Democrats on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee have stepped up investigations into the possible inappropriate conduct of Undersecretary of State John Bolton after committee Republican George Voinovich of Ohio (above) on Tuesday withheld his support for Bolton’s nomination to become U.S. ambassador the United Nations. Democrats Seek Details on Improper Conduct Allegations Against Bolton Senate Democrats yesterday were trying to line up interviews with intelligence officials who have worked with U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton and seeking additional details regarding allegations of improper conduct by the White House pick for U.N. ambassador, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 20). The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hopes to interview former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin, another CIA official and a National Intelligence Council official regarding Bolton’s reported effort to have a CIA analyst fired, according to a Democratic staff member. Bolton testified last week that he did not seek the analyst’s dismissal. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) has asked the three officials whether Bolton ever talked to them about having the analyst fired, an aide to Dodd said...Full Story

New DHS Office to Have Some Authority Over Threat Reduction, Export Controls, Says Acting Head By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A new U.S. Homeland Security Department office will be responsible for coordinating and assessing other agencies’ work in a wide range of programs, from locking down Russian nuclear materials to improving radiation detection equipment used in the United States, the office’s acting director said yesterday (see GSN, April 19)...Full Story

Rice Lauds Progress on Russian Nuclear Cooperation U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reported yesterday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov had agreed to improve U.S. access to Russian nuclear facilities as part of ongoing efforts to increase security over Russian nuclear weapons and materials. The two officials met yesterday in Moscow as a prelude to a presidential meeting next month in Russia (see GSN, April 19; George Gedda, Associated Press I/San Diego Union-Tribune, April 20)...Full Story

	Thursday, April 21, 2005

Democrats Seek Details on Improper Conduct Allegations Against Bolton Senate Democrats yesterday were trying to line up interviews with intelligence officials who have worked with U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton and seeking additional details regarding allegations of improper conduct by the White House pick for U.N. ambassador, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 20). The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hopes to interview former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin, another CIA official and a National Intelligence Council official regarding Bolton’s reported effort to have a CIA analyst fired, according to a Democratic staff member. Bolton testified last week that he did not seek the analyst’s dismissal. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) has asked the three officials whether Bolton ever talked to them about having the analyst fired, an aide to Dodd said. Ranking Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) has asked the National Security Agency for information regarding previous requests for intelligence from Bolton, AP reported (Anne Gearan, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, April 21). The continued stream of questions about Bolton’s behavior could cause his nomination to crumble, the New York Times reported. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed a vote on the appointment Tuesday to avoid a possible tie vote when Republican Senator George Voinovich (Ohio) expressed concerns about Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. When asked yesterday if his support for the nomination had lessened, Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) said, “That would be accurate.” With all eight Democrats on the 18-member committee expected to oppose Bolton, a no vote by any Republican member would send the nomination to the Senate floor without a recommendation. Chafee said it is “hard to predict” Bolton’s chances, according to the Times. Republicans on the committee might look into making a case for the withdrawal of the nomination, Chafee told CNN. “I think Republicans, we ought to get together and talk about this,” he said. The Bush administration backed Bolton yesterday and blasted Democrats trying to undo his appointment. Bolton is “the right person to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations at what is a really quite critical time,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (Jehl/Stolberg, New York Times, April 21). The White House has been pressing Chafee and Voinovich to support the nomination, the Washington Post reported (Babington/VandeHei, Washington Post, April 21). “I think what you're seeing is some Democrats on the committee trumping up allegations and making unsubstantiated accusations against someone the president believes will do an outstanding job at the United Nations,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. “I think what you're seeing is the ugly side of Washington, D.C., that people are playing politics with his nomination,” he added (White House press briefing, April 20). Back to top

