U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) grilled Deputy Homeland Security Secretary-designate Michael Jackson yesterday during his confirmation hearing. Better Nuclear Detectors Needed, DHS Deputy Nominee Says By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A new unit in the U.S. Homeland Security Department will seek to bolster funds and speed research for improved nuclear detection technology at entry ports, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary-designate Michael Jackson said yesterday (see GSN, March 3). Homeland Security’s new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office is expected to be at the center of the department’s nuclear response strategy, said the nominee, a former deputy transportation secretary who was most recently chief operating officer of AECOM Technology Corp. He cited better detection capabilities as one important aspect of the work...Full Story

Iran Confirms Underground Enrichment Plant Iran has placed a uranium enrichment plant in Natanz underground to protect it from a potential air raid, an Iranian official said yesterday (see GSN, March 7)...Full Story

Bolton Slated to Become U.N. Ambassador U.S. President George W. Bush has nominated Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 7)...Full Story

	Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Terrorists May be Seeking to Join U.S. Intelligence Al-Qaeda operatives may be attempting to join U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on counterterrorism operations, the Los Angles Times reported today (see GSN. Feb. 18). About 40 Americans have been rejected for positions at U.S. intelligence agencies because of possible terrorist connections, according to U.S. counterintelligence officials. They were rejected for failing various parts of the application process, such as by providing false information or failing polygraph tests, the officials said. “We think terrorist organizations have tried to insinuate people into our hiring pools,” said CIA counterintelligence instructor Barry Royden. Other officials said, though, that it was still unknown whether terrorist groups had assigned operatives to penetrate intelligence agencies, noting that no arrests have yet been made, the Times reported (Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times, March 8). Back to top       British Lawmakers Modify Antiterrorism Bill The upper house of the British Parliament has voted to modify a government antiterrorism measure to only allow judges to impose curfews and other strict controls on terrorism suspects, the Associated Press reported. (see GSN, Jan. 27). The antiterrorism bill had been proposed to give government ministers the authority to act against suspected terrorists without court approval, the Times reported (Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, March 8). Back to top

Terrorism Conference Begins Today in Spain An international conference on terrorism is scheduled to begin today in Madrid, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, Feb. 23). Topics of discussion are set to include possible terrorist attacks involving biological, chemical or radiological weapons, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/Expatica.com, March 7). Security at the conference includes police units trained to respond to WMD attacks, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry (Agence France-Presse/Expatica.com, March 8). Back to top

