U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran today at European Union headquarters in Brussels (AFP photo/Thierry Monasse). Iran Should Not Use European Talks to Avoid U.N. Security Council, Rice Warns U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that Iran cannot use negotiations with the European Union to indefinitely ward off U.N. Security Council consideration of Iran’s nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 8)...Full Story

U.S. Has Up To 480 Nukes in Europe, Study Says A new report declares that the United States has as many as 480 nuclear weapons spread across eight air bases in Europe, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 7)...Full Story

Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Needs Additional Safeguards, Treaty Review Conference Head Says Existing safeguards under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty should be supplemented by additional measures, the Brazilian official expected to lead the May review conference on the pact said Monday (see GSN, Feb. 3)...Full Story

	Wednesday, February 9, 2005

Terror Plots Have Been Blocked, U.K. Official Says Authorities have blocked planned terrorist attacks against the United Kingdom, British Home Secretary Charles Clarke said yesterday, according to the London Independent (see GSN, Jan. 27). While he acknowledged that faulty information on prewar Iraq’s WMD programs has impaired the perceived value of intelligence, Clarke said anyone who doubts that al-Qaeda could attack the United Kingdom is “living in a dream world in which there’s no reality.” “Events around the weapons of mass destruction issue in Iraq have led to a skepticism about the quality of intelligence on important matters,” he told the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. “I don’t think that is fair.” Clarke defended his proposed antiterrorism “control orders,” which could require suspects to be placed under house arrest without a trial. It is “very unlikely” that more than 100 people would be forced to stay home, he said, according to the Independent. Clarke said he is looking into additional antiterror legislation (Morris/Woolf, London Independent, Feb. 9). Back to top

U.S., Russia Should Strengthen Cooperation Against Terrorism, WMD Proliferation, Experts Say While relations between Russia and the United States are “asymmetrical” due to overwhelming U.S. influence in the world, closer work with Moscow on preventing WMD proliferation is essential, a panel of Russian and U.S. experts said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 25). Experts from the Carnegie Moscow Center and Politika Foundation released a report recommending the creation of a Joint Intelligence Committee to increase security cooperation on terrorism and nonproliferation issues, ITAR-Tass reported. “We are living in a new reality,” said Vyacheslav Nikonov of the Politika Foundation. “Differences do not preclude cooperation,” Nikonov added (Alexander Alexandrov, ITAR-TASS, Feb. 9). Back to top       New Chief Named for Defense Threat Reduction Agency A U.S. Defense Department official working at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque has been chosen to head the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, according to a DoD press release issued yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 17, 2004). “The appointment of Jim Tegnelia as the director of DTRA is another significant step in transforming how we defend against the threat of weapons of mass destruction. He brings exceptional talent, skills and management experience to this new role and responsibility,” Dale Klein, assistant to the defense secretary for nuclear and chemical and biological defense programs, said in the press release. Tegnelia is vice president for Defense Department programs at Sandia, and has served as chairman of the Army Science Board and as co-chairman of the Sandia National Security Advisory Board. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has about 1,890 civilian and military employees and an annual budget of more than $2.6 million, according to the press release. It works to reduce the international WMD danger through threat control, threat reduction, combat support and technology development (U.S. Defense Department release, Feb. 8). Back to top