Rice Lauds Progress on Russian Nuclear Cooperation U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reported yesterday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov had agreed to improve U.S. access to Russian nuclear facilities as part of ongoing efforts to increase security over Russian nuclear weapons and materials. The two officials met yesterday in Moscow as a prelude to a presidential meeting next month in Russia (see GSN, April 19; George Gedda, Associated Press I/San Diego Union-Tribune, April 20). “We have, I think, made improvements in our access to these sites. We have work to do still.  We have work to do on certain liability issues. And I do hope that at the time of the meeting of President [George W.] Bush and President [Vladimir] Putin, we could have even made more progress on these matters,” Rice said in a radio interview with Ekho Moskvy. Rice also addressed concerns that U.S.-funded programs to secure Russian nuclear materials infringe upon Russian rights. “We do not consider, in any way, the inspections that need to take place, issues of sovereignty. These are issues of cooperation, because we all need to be concerned about what happens as we dismantle the old nuclear weapons arsenals. No one wants the materials or the weapons to fall into the hands of bad people,” Rice said. “Both the United States and Russia have a history, a very unfortunate history with terrorism. We know what it would be like if the terrorists had, somehow, access to these weapons. And so, our goal is to cooperate together in a spirit of friendship and working on a very difficult but important problem,” she added (U.S. State Department release, April 20). Ivanov quickly played down Rice’s remarks, however. “Visits by U.S. inspectors to nuclear installations in Russia are not under consideration, this is not an issue,” he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later suggested a middle ground, noting that Bush and Putin had agreed at their February summit in Slovakia to increase cooperation on nuclear security matters (see GSN, Feb. 24). “In Bratislava, the presidents brought absolute clarity to this issue by ordering the respective agencies of the two nations to cooperate in the sphere of security of nuclear facilities and nuclear materials and this order is based entirely on the basis of reciprocity, and I have not heard about any additional agreements,” he said (Associated Press II, April 20). Back to top       New DHS Office to Have Some Authority Over Threat Reduction, Export Controls, Says Acting Head By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A new U.S. Homeland Security Department office will be responsible for coordinating and assessing other agencies’ work in a wide range of programs, from locking down Russian nuclear materials to improving radiation detection equipment used in the United States, the office’s acting director said yesterday (see GSN, April 19). Earlier this week, proliferation experts and lawmakers expressed concern at a House of Representatives hearing that the creation of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office could signify insufficient attention by the Bush administration to securing and intercepting nuclear materials abroad, before they could be used in an attack. In a related hearing yesterday, acting head Vayl Oxford staked out an international role for the office that appeared to belie its name. Oxford detailed an ambitious agenda for the new bureau, which he said would drive the strategy, technology development and assessment processes behind a global U.S. program to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack. The office “recognizes the great strides that have already been made” by programs in the Energy, Defense and State departments to secure dangerous nuclear materials, reduce existing quantities of the materials and prevent them from being transported or transferred, Oxford told the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack. “The DNDO,” he said, “is now responsible for developing an overall global architecture that assesses and links these programs in an effort to ensure that the nation proceeds with a single, comprehensive prevention and detection strategy.” “This detection architecture must be a multilayered in nature. It must start with an understanding of the international programs and agreements that help secure all weapons-usable materials overseas and continue with layers of nuclear detection capabilities at international borders and ports of departure overseas, domestic ports of entry and the nation’s borders and, finally, within the nation and around high-risk or high-value locations,” Oxford said. Oxford also responded to concerns that current detection technology is inadequate, a problem some scientists say is insurmountable because of the physics involved. The office will maintain two research and development offices, he said: an “evolutionary” program for quick improvements in technologies that are already deployed and a “transformational” program to seek fundamentally better approaches to detection. “The first of these efforts provides near-term — five years or less — improvements in deployed capabilities, directly meeting requirements of operational users,” Oxford said. The program will focus on “threat materials of greatest concern,” he said. The second, “transformational” program, he said, “will not be driven directly by operational requirements. Rather, these improvements are intended to provide new capabilities that could potentially be so great as to provide new operational concepts for current system components.” The Bush administration’s fiscal 2006 budget request includes at least $359 million for the new entity. Back to top       Deal Still Possible in Iranian Crisis, Analysts Say Although Iranian and EU officials have recently appeared to be entrenched in incompatible positions over the crisis surrounding Iran’s nuclear activities, compromise solutions remain available and both sides are anxious to prevent the situation from escalating, diplomats told the Financial Times (see GSN, April 20). A solution has so far eluded negotiators as Iran has vowed to operate uranium enrichment centrifuges and EU diplomats, pushed by the United States, have called for an end to all Iranian enrichment activity, according the Times.  