman said Allard planned to introduce the bill today on the Senate floor. If passed into law, the study prohibition would override the Defense Department directive, acknowledged Greg Mahall, a spokesman for the Army’s Chemical Materials Agency. “The Army is an executor of orders. The ultimate giver of orders is Congress. If this bill becomes law the Army is going to salute the flag and follow the law,” Mahall said (Chris Schneidmiller, Global Security Newswire, Jan. 26). Meanwhile, Richmond, Ky. city commissioners yesterday unanimously voted to outlaw shipment of nerve or blister agents within the city, the Lexington-Herald Leader reported. The nearby Blue Grass Army Depot holds 523 tons of mustard, sarin and VX agents. Richmond sits between the depot and Interstate 75. While the ordinance probably is not enforceable, it is “highly valuable as a symbolic gesture,” said City Attorney Garrett Fowles. Police Chief Robert Stephens said it would be “hard for my officers to stop an Army truck.” “We do what the government tells us to do,” he said (Peter Mathews, Lexington Herald-Leader, Jan. 26). In Arkansas, residents and officials gathered Monday at the Pine Bluff Arsenal to express their concerns that site’s soon-to-open incinerator might end up with another depot’s stockpile, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. “We were told we were stuck with these rockets because they can’t be shipped safely,” White Hall Mayor James Morgan told Army representatives. “After hearing that argument for years, you’re going to have to do a whole lot of convincing.” Some residents said they wish they had fought incineration of weapons the way the residents of Colorado and Kentucky did. Pueblo and Blue Grass have been designated to use neutralization technology to eliminate munitions. “Basically they put up a pretty good fight, and we didn’t,” said Sam Mayhew of White Hall. Other residents were less concerned about potential arms relocation. “I don’t believe the Army or the U.S. government would do something to put us in jeopardy here in White Hall, Ark.,” Leroy LeNarz said (Austin Gelder, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Jan. 25). In Oregon, another potential destination for other states’ chemical stockpiles, two state permits now bar the Umatilla Chemical Depot from accepting additional chemical weapons, said Dennis Murphey, who oversees Umatilla for Oregon’s Environmental Quality Department. Murphey said he would “vigorously recommend” against altering the bans, the Oregonian reported. “I’m hoping that this is something that will go no further” than being studied, he said. While not taking it lightly, state Senator David Nelson said the Pentagon’s proposal “is probably a trial balloon somebody floated out there to gauge public opinion” (Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian, Jan. 25). Back to top       Workers Discover Old Tank of VX at Newport Depot A tank containing 20 gallons of VX nerve agent turned up last week during dismantlement of a former VX production plant at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, U.S. Army officials said (see GSN, Jan. 25). Workers discovered the tank on Jan. 19, and testing conducted over the weekend confirmed it contained VX, according to the Associated Press. The container was moved to concrete bunkers at the depot that already hold 1,269 tons of the nerve agent. None of the workers who discovered the tank were exposed to VX and none of the liquid was released into the environment, said depot commander Lt. Col. Scott Kimmell (Associated Press, Jan. 25). “We have plans in place for situations like this,” he said in a statement yesterday (Newport Chemical Depot release, Jan. 25). Back to top

Purported “Dirty Bomb” Plot a Hoax, FBI Says The FBI yesterday said that purported “dirty bomb” plot against Boston was a hoax, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Jan. 25). “There were, in fact, no terrorist plans or activity under way,” the bureau said in a statement. “Because the criminal investigation is ongoing, no further details can be provided at this time.” The Mexican federal Attorney General’s office stated yesterday that Jose Ernesto Beltran Quinones, who had been wanted for questioning in connection to the purported plot, had admitting making the fake threat earlier this month, AP reported. Beltran was under the influence of alcohol and drugs and said the call had only been meant as a “joke,” the statement said (Brian Carovillano, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 26). News of the potential threat against Boston created a stir over several days, and raises the question of when it is appropriate for authorities to release such information and when they should remain close-mouthed while investigating reports, the Washington Post “Every day there comes to the various agencies within the U.S. government hundreds — thousands — of reports of everything from Martians having landed in Nevada to someone who just had a conversation with Elvis to terrorists coming with a nuclear bomb to Boston,” said former Assistant Defense Secretary Graham Allison. “It’s one of those situations where you’re kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” said Allison, now at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (Denise Lavoie, Associated Press/Washington Post, Jan. 26).   Back to top

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