U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton (shown last year) faces allegations that he sought the firing of a CIA analyst who questioned Bolton’s assessment of Cuba biological weapons intentions (AFP photo/Toshifumi Kitamura). Congress Probes Allegations Against Bolton Undersecretary of State John Bolton, the Bush administration’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, went to CIA headquarters in 2002 to demand the dismissal of an analyst who disputed his assertions about Cuba’s alleged biological weapons efforts, according to allegations being investigated by Congress ahead of Bolton’s Senate confirmation hearing scheduled to begin Monday (see GSN, April 4)...Full Story

British Intelligence Admits Mistakes on Iraqi WMD The British Joint Intelligence Committee that produced the report making the case for war against Iraq has acknowledged making significant errors regarding Saddam Hussein’s WMD programs, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, July 14, 2004)...Full Story

Goss Orders Internal CIA Review on Curveball The CIA plans to examine claims that former Director George Tenet and other high-level agency officials were warned that the agency’s assessment of prewar Iraq’s alleged biological weapons programs was based on a potentially unreliable source, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, April 7)...Full Story

	Friday, April 8, 2005

British Intelligence Admits Mistakes on Iraqi WMD The British Joint Intelligence Committee that produced the report making the case for war against Iraq has acknowledged making significant errors regarding Saddam Hussein’s WMD programs, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, July 14, 2004). The committee in December reviewed its September 2002 dossier. Results of the review were included in the annual report of the British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee. Among the corrections: —      Intelligence officials said in 2002 “Iraq is pursuing a nuclear weapons program.” According to its subsequent review, that was “wrong in that Iraq was not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.” —      The Joint Intelligence Committee said before the invasion that Iraq might have chemical weapons stockpiled and could produce mustard, sarin and VX agents in a matter of weeks or months. Now: “Although a capability to produce some agents probably existed, this judgment has not been substantiated.” —      While the original dossier said that Iran had biological agents available and could quickly develop more, the joint committee now says that the Iraq Survey Group “found that Iraq had dual-use facilities which could have allowed biological weapons production to resume, but not within the timeframes judged by the JIC, and found no evidence production had been activated.” —      The 2002 claim that Iraq had up to 20 illegal ballistic missiles “has not been substantiated,” the Joint Intelligence Committee said in December. However, suspicions that Hussein was pressing to develop missiles with a range beyond the U.N.-authorized 150 kilometers have been “partially substantiated.” The committee also acknowledged that it was mistaken in 2002 when it said that Hussein might use chemical or biological weapons against invaders, neighboring countries or even Iraqis, according to the Independent. “Reporting which informed this judgment was subsequently withdrawn,” its review states (Kim Sengupta, London Independent, April 8). Back to top       Goss Orders Internal CIA Review on Curveball The CIA plans to examine claims that former Director George Tenet and other high-level agency officials were warned that the agency’s assessment of prewar Iraq’s alleged biological weapons programs was based on a potentially unreliable source, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, April 7). Tyler Brumheller, former head of agency operations in Europe, told the presidential commission on WMD intelligence that he informed his superiors about concerns over the source, known as Curveball. Tenet and former Deputy Director John McLaughlin said those warnings never reached them. “Director [Porter] Goss has instructed the agency to find out what happened and identify how to keep this from happening again,” said CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise. The review is expected to single out the clandestine service in an effort to determine who was aware that the source’s claims were in doubt and how they acted on that information, according to the Times. A former congressional official said the CIA should examine whether Brumheller and his supervisor, former Deputy Director for Operations James Pavitt, were candid in earlier accounts to investigators. “Goss is right to be looking at this,” the former congressional official said. “He needs to be sure that his directorate of operations doesn’t try something like this, because the stakes are too high” (Douglas Jehl, New York Times, April 8). Back to top       Congress OKs Funds for WMD Analysis Lab in Maryland Congress has authorized $13 million for the construction of a 30,000-square-foot facility at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland that would consolidate work at the U.S. Army site involving testing of hazardous materials, the Baltimore Sun reported yesterday (see GSN, March 18). The new Sample Receipt Center would conduct chemical, biological and radiological testing, but “no nuclear things come here,” said Joan Michel, a spokeswoman for the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen. Analysis on such materials is now conducted at several buildings on the base, she said. Demand for these services has increased since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Michel said. “This is not new work,” she said. “It is work that we have been doing here for more than three decades.” While much of the Army’s work in chemical and biological analysis is classified, Ray Mastnjak, manager of chemical biological support at Edgewood, offered one example of its efforts. The center determined that a small metal can found by U.S. troops in Afghanistan contained the radioactive material “red mercury,” which can cause liver damage or death if inhaled, Mastnjak said. “We believe it was somebody’s attempt to make a dirty bomb,” he added (Ted Shelsby, Baltimore Sun, April 7). Back to top       TOPOFF Leaves Some Concerns Unanswered The TOPOFF 3 terrorism drill has not addressed the troubles government officials would face in evacuating potentially huge numbers of people away from the site of a WMD attack, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, April 7). Attorney General Peter Harvey of New Jersey, which hosted the large-scale exercise along with Connecticut this week, said the state should prepare a plan to use highways, railways and waterways to move people away from an attack site. “If we have to evacuate people in this state on a massive level, how do we do it? Harvey said. “No matter what state has tried to do it, usually because of hurricanes, the highways get clogged real fast.” TOPOFF ends today with local drills and an early evaluation of the five-day exercise. New Jersey has been managing the aftermath of a mock biological attack that was expected to kill 9,000 “victims,” while authorities in Connecticut were faced with a simulated chemical weapon attack. Communications and logistics troubles that emergency personnel faced this week will provide lessons to help them prepare for an actual WMD incident, officials said. “I’m going to declare this drill a success,” said Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell. “We learned so much.  We did so much, but we have so much more to learn.” Harvey noted that the mock closing of the New Jersey borders in TOPOFF — to help prevent the spread of an infection outside of the state — would be hard to pull off in reality, AP reported. “If we need to seal off certain counties, what is the complement of officers we need?” he said. “We have many highways, but also a lot of back roads in and out of the state, and the usual New Jersey exuberance: ‘You don’t tell me where to go, pal’” (Wayne Parry, Associated Press/PhillyBurbs.com, April 7). Back to top

