U.S. President George W. Bush (shown yesterday) may be willing to offer Iran incentives to end its nuclear program (AFP photo/Brendan Smialowski). United States Likely to Coordinate With EU on Iran Incentives Plan, Officials Say There are growing indications that U.S. President George W. Bush is willing to support offering an incentives package in hopes of persuading Iran to end its nuclear work, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, March 2)...Full Story

Bunker Buster Would Not Contain Blast, Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A nuclear weapon modified for earth-penetration that the Bush administration is seeking funding to study would not burrow far enough into the earth to contain its blast, a senior Energy Department official said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 17)...Full Story

North Korea Threatens to Resume Missile Tests North Korea yesterday indicated it might end its six-year suspension of long-range missile tests, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 2)...Full Story

	Thursday, March 3, 2005

U.S. Homeland Security Chief Sworn In After Announcing Review of Department’s Structure, Policies By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Ex-judge Michael Chertoff was sworn in here today as the second secretary of the U.S. Homeland Security Department, telling an audience of emergency responders and federal officials that defending the country against terrorism “has become the challenge and the calling of our generation” (see GSN, Feb. 16). The former federal judge and Justice Department Criminal Division chief struck a tone of continuity between predecessor Tom Ridge’s tenure and his own time atop the department. Ridge and his advisers did “a superb job,” Chertoff said. “My new leadership team and I will be standing on their shoulders and building on what they have accomplished,” he said. On the eve of the ceremony, however, Chertoff yesterday announced a “comprehensive review of the department’s organization, operations and policies.” “The terrorists who seek to attack us are not ready to concede defeat,” Chertoff said in testimony on the fiscal 2006 budget before the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee. “Rather, they appear determined to adapt their methods to create new threats to our homeland.  In order to meet this evolving threat, we must be willing and eager to think anew as well.” Homeland Security must “think creatively” about future terrorist attacks, Chertoff told the subcommittee. He stressed the importance of using “analysis of threats and risks” to “drive the structure, operations, policies and missions of the department” — an agency that has frequently been accused of acting, and particularly of spending, in a disorganized and haphazard fashion.  “We will analyze the threats and define our mission holistically and exhaustively, then seek to adapt the department to meet those threats and execute that mission,” Chertoff told the subcommittee. “We need to look at the entirety of the threat picture when calculating risk and implementing protections. … Our philosophy, our decision-making, our operational activities, and our spending must be grounded in risk management.” President George W. Bush introduced Chertoff at today’s ceremony, calling him an “able successor” to Ridge. “All of you in the department and the members of the Congress can be proud of the accomplishments and the progress that we have made” under Ridge, Bush said. Bush broadly outlined an agenda for the department that included further integration of its component agencies; more work to reduce the country’s vulnerabilities and to prepare for responding to attacks; faster development of “21st century” vaccines and treatments against the effects of chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological weapons; more cooperation with state and local officials; and a general continuation of “our historic investment in homeland security.” “Mike’s the right person to lead this department in this vital work,” Bush said. Bush also cited reports that terrorist kingpin Osama bin Laden may have instructed al-Qaeda’s leading operative in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to plan attacks in the United States (see GSN, March 1). “Mike Chertoff knows we cannot afford to become complacent,” the president said. Back to top       British Computer Expert Accused of Operating Terrorist Web Sites Appears at Extradition Hearing A British man accused of trying to recruit terrorists through several U.S.-based Web sites appeared in court yesterday in London for an extradition hearing, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Jan. 24). U.S. authorities are seeking the extradition of computer expert Babar Ahmad, who was indicted last fall in Connecticut on charges including supporting terrorism and conspiring to kill Americans, AP reported. Ahmad has been accused of operating Web sites that sought to recruit Islamic and Chechen militants. One of the sites requested “tens of thousands” of gas masks and WMD protective gear, AP reported (Associated Press, March 2). Back to top