Iran Should Not Use European Talks to Avoid U.N. Security Council, Rice Warns U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that Iran cannot use negotiations with the European Union to indefinitely ward off U.N. Security Council consideration of Iran’s nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 8). “The Iranians need to hear that if they are unwilling to take the deal, really, that the Europeans are giving ... then the Security Council referral looms,” she said while on her eight-nation diplomatic trip. “I don’t know that anyone has said that as clearly as they should to the Iranians.” “They need to hear that the discussions that they are in with the Europeans are not going to be a kind of way station where they are allowed to continue their activities; that there’s going to be an end to this and that they are going to end up in the Security Council” (Anne Gearan, Associated Press/Times-Picayune, Feb. 9). France, Germany and the United Kingdom need U.S. diplomatic support in persuading Iran to give up its nuclear program, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told Rice yesterday. “We need Russia, we need China, and we also need the support of the United States in this delicate phase,” Barnier said. “We are proceeding with our eyes open in these negotiations, as the vanguard of the international community,” he added (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 8). German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said today Iran could be “on the winning side in a new Middle East” if it adopts democratic reforms and accepts a settlement on its nuclear program, AFP reported. “This is a situation where the nation could be on the winning side in a new Middle East if substantial reforms are moving forward, if the country’s opening for trade,” he said. “We try to convince by diplomatic means [that Iran] should go for [its] long-term interests and not miscalculate” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Feb. 9). Back to top       U.S. Has Up To 480 Nukes in Europe, Study Says A new report declares that the United States has as many as 480 nuclear weapons spread across eight air bases in Europe, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 7). A senior military official in Europe, however, said the number was “around 200” and had been “significantly reduced” in the last few years. The National Resources Defense Council based its figure on recently declassified documents, commercial satellite imagery and other documents, the Times reported. The organization determined the short-range B-61 bombs — which can be dropped by fighter aircraft — were being kept under U.S. control at eight bases in Germany, The United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Turkey and the Netherlands. The accuracy of the report’s estimate is “in the ballpark,” according to a former senior U.S. officer in Europe. In June 2004, NATO reported that the U.S. nuclear arsenal in Europe had remained steady for more than 10 years, meaning any changes are likely to have occurred in recent months, according to the Times. Maintaining a sizable nuclear presence in Europe hinders international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, the National Resources Defense Council argued in the report. It notes that thousands of long-range U.S. missiles could be used to hit any target within minutes, the Times reported. U.S. nuclear weapons are maintained in Europe to support NATO’s mission to “maintain peace and stability in the region,” said Capt. Curry Graham, spokesman for the U.S. European Command. Military officials have previously said that the weapons could be used to deter the threat of a rogue nation such as Iran or Syria from using unconventional weaponry. “Militarily, you can’t rule something out like a biological threat, so this capability has not been taken off the table,” the retired U.S. officer said. U.S. officials have no plans to remove the nuclear weapons, the senior officer said. “Some allies and U.S. military see a lot of value in going to zero,” he said. “That said, some allies and U.S. military see value in at least keeping some capability” (Eric Schmitt, New York Times, Feb. 9). Back to top       Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Needs Additional Safeguards, Treaty Review Conference Head Says Existing safeguards under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty should be supplemented by additional measures, the Brazilian official expected to lead the May review conference on the pact said Monday (see GSN, Feb. 3). “There is not much confidence among the parties in the ability of the treaty to deal with the questions that it should deal with,” Sergio Duarte, Brazil’s ambassador on disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation, told the Yomiuri Shimbun. “There is a widespread concern among the parties to the treaty that the existing regime of safeguards should be supplemented by further steps, further safeguard mechanisms.” Duarte said he hoped the New York meeting would end with a recommendation that all treaty members sign the Additional Protocol to their International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreements, which would allow for more intrusive inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog. As North Korea has declared it is pursuing nuclear weapons and no longer abides by the treaty, Duarte said that situation was “a much more difficult problem” than the international standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. He added that North Korea’s case could be brought to the U.N. Security Council if the six-party talks fail (Yoshikazu Shirakawa, Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri Online, Feb. 9). Back to top       U.S. Asks China to Pressure North Korea on Nuclear Program, Presents Evidence on Uranium Sales U.S. President George W. Bush sent an envoy to China last week to urge President Hu Jintao to intensify diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang to relinquish its nuclear ambitions, in the wake of findings that North Korea was the probable source of uranium that ended up in Libya’s now-defunct nuclear program, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 7). National Security Council official Michael Green delivered a letter from Bush to Hu that “was written to underscore the greatly heightened urgency” of the problem, said a U.S. official. Chinese officials in turn promised to send a delegation to Pyongyang later this month, while discouraging Bush from making public pronouncements about the North Korean situation, Asian officials said. Bush made only a brief reference to the nuclear standoff in last week’s State of the Union address. “The Chinese advised that we not demonstrate to the North how anxious everyone is about this,” said one senior Asian diplomat involved in the six-party talks with North Korea. “But the Chinese also seemed surprised by the quality of the scientific evidence.” The new intelligence is the first concrete evidence that Pyongyang, in addition to possibly developing nuclear weapons with enriched uranium, may have sold processed uranium to other countries, the Times reported. Washington wants to make sure China remains on its side of the issue if the talks fail, one North Korea expert said. “This is part of a strategy by the Bush administration to get China much more active on an issue that the administration has struggled with, and recognizes is now going on to the front burner,” said Kurt Campbell of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Sanger/Broad, New York Times, Feb. 9). Back to top       Russia Scraps Akula-Class Nuclear Submarine Russia used U.S. threat reduction funds to recycle an Akula-class ballistic missile submarine at the Sevmash defense shipyard in Severodvinsk, ITAR-Tass reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 3). “The hull of the submarine was cut into pieces for scrap, and the three-sectional unit consisting of the reactor section and two adjoining sections has been prepared, in line with the procedure for submarine recycling, to be transported by sea to a temporary storage base in the Kola Peninsula,” the shipyard’s spokesman said. Six Akula-class heavy nuclear-powered submarines, each capable of carrying 20 ballistic missiles — were built at the Sevmash shipyard in the 1970s and 1980s (ITAR-Tass/BBC Monitoring, Feb. 8). Back to top

Radar, Training Problems Seen in Downing of U.S. Fighter Jet by Patriot Missile, Report Finds Inadequate training of Patriot missile crews and persistent radar problems with the system may have contributed to the friendly fire downing of a U.S. fighter jet during the Iraq war, the Boston Globe reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2004). U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan White was killed in the April 2, 2003, incident. A report last year by U.S. Central Command determined that the Patriot missile battery had misidentified his F/A-18 fighter jet as an Iraqi missile. Radar system displays, including those used by the Patriot system, are known at times to show “false tracks” — indicators of potential targets that don’t actually exist. The false tracks can be caused by sandstorms, equipment troubles or electromagnetic interference from other radars, the Globe reported. Patriot crews in the 2003 Iraq invasion experienced “numerous spurious” missile tracks, according to a redacted copy of the friendly fire report obtained by the Globe. White’s plane apparently became mixed up with one of those tracks, which Patriot personnel had not been trained to expect. The tactical director for the Patriot system that fired on White failed to perform adequate checks to confirm the target, the report states. Additional information would have shown that the jet was not flying like a missile. Members of the Patriot team “had a limited understanding” of how ballistic missiles appear on radar screens, and did not fully know the system’s launch modes, classification methods or how to work when communications were poor, according to the report. “Systems and training deficiencies with the Patriot were the primary cause of the incident,” Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, wrote in a memo, the Globe reported. This incident and the deaths of two British fliers in another Patriot friendly fire downing during the invasion indicate the need for improved tactics and procedures for using the system, according to Abizaid. The U.S. Army and Patriot manufacturer Raytheon Co. have been working to eliminate false tracks since the 1991 Gulf War. The company installed new software in the antimissile systems before the 2003 invasion, to little effect, one soldier said in the report. Raytheon supports the report’s findings, a spokesman said, adding only that “we are confident that the Patriot system performed as designed” (Ross Kerber, Boston Globe, Feb. 8).   Back to top

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