No Date for Next Round of North Korea Nuclear Talks While China has said North Korea is willing to returning to negotiations over its nuclear program, there is no set date for the next round of six-nation talks, a senior U.S. official said in a Reuters article today (see GSN, April 7). The information is based on a briefing from Beijing about talks earlier this week with visiting North Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Sok Ju, according to Reuters. “Based on what we’re hearing from Beijing ... the talks were substantive, rather intense, comprehensive,” the U.S. official said. “Dates, we were told, were not provided at this time but North Korea is interested and committed to returning to the table.” The official added that he was unaware of any incentives granted to North Korea other than Chinese President Hu Jintao’s reported willingness to visit Pyongyang (Carol Giacomo, Reuters, April 8). Back to top       Nuclear Technology Restrictions Would Undermine Nonproliferation Efforts, Iran Says A proposal by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to keep countries now without uranium enrichment or plutonium production capabilities from developing those technologies would actually undermine nuclear nonproliferation efforts, an Iranian official said yesterday (see GSN, April 7). “The addition of new discriminatory restrictions on access to peaceful nuclear technology” will lead to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty’s “disintegration rather than the intended strengthening,” Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif told the General Assembly. Zarif argued the change would make it more attractive for nations to stay outside the treaty, and change the balance of rights and obligations under the pact (see GSN, March 21). Zarif added that Annan’s proposal failed to place blame for “the crisis of confidence” in the treaty on “the noncompliance and discriminatory practices of nuclear-weapon states.” However, Zarif supported Annan’s call for nuclear powers to dismantle their nuclear weapons stockpiles, negotiate a fissile material cutoff treaty and continue enforcement of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Associated Press reported (Edith Lederer, Associated Press, April 7). Back to top       Japan Seeks Khan Information From Pakistan Japan has asked Pakistan for more information about former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan’s connections to North Korea, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Khan is suspected of providing Pyongyang with nuclear technology (see GSN, April 4). “The Japanese foreign minister urged the Pakistani side to provide Japan more information on so-called Dr. A.Q. Khan’s connections,” Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said after talks between Nobutaka Machimura and Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. Takashima did not reveal Kasuri’s response to the request, according to AP (Sadaqat Jan, Associated Press/HiPakistan, April 7). Tokyo also announced yesterday it would resume loans to Islamabad, halted over Pakistan’s nuclear tests in 1998, Agence France-Presse reported. “Japanese foreign minister conveyed the message that Japan is intending to reopen the Japanese yen loan, which was suspended due to the nuclear issue,” said spokesman Takashima (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 7). Back to top       Pantex Worker Exposed to Low-Level Radiation A Sandia National Laboratories technician was exposed to low levels of radiation last month while working at the Pantex nuclear plant in Texas, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 22, 2004). A March 4 report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said the worker had not received adequate training and was not wearing full protective gear at the time of the incident. “Questions were raised regarding access control to radiation areas, work planning and unanalyzed exposure,” the report states. “The work was performed in a radiological area without the appropriate personal protective equipment … radiological operations evaluation, worker training and prejob briefing.” The technician was performing radiological work in a section of the nuclear arms assembly and dismantlement plant that houses weapons components, AP reported.  The amount of radiation exposure was roughly equal to undergoing a CT scan, Mike Knight, manager of the BWXT Pantex Environment, Safety and Health/Emergency Services Division, said in a prepared statement (Associated Press/The Daily Sentinel, April 7). Back to top