However, outside analysts have suggested that a deal could be struck if Iran agreed to suspend its enrichment efforts for a fixed term, while keeping its facilities intact, the Times reported. Such a solution might receive support from Washington, which would be called upon to join the EU incentives package, and from Iranian hard-liners, according to the Times. The next round of talks is scheduled to begin April 29, but no major progress is expected then because of uncertainty over the outcome of Iran’s June 17 presidential election. “Neither the Europeans nor the U.S. [is] willing to go into a decision without knowing who is president,” said one Western diplomat. “An arch-conservative would not be good” (Khalaf/Smyth, Financial Times, April 21). Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged the international community to resist Iran’s nuclear pursuits. “I am troubled by the fact — we hear this perhaps more in Europe than in the United States — that the world is beginning to grow accustomed to the idea that the day will come and Iran will be a member of the nuclear weapons club,” he said today on Israel Radio. “Ultimately, I don’t think there will be any alternative but to bring (Iran) to the U.N. Security Council and to take diplomatic and economic steps as pressure to stop this (nuclear effort),” Sharon said (Reuters, April 21). Back to top       U.N. Security Council Referral Would Be “Declaration of War,” North Korean Official Says A North Korean official assailed the possibility that Pyongyang could be referred to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 21). “If the United States refers the nuclear issue to the U.N. Security Council and that means sanctions, we have already clarified that we will regard sanctions as a declaration of war,” said So Chol, an officer in the Foreign Ministry’s European department. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated today that the Bush administration is not yet ready to take its case to the Security Council, but is keeping the option open. “We are willing, when the time is right, when we believe that we have exhausted the possibilities of the framework we are in, to go to the Security Council,” she said. “We will know when we’ve had the discussions with our allies and with our colleagues in the six-party talks about when it’s time to do that.” (Associated Press/Yahoo!Asia, April 21). Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura expressed increased frustration with the nearly yearlong delay in full negotiations over the nuclear standoff. “This one-year period has been wasted. However, for North Korea, this may have been a very useful and productive period in that they could have been able to develop nuclear weapons,” he said. “I believe the situation cannot be prolonged any further.” A South Korean official reiterated his country’s opposition to referring Pyongyang to the Security Council. “Keeping in mind that the referral to the U.N. Security Council is not a panacea and can be burdensome, the government is working out countermeasures,” said South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, according to Agence France-Presse. The United States has yet to propose such a move, and Seoul has not considered the measure, Song said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 21). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill is set to visit South Korea, Japan and China next week to discuss the nuclear negotiations and other issues, AP reported. All four nations are involved in the talks, along with North Korea and Russia (Agence France-Presse, April 21). Back to top       Gorbachev Urges U.S. to Boost Nuclear Disarmament The United States and Russia need to pursue new strategies and strengthen trust to reduce their respective nuclear arsenals, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said yesterday (see GSN, April 19). Gorbachev expressed doubt, though, that the United States is ready to seriously pursue disarmament, according to the Associated Press. “The United States is sick,” he said.   “It suffers from the sickness of being the victor, and it has to cure itself of this disease, this sickness.” While the two nations agreed in the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty to reduce their stockpiles of deployed nuclear warheads to 2,200 each by the end of 2012, Gorbachev said the rate at which weapons are being dismantled is slowing. “I think our two leaders need to come up with some joint initiatives, some new approach, but what is crucial to that effort is trust,” he said (Edith Lederer, Associated Press, April 21). Back to top       Space Commander Looks to Modify U.S. ICBMs The United States needs to consider alternative uses for its land-based strategic missile force to keep up with changing threats to U.S. security, a top Defense Department official said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 29, 2004). Built to deliver massive nuclear strikes against the former Soviet Union, U.S. ICBMs could be converted to other missions, Gen. Lance Lord, head of the U.S. Space Command, told an audience at the National Defense University Foundation. Those missions could include use in U.S. missile defenses, attacking deeply buried targets with conventional warheads at short notice, and conducting military missions in space, he said (see GSN, July 27, 2004). “We are at a turning point,” Lord said, “and need new strategies to deter the challenges of the 21st century.” Lord reported that the last of 50 MX Peacekeeper ICBMs are scheduled to be deactivated in September (see GSN, Dec. 8, 2004), leaving 500 Minuteman 3 missiles as the U.S. land-based missile force. The remaining missiles would need updates, he said, including new electronics, communications equipment and solid-fuel replacement (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, April 21). Back to top