Sensors Working, U.S. Security Officials Say By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — WMD sensors deployed in the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks are functioning correctly, Homeland Security Department officials said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 11). Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner told a Senate subcommittee that monitors at U.S. ports have detected radiation more than 10,000 times, while Homeland Security science chief Charles McQueary praised the performance of detectors used in cities around the country under the federal Biowatch program. Portal-style monitors at U.S. ports have registered “over 10,000 radiation hits,” Bonner told the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee. In all cases, he said, the monitors detected radiation from natural sources or other lawfully shipped materials, such as decorative tiles containing radioactive thorium. Bonner’s agency has installed about 400 detectors at U.S. ports and, according to a White House budget summary, requested $125 million for fiscal 2006 to purchase additional systems. Biowatch sensors, which are deployed in major cities to check the air for the presence of biological agents, have collected more than 2 million samples to date, McQueary said at a conference organized here by consulting firm Equity International’s Center for Homeland and Global Security. “We’ve had no false positives at any time. … We’ve actually had some detections, but we’ve had no false positives,” McQueary said without elaborating on what was detected. Avoiding false readings is important, he said, because “the public will not sit still for a large number of false positives.” McQueary called on citizens to remain vigilant to supplement technological capabilities. “Each and every human being in this country represents a sensor, a data processor and a communication channel,” he said. The Homeland Security undersecretary said his Science and Technology Directorate is spending about one-third of its fiscal 2005 funds on biological threats, since “time is of the essence in that area.” Among the special focuses of coming directorate research efforts are defending against coordinated biological attacks in different parts of the country, diseases that can spread from animals to humans and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, McQueary said. Fiscal 2006, McQueary said, is set to bring an increase in spending on technology to defend against radiological and nuclear threats, since “there is … a great deal more recognition that the country needs to move in this particular area.” Back to top       Bulgaria Agrees to Participate in PSI The Bulgarian government decided yesterday to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led effort to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo, according to the Bulgarian news agency BTA (see GSN, Nov. 30, 2004). The Bulgarian defense, foreign affairs and interior ministers have been directed to develop within two months a mechanism to coordinate the efforts of various government agencies in participating in the effort, BTA reported. The country’s Council of Ministers would have to approve the plan (BTA/BBC Monitoring, March 2). Back to top

United States Likely to Coordinate With EU on Iran Incentives Plan, Officials Say There are growing indications that U.S. President George W. Bush is willing to support offering an incentives package in hopes of persuading Iran to end its nuclear work, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, March 2). The White House could make an announcement this week, U.S. officials said. Under the plan, Washington would not interfere if Iran applies for World Trade Organization membership, nor would it block European sales to Tehran of civilian aircraft components, according to Reuters. The United States would demand that Iran abandon uranium enrichment as part of the deal, officials said. Some U.S. officials believe coordinating with Europe on an incentives strategy now could provide a united front for potential punitive measures if diplomacy fails, according to Reuters (Steve Holland, Reuters, March 2). Bush and his top foreign policy advisers are scheduled to meet today to discuss Iran, one day after a working lunch at the White House that included Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Stephen Hadley and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Los Angeles Times reported. “I’ve had further discussions with my European colleagues, and we are designing, I think, an important common strategy with Europe so that Iran knows there is no other way,” Rice said in an interview with NBC released yesterday (Tyler Marshall, Los Angeles Times, March 3). Officials in Tehran “can clearly detect a turning point in the policy of the Americans,” Iranian nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian told state television. “They will probably accept the European request to show more flexibility and support the negotiations process launched with Iran,” he said. Mousavian said he expected a change in U.S. policy “within one or two months” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, March 3). Meanwhile, Iran began pouring the concrete foundation for a 40-megawatt heavy-water nuclear reactor at Arak in September, diplomats with access to satellite imagery of the site said today. “The