Senate to Consider Stalled CW Disposal Sites The U.S. Senate is expected next week to consider a defense bill amendment forcing the Defense Department to maintain funding for the construction of chemical weapons disposal facilities in Colorado and Kentucky, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 24). Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) added the amendment this week as the Senate Appropriations Committee reviewed and then approved the funding package. “Our goal here is to get them back on track heading in the direction of meeting the timetables we laid out,” McConnell said. The Pentagon has frozen roughly $740 million while it looks for cheaper alternatives to the neutralization facilities planned for Pueblo, Colo., and Blue Grass, Ky. (see GSN, April 7). The price tag for developing the sites is growing “at a disturbing rate,” according to an Appropriations Committee report (see GSN, Feb. 24). Under the amendment, project managers would have to spend $100 million of the money within four months of the bill’s passage, while the Defense Department would update Congress every two months on the projects and U.S. efforts to meet disposal deadlines under the Chemical Weapons Convention, AP reported. Money for the projects could also not be moved to other projects, and the Defense Department would be barred from looking at relocating weapons from Colorado and Kentucky to operating disposal facilities in other states. “They can study it until they’re blue in the face, it’s not going to happen,” McConnell said. “It’s a waste of their time and energy to be studying something that has no possibility of ever occurring” (Hilary Roxe, Associated Press/SFGate.com, April 8). Back to top

Congress Probes Allegations Against Bolton Undersecretary of State John Bolton, the Bush administration’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, went to CIA headquarters in 2002 to demand the dismissal of an analyst who disputed his assertions about Cuba’s alleged biological weapons efforts, according to allegations being investigated by Congress ahead of Bolton’s Senate confirmation hearing scheduled to begin Monday (see GSN, April 4). Republican and Democratic congressional investigators are examining the charges, officials told Knight Ridder. “As we’ve looked at it, we haven’t found anything that violates the norms of behavior when it comes to these kinds of things,” said one congressional official. Senator Lincoln Chaffee (R-R.I.) has said he is undecided about Bolton’s nomination, making him the only Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee who remains noncommittal. A “no” vote by Chaffee, in conjunction with the committee’s eight Democrats, could block the nomination, Knight Ridder reported. Otto Reich, a former assistant secretary of state, said he talked about the analyst with Bolton in 2002 but said the matter is being raised now as part of “a smear campaign.” “This is the typical Washington character assassination,” he said, calling Bolton “extremely careful and intellectually honest. Yes, he’s conservative, but that’s why the president picked him.” Reich added that he is waiting to hear if he will be allowed to testify on Bolton’s behalf before the Senate committee. “I want to set the record straight,” he said (Landay/Martin, Knight Ridder/Kansas City Star, April 8). Meanwhile, documents to counter criticism of Bolton have been sent to the Senate, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday. “We don’t see any grounds for questioning his nomination or confirmation,” said Boucher. Other than Bolton, the only presumed witness at the hearing is Carl Ford, former chief of the State Department’s bureau of intelligence and research, who sparred with Bolton over what he perceived as intimidation of intelligence officials, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Democrats are also expected to interview four State Department officials, said Norm Kurz, a spokesman for Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.). Among those being contacted is Christian Westermann, a department intelligence officer, according to committee aides (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle, April 7).   Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

© Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.