Better Nuclear Detectors Needed, DHS Deputy Nominee Says By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A new unit in the U.S. Homeland Security Department will seek to bolster funds and speed research for improved nuclear detection technology at entry ports, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary-designate Michael Jackson said yesterday (see GSN, March 3). Homeland Security’s new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office is expected to be at the center of the department’s nuclear response strategy, said the nominee, a former deputy transportation secretary who was most recently chief operating officer of AECOM Technology Corp. He cited better detection capabilities as one important aspect of the work. “This has been one of Secretary [Michael] Chertoff’s early briefs, and he is strongly supportive of the effort,” Jackson said when Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) asked about the program at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. President George W. Bush’s fiscal 2006 budget proposal for Homeland Security stipulates creation of the new office and includes $262 million to research and develop better port-of-entry radiation detection devices. If confirmed, Jackson would replace James Loy as second-in-command at the young department. He told senators yesterday that he views the post for which he is nominated as that of a chief operating officer, a “strategic thinker” and “change agent” who is “customer-focused,” “action-oriented” and “constructively impatient.” Senators Renew Push for Risk-Based Response Grants Recurrent themes of senators’ questioning during the confirmation hearing included the department’s much-maligned funding formula for state and local emergency response. The formula has so far been based heavily on population and per-state minimum payments, but critics from all quarters have called for an approach that would direct more money to locations facing demonstrated threats and vulnerabilities. Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) yesterday criticized the department for a “lack of strategic planning” that she said prevented resources from being distributed effectively, adding that Bush’s fiscal 2006 proposal would cut emergency response funding to “inadequate” amounts. A White House budget summary indicates the fiscal 2006 proposal includes $3.6 billion for “state and local first-responder grants and other assistance” but seeks to “restructure” $2.6 billion of that amount to give the department more latitude to target spending to areas where it sees the greatest risks.  Among changes involved in the restructuring is a reduction in the percentage of the overall grant budget that each state receives as a baseline from 0.75 percent to 0.25 percent. The move is intended to free up more funds to be allocated on the basis of risk, Homeland Security Office for Domestic Preparedness spokesman Marc Short said today. “We would still provide a baseline, but it’s a smaller baseline,” Short said in a telephone interview. In addition, the proposal seeks to combine a number of federal programs — protecting ports and public transportation systems, for example — so that funds may more freely be moved among them depending on the latest threat information. Senior committee Democrat Carl Levin (Mich.) yesterday called the declining amount of grants “deeply troubling” but praised Homeland Security for moving toward more risk-based spending. “That is a positive move, certainly an improvement over the formula which has been used to allocate this funding, which has yielded inequitable results,” Levin said, expressing hope that legislation enshrining the new approach would be passed this year. Collins and others in Congress have for nearly two years sought to obtain passage of such legislation. When Congress in December 2004 approved legislation implementing the recommendations of the federal 9/11 commission, proponents of first-response funding reform for a time believed their legislation would be inserted into the 9/11 bill. Ultimately they succeeded only in placing in the plan a “sense of Congress” statement in support of their effort. “It is the sense of Congress that Congress must pass legislation in the first session of the 109th Congress to reform the system for distributing grants to enhance state and local government prevention of, preparedness for and response to acts of terrorism,” reads the bill, which Bush signed into law Dec. 17. The White House cited that language in documents describing its restructuring of state and local Homeland Security grants for fiscal 2006. The committee could approve Jackson’s nomination this week, Collins said. Back to top       Iran Confirms Underground Enrichment Plant Iran has placed a uranium enrichment plant in Natanz underground to protect it from a potential air raid, an Iranian official said yesterday (see GSN, March 7). “To protect the safety of equipment against possible danger of aerial attack, a major part of the plant has been constructed underground, especially where thousands of centrifuges need to be located,” Ali Akbar Salehi, a nuclear affairs adviser to the foreign minister, told the Associated Press (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Nashua Telegraph, March 7). Meanwhile, Iranian and European Union officials today resumed technical talks in Geneva on Tehran’s nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported. The talks are expected to last three days, according to a diplomatic source (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, March 8). German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said yesterday he hopes that European negotiators will be able to steer Iran toward a solely peaceful use of its nuclear program, AFP reported. “We are hopeful that, in the negotiations, we will have enough persuasive force to convince the Iranian leadership to adopt a positive position,” he said after meeting with French President Jacques Chirac. Schroeder said Germany, France and the United Kingdom have agreed on a negotiating strategy. “We have identical positions on Iran. We want Iranian leaders to give up any attempts to stock and produce nuclear arms, and to use any atomic program for peaceful purposes only,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 7). Back to top       U.S. Rejects Bilateral Talks With North Korea The United States yesterday reiterated its opposition to conducting direct talks with North Korea on the Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 7). “We’ve ... made it very clear that if there is a need for North Korea to talk with us, they have the opportunity to do that in the context of the six-party talks,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, March 7). Meanwhile, a Chinese envoy is expected to arrive in Washington today to discuss resuming stalled six-party talks, AFP reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Ning Fukui would meet with State Department and White House officials (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, March 8). Back to top       Bush Marks 35th Anniversary of NPT On the 35th anniversary of the entry into force of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty yesterday, U.S. President George W. Bush called for new efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons (see GSN, March 7). “It is essential in these times of great challenge to international security, particularly when rogue states and terrorists seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction, that the international community work together to confront the dangers of nuclear proliferation. I call upon all states that are party to the treaty to act promptly and effectively to meet the challenges to the NPT and our common security,” Bush said in a statement. Among the measures Bush proposed are efforts to prevent countries from obtaining nuclear weapons capability under the guise of civilian nuclear programs, a strengthened International Atomic Energy Agency, and universal adherence to the agency’s Additional Protocol, which gives it the authority to conduct more intrusive monitoring of a country’s nuclear activities (White House release, March 7). Back to top

Largest U.S. Biocontainment Facility Opens The country’s largest medical unit for treating people suffering from diseases such as smallpox and anthrax opened Monday in Omaha, Neb., the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 4). The Nebraska Medical Center’s 10-bed containment wing is equipped to deal with patients infected with contagious and potentially lethal infections, according to AP. The unit has a separate ventilation system and a monitor that will activate an alarm if any air escapes. Ultraviolet light, showers for staff and a sterilization unit for items being removed from the wing will also be used to ensure that germs do not escape. There are only two other such facilities in the country — a two-bed suite operated by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s two-bed unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. No other states are constructing biocontainment facilities, but Nebraska’s unit could become a prototype, said CDC Director Julie Gerberding. “We hope we never have to use it, but if we do need to use it, it’s here,” she said (Associated Press/Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, March 7). Back to top