Iranians have clearly begun working on the foundations,” a diplomat told Agence France-Presse. International Atomic Energy Agency Deputy Director Pierre Goldschmidt said Tuesday that agency inspectors had not visited the site since the Board of Governors adopted a resolution in September calling on Iran “voluntarily to reconsider its decision to start construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water.” Reactor construction could be completed by 2009, according to AFP. While Tehran says the reactor is meant to make medical isotopes, experts have said it could be used to produce weapon-grade plutonium (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, March 3). Iran refuses to go beyond its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to prove that its nuclear work is peaceful, Mousavian said today, referring to IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei’s calls for extra transparency of the program (see GSN, March 2). ElBaradei “has no right to demand anything that goes beyond international rules,” Mousavian said.  “We are prepared to show active cooperation, total transparency, but our cooperation with the agency must remain within the NPT, its safeguard clauses, within the Additional Protocol, and not outside this framework,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, March 3). Elsewhere, Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, yesterday told lawmakers that Iran might have overlooked the regional strategic implications of its alleged nuclear weapons development. “You have to ask the question whether or not achieving a nuclear weapon doesn’t invite attack by one of the regional powers,” he said. “And so the question for a military person should be is a nuclear-armed Iran more stable or less stable in the regional context. And it’s my view that it is less stable.” While Abizaid did not name any specific nation, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said in January that Israel might attack Iran rather than allow it to develop a nuclear weapon (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 2). Back to top       Bunker Buster Would Not Contain Blast, Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A nuclear weapon modified for earth-penetration that the Bush administration is seeking funding to study would not burrow far enough into the earth to contain its blast, a senior Energy Department official said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 17). Nor is it intended to, National Nuclear Security Administration head Linton Brooks said, adding that the administration was “imprecise” if it had conveyed that impression. The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator’s (RNEP) hardened shell, which the White House hopes to field test next year, is intended to provide a few meters of deeper penetration in order to project its force deeper for striking enemy facilities far underground, Brooks told a House Armed Services subcommittee. “Is there any way an RNEP of any size that we would drop will not produce a huge amount of radioactive debris?” Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) asked. “No, there’s not,” Brooks said. “I really must apologize for my lack of precision if we in the administration have suggested that it was possible to have a bomb that penetrated far enough to trap all fallout,” he added. “I don’t believe the laws of physics will ever let that be true.  It is certainly not what we’re trying to do now.  What we are trying to get in the ground is far enough so that the energy goes deep into the ground to hold at risk the deeply buried facilities,” he said. Congress last year eliminated funding for the study in the current fiscal year. Critics charge that the bunker buster and other Bush administration nuclear weapons programs are not well considered and could be counterproductive to U.S. nonproliferation efforts. The White House has requested $8.5 million to resume studying the bunker buster in fiscal 2006. Desire for Increased Usability Denied Critics have questioned whether the administration seeks deeper penetration in part to allow for better containment of the weapon’s blast and fallout, thereby making it a more usable against enemy facilities near populated areas. Tauscher said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the committee last month that the RNEP study is “taking existing weapons and doing a study to see if they can be reduced in their power, lethality, to a level that is lower than the current weapons.” The goal of reduced surface destruction was also stated in the administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, a roadmap of its aims for transforming U.S. strategic capabilities, excerpts of which were leaked and published in early 2002. While noting limitations to the blast-projecting capability of the country’s existing earth-penetrating nuclear weapon, the B61 Mod 11 gravity bomb, the review also said: “With a more effective earth penetrator, many buried targets could be attacked using a weapon with a much lower yield than would be required with a surface burst weapon. This lower yield would achieve the same damage while producing less fallout (by a factor of ten to twenty) than would the much larger yield surface burst.” The review called for developing such new capabilities by 2007 and deploying them by 2012. It said the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator study “will identify whether an existing warhead in a 5,000 pound class penetrator would provide significantly enhanced earth penetration capabilities compared to the B61 Mod 11.” Brooks said at the hearing that the earth penetrator study is not intended to examine the consequences of reducing the yield of the weapon. “We are not looking at changing the yield of the physics package,” he said.  