New Anthrax Vaccine Protects Animals An anthrax vaccine being developed for the United States through Project Bioshield protected all animals exposed to the pathogen during testing, the CanWest News Service reported today (see GSN, Nov. 5, 2004). “All the animals subjected to the vaccine and then anthrax spores became immunized and survived,” said Lance Gordon, president of U.S. biopharmaceutical company VaxGen, which received the $877 million order to produce 75 million doses of the treatment. Clinical safety trials have also been performed on humans, Gordon said at the World Vaccine Congress in Montreal. He said work on the vaccine is in the advance stages. “The first order of business is to get products in now so if an event were to happen tomorrow, we’re capable of handling it and minimizing its impact,” Gordon said. “We’ve come a long way since 9/11” (Charlie Fidelman, CanWest News Service, April 21). Back to top

Suspects in Jordan Chemical Plot Had Instructions for Attack, Witnesses Say at Trial Suspects in a planned chemical weapons attack in Jordan possessed instructions on preparing germ and conventional weapons, witnesses said yesterday at the trial of the alleged plotters (see GSN, Feb. 24). Nine of the 13 suspects are in custody, while Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and three others are being tried in absentia, the Associated Press reported. Targets of the foiled attack have been reported to include the Jordanian intelligence agency and the U.S. Embassy in Amman. Police officers found “a dossier in Arabic containing detailed steps on manufacturing explosives and bacteriological poisons” at a safe house in Amman, said Sgt. Mohammed al-Omari. The house also contained handwritten instructions on military training and poisons. Information on weapons and military tactics were kept on compact discs and computers, AP reported. “There was a file headlined ‘the culture of sabotage,’ which outlined ways to destroy buildings, bridges, railways, and telephone and electricity networks, and how to dismantle security barriers, attack airports, carry out assassination and spread epidemics, like typhoid and malaria,” said Lt. Muthana al-Qatan, an intelligence agency computer technician. He acknowledged that the information might have come straight from the Internet (Jamal Halaby, Associated Press, April 20). Back to top

German Lawmakers Back Missile Defense Program German lawmakers reinforced the nation’s commitment to a multilateral missile defense effort yesterday, voting to support Germany’s participation in the Medium Extended Air Defense System, Reuters reported (see GSN, Oct. 21, 2004). Members of the parliament’s budget committee approved the German role in the three-way project with the United States and Italy to develop advanced missile interceptors. Some question was raised about Germany’s role last month when one party in the government coalition expressed concern over the project’s cost and its necessity, according to Reuters. Ultimately, however, the program drew cross-party support, said one opposition spokesman, Dietrich Austermann of the Christian Democrats. MEADS is expected to replace the Patriot missile interceptor system in the United States and Germany and the Nike Hercules system in Italy. Current plans call for the United States to bear 58 percent of the cost, Germany to pay 25 percent and Italy to pay 17 percent. The development portion of the program is expected to cost $3.4 billion until 2012, according to Reuters (Reuters, April 20).     Back to top

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