Anniston Destroys 13 Percent of Chemical Agent Stockpile; Umatilla Marks Six Months of Incineration The Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Alabama has destroyed 13 percent of its agent stockpile and 8 percent of munitions since beginning operations in August 2003, the Anniston Star reported Sunday (see GSN, Feb. 15). Roughly 4 million pounds of chemical agent were stored at the depot when incineration began, according to the Star. Workers have destroyed 52,678 weapons and 563,217 pounds of agent. Site personnel halted weapons processing at Anniston today to prepare for a test burn scheduled for March 14. The Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Utah has destroyed 995,513 weapons and 14.6 million pounds of chemical agent as of Feb. 27. Since 1996, workers there have destroyed 87 percent of the site’s agent stockpile and 53 percent of munitions, according to the Star (Brian Lyman, Anniston Star, March 5). The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Oregon as of today has been operating for six months, the Washington state Tri-City Herald reported. Workers at the depot have destroyed 5,899 rockets and 31 tons of agent. It is expected to take about 10 years to destroy 220,604 munitions and 7.4 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents, according to the Herald (Jeannine Koranda, Tri-City Herald, March 7). Back to top

Bolton Slated to Become U.N. Ambassador U.S. President George W. Bush has nominated Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 7). Rice cited as examples of Bolton’s diplomatic achievements the 2002 Moscow Treaty, which requires the United States and Russia to reduce their stockpiles of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 2,200 each by the end of 2012; negotiations with Libya leading to its renunciation of weapons of mass destruction; and the Proliferation Security Initiative, a multilateral effort which seeks to interdict illicit weapons shipments, according to the New York Times. Bolton has been openly critical of the United Nations.  He has remarked that “if the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference” and “there’s no such thing as the United Nations.” In 2003, Bolton called North Korean leader Kim Jong Il a “tyrannical dictator” of a country where “life is a hellish nightmare.” Pyongyang in turn refused to deal with Bolton, labeling him “human scum.” While Bolton was “confrontational and in your face,” according to one administration official, many critics agreed he was effective. “He can be very persuasive,” said the official. “The question is whether at the U.N. he will stay in his lane. A lot of policies don’t necessarily get made in New York.” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Bolton was an “outstanding candidate.” Fellow Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (Neb.), however, was more reserved. “We need alliances, we need friends,” he said. “To go up there and kick the U.N. around doesn’t get the job done.” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar told the White House that his panel would consider Bolton’s nomination quickly and fairly, the Times reported. The committee has 10 Republicans and eight Democrats, making it difficult to say whether it might block the appointment. Democrats criticized the nomination. “This is a disappointing choice and one that sends all the wrong signals,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) (Steven Weisman, New York Times, March 8). “This is just about the most inexplicable appointment the president could make,” said Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.). “If the president is serious about reaching out to the world, why would he choose someone who has expressed such disdain for working with our allies?” (Sonni Efron, Los Angeles Times, March 8). Bolton’s nomination was “a disaster,” said one ambassador at the U.N. Security Council, the New York Times reported. “The real question is what is Bolton’s mission. Does he come here to attack the institution, or does he really come here to help the U.N.?” the ambassador’s aide added (Weisman, New York Times, March 8). Some U.S. nonproliferation experts have accused Bolton of exaggerating intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to make a case for U.S. action against countries such as Cuba and Iraq, according to the Los Angeles Times. Bolton said he never misused intelligence and has defended his “zero tolerance” policy toward WMD threats to U.S. civilians (Efron, Los Angeles Times, March 8). Back to top       Padilla May be Charged, U.S. Attorney General Says U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales suggested yesterday that criminal charges may be filed against Jose Padilla, who has been detained since 2002 on suspicion of plotting a “dirty bomb” attack, according to the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, March 2). “Certainly, pursuing criminal charges would be an option that the United States would have,” Gonzales said. “That decision has not been made yet.” The Justice Department is appealing a federal court ruling that declared Padilla’s indefinite detention illegal. The court ruled that the government must charge him with a crime, release him or name him as a material witness, the Times reported. It may be difficult for Justice Department to charge Padilla with a crime, the Times reported. Much of the information the department gathered against him was collected while Padilla has been in military detention and lacked access to a lawyer, raising concerns that it may not be admissible in court. In addition, Gonzales said there was concern that a case could not be brought against Padilla without risking “sensitive intelligence collection sources” (Richard Schmitt, Los Angeles Times, March 8).   Back to top

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