He said further that the weapon would not be significantly less destructive than others in the arsenal, and would not make a president’s decision to use it easier. “There is a nuclear weapon. There is a nuclear weapon that is going to be hugely destructive over a large area.  No sane person would use a weapon like that lightly,” he said. “I do want to make it clear that any thought of [any] sort of nuclear weapons that aren’t really destructive is just nuts,” he said. Tauscher said a 10-kiloton U.S. nuclear weapons test in 1970, called the Baneberry test, did not contain the explosion and produced a 10,000-foot fallout cloud, even though the weapon was buried at the bottom of a sealed 900-foot shaft. The B83 warhead currently is the largest deployed U.S. warhead, reportedly having a yield of one to two megatons, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Back to top       North Korea Threatens to Resume Missile Tests North Korea yesterday indicated it might end its six-year suspension of long-range missile tests, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 2). A report by the official Korean Central News Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry statement as saying North Korea was no longer bound by a testing moratorium reached during nonproliferation talks with the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1999. “There is now no binding force for us on the moratorium on missile testing,” the Korean-language report said. “We are not legally bound by an international treaty, or anything else on the missile issue.” Pyongyang also demanded an apology for being labeled an “outpost of tyranny” and a member of the “axis of evil” that also included Iran and Iraq under Saddam Hussein. “The U.S. should apologize for [its] above-said remarks and withdraw them, renounce its hostile policy aimed at a regime change in D.P.R.K. and clarify its political willingness to co-exist with D.P.R.K. in peace and show it in practice," the report said. An English-language version of the KCNA report, however, did not mention missile tests and suggested instead North Korea’s potential return to six-party talks on its nuclear program “if the U.S. takes a trustworthy and sincere attitude.” The place for Pyongyang’s request for an apology is nuclear negotiations involving North Korea, South Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the United States, said U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli. “There is no good reason why all states, including North Korea, shouldn’t return to the six-party talks,” Ereli said. “If they have questions or issues that they want addressed then that’s the place to do it.” “As far as threats to undertake tests or other military activity, that certainly is not helpful and doesn’t serve a useful purpose.” North Korea is likely to agree to resume talks soon, said Japanese government Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, Reuter reported. “We think it is edging closer to being persuaded by other countries,” he said. “I expect a decision to resume the talks will be made shortly” (Jon Herskovitz, Reuters, March 3). Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill met at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul today to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 3). Back to top       IAEA Calls for North Korean Openness, Ends Meeting By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — The U.N. nuclear watchdog today urged North Korea to return to talks on resolving the nuclear crisis exacerbated last month by Pyongyang’s first public claim that it possesses nuclear weapons (see GSN, March 2). The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors agreed to a “chairman’s conclusion” this morning in the final item of business during its four-day, quarterly meeting. The statement came as news agencies reported that North Korea has threatened to end a moratorium on ballistic missile tests it has adhered to since 1999 (see related GSN story, today). “The board strongly encouraged all the parties concerned to redouble their efforts to facilitate an early resumption of the six-party talks … and urged particularly the D.P.R.K. to agree to the resumption of the six-party talks at an early date without preconditions,” the statement says. The six-party talks have included North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, but the parties have not met formally since June. Last month, North Korea issued a statement asserting publicly for the first time that it was a nuclear power and refusing to participate in the talks (see GSN, Feb. 10). Leaders in Pyongyang reportedly later indicated their readiness to resume negotiations (see GSN, Feb. 25). The IAEA board has routinely urged North Korea to resume cooperation with the agency, but such calls have had little effect, particularly since Pyongyang announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty more than two years ago (see GSN, Jan. 10, 2003). The move essentially voided the nuclear safeguards agreement that permitted international nuclear inspectors to visit North Korean nuclear facilities. North Korea had expelled agency officials in December 2002 after the United States accused Pyongyang of pursuing a uranium enrichment capability. U.S. officials have claimed that North Korean officials admitted to such a program, but no public acknowledgement has ever been made. For its part, the United States yesterday expressed its willingness to resume multilateral negotiations. “We are ready to return to the six-party talks at an early date without preconditions,” U.S. delegation head Jackie Sanders told the board in a statement released later. Sanders said that the United States would pursue the complete dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear programs, including its “uranium enrichment program, the existence of which the D.P.R.K. continues to deny, despite its earlier admission of such a program.” Seeking to eliminate a North Korean hurdle to the talks, Sanders told the board, “The president of the United States has said that we have no intention of attacking or invading North Korea.”  That language, however, did not include special phrasing that Pyongyang has sought in U.S. statements. In particular, the U.S. statement did not say that Washington has “no hostile intent” toward North Korea, a phrase the Bush administration has carefully avoided, according to a recent Washington Post article. North Korean leaders believe the phrase would promise a broader U.S. message of peace than the more explicit vows not to invade. Board Wraps Up The board completed its quarterly meeting today without producing any formal statements or decisions, but diplomats spent most of their time debating the Iranian nuclear crisis (see GSN, March 2). A summary of the board meeting released by Chairwoman Ingrid Hall of Canada highlighted the difficulties board members face in agreeing how to handle Iran’s extensive nuclear facilities.  The United States has doggedly accused Iran of seeking to produce nuclear weapons and has pushed to send the matter to the U.N. Security Council. France, Germany and the United Kingdom have been more circumspect in their assessment of Iran’s goals, and have sought a negotiated settlement in which Iran would limit its nuclear capability in exchange for political and economic incentives. Ultimately, the board could agree on one sentence only: “All [board members] emphasized that it was essential that Iran provide full transparency and extend proactive cooperation to the agency, by providing in full detail and in a prompt manner all information that could shed light on some of the outstanding issues, in order to build the required confidence and to complete the agency’s assessment of all outstanding issues related to Iran’s nuclear program,” said the chairwoman’s statement. The statement appeared as reports emerged that Iran has begun to pour the foundation for a heavy-water nuclear research reactor at Arak (see related GSN story, today). Experts consider such reactors to be excellent sources for plutonium production, and a top agency official reported this week that Iran has refused requests to visit the site. Back to top       IAEA Board Puts Off Decision on ElBaradei By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — Diplomats delayed a potentially contentious debate here yesterday over whether to elect Mohamed ElBaradei for a third term at the helm of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The chairwoman of a quarterly meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors said the group needs more time before making a decision, according to a Western diplomat who attended the meeting (see GSN, Feb. 22). ElBaradei has expressed interest in serving a third four-year term as the agency’s director general, but the United States has sought to end his leadership, citing an informal agreement among some major nations that heads of international institutions should serve no more than two terms. However, Bush administration efforts to oust ElBaradei reportedly are more politically rooted. Senior U.S. officials believe that the Egyptian has failed to aggressively chase suspected nuclear weapons programs in Iraq and Iran. ElBaradei has nevertheless received strong support from the board, perhaps in part because of the frosty relations the United States has with many nations here. As a result, U.S. officials have found no candidates willing to run against ElBaradei and a technical deadline for announcing such challengers passed in December (see GSN, Jan. 3). Still, the United States has refused to end its quest. Yesterday, meeting chairwoman Ingrid Hall of Canada postponed the board’s consideration until its next regular meeting in June. ElBaradei “enjoys strong and broad support” among the board members, she said, as quoted by the Western diplomat. Several nations have circulated letters of support for ElBaradei, Hall reported to the board yesterday. However, given the continuing U.S. opposition, “more time is needed” to consider the matter, the diplomat said. Diplomats now expect the board to make its decision in June, but members could convene a special session later if necessary. Their decision, whenever it is made, is expected to be formally endorsed at the agency’s general conference in September. Back to top

Interpol to Create Global Bioterror Information Hub Interpol plans to create an international information center at the organization’s headquarters in Lyon, France, to fight bioterrorism, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, March 1). “We have to strengthen the cooperation that exists between the different groups, those concerned with law enforcement and those from the world of science, medicine and agriculture,” Jean-Michel Louboutin, executive director of the international police agency, said yesterday at the end of a two-day conference on bioterrorism. Information collected at the center would be available to Interpol’s 182 members, AFP reported. Doctors and health specialists at the conference said a public alert system for outbreaks was essential. “What we have to do is take the threat of epidemic seriously, whether it’s going to be a natural flu or a bioterrorism attack,” said Tara O’Toole, director of the Center of Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh. Some conference participants noted the importance of communication between police and health experts. “Although we’re both focused on public safety, we consider the issue from a different angle,” said Michael Sheenan, assistant director of the New York Police Department antiterrorism unit. “Without this dialogue, we may be slow to react, we may miss important things” (Michel Moutot, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 2). Back to top       WHO Plans to Expand Smallpox Vaccine Stockpile The World Health Organization plans to expand its stockpile of the smallpox vaccine in preparation for a possible terrorist attack using the pathogen, a senior organization official said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 24). The organization now has 2.5 million doses of the vaccine. It hopes to create a significantly larger “virtual stockpile” by tracking world stockpiles that could be garnered in case of emergency, Brad Kay, coordinator of the WHO division on preparedness for accidental and deliberate epidemics, said yesterday at an Interpol conference on bioterrorism in France. “The small amount [of smallpox vaccine] that the WHO has is not going to go far,” in a bioterror attack, Kay said (Jocelyn Gecker, Associated Press/Boston Globe, March 2). Back to top       Courier Truck Carrying Anthrax Crashes in Winnipeg A commercial courier truck carrying samples of anthrax and other pathogens crashed yesterday in the Canadian city of Winnipeg, according to the Winnipeg Free Press (see GSN, March 2). The truck was carrying the samples to the city’s virology laboratory from facilities in British Columbia and Alberta when it collided with a van, the Free Press reported. None of the pathogen samples in the truck were spilled during the wreck, said officials with the Canadian Science Center for Human and Animal Health. The truck was carrying “only minute quantities … in the milliliter range” of the pathogens, which included anthrax, influenza, salmonella and tuberculosis, said Stefan Wagener, the center’s chief administrative officer. Wagener said couriers are often used to transport pathogen samples to and from the facility. “This is a routine process for us … that happens every day,” Wagener said. “That is the internationally accepted way of shipping those materials (Jason Bell, Winnipeg Free Press, March 3). Back to top

DuPont Says Wastewater Treatment Method Successful DuPont Co. has developed a method to capture or eliminate up to 99 percent of two toxic compounds found in the byproduct of chemical weapons neutralization, the company announced Tuesday (see GSN, Jan. 25). The U.S. Army plans to send upwards of 4 million gallons of wastewater created by VX nerve agent neutralization in Newport, Ind. to New Jersey for processing at a DuPont plant beginning this spring, the Delaware News Journal reported. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to issue a report on the plan. Last year, Delaware officials challenged the proposal because of concerns about the two chemicals, which DuPont at the time acknowledged would pass mostly untreated into the Delaware River. “That really served as the catalyst for the technology,” said DuPont spokesman Anthony Farina. “We heard the message loud and clear. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work.” The new method could be “potentially a good thing,” said Rick Green, a scientist at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control who last year issued a report critical of DuPont’s plan. The Army Chemical Materials Agency received DuPont’s new plan Tuesday, said agency spokesman Jeff Lindblad. He added that the Army was prepared to go forward with neutralization in April or May but that Congress must be informed of the work 30 days before startup (Jeff Montgomery, News Journal, March 2).       Back to top

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