Iranian hard-liners have called for unity in the face of a probable victory for reformist presidential candidate Hashemi Rafsanjani (above) in next week’s election (Getty Images/AFP/Atta Kenare). Even in Best Case for Tehran, Tests May Not Absolve Iran Fully Final results of tests by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Pakistani nuclear components cannot provide definitive conclusions on the origin of all uranium traces found on Iranian centrifuges, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 9). Media reports yesterday indicated that preliminary tests supported Iran’s claim that traces of weapon-grade uranium found in its centrifuges must have been present when Iran acquired the equipment from a nuclear smuggling network once headed by Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist...Full Story

Legislators Urge Increased Biosecurity Investment By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Prominent Republican and Democratic legislators and experts yesterday urged increased federal investment in efforts to mitigate possible biological terrorism or infectious disease crises, arguing that efforts since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have been greatly insufficient...Full Story

U.S. to Allow Third Term for ElBaradei U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly confirmed yesterday that the United States would not oppose a third term for International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, June 8)...Full Story

	Friday, June 10, 2005

Canada Increases Nuclear Security Spending Canada is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to secure nuclear reactors, as well as mines and research facilities that handle radiological material, in the face of a potential terrorist attack, the Edmonton Journal reported today (see GSN, March 18). About $240 million was appropriated as a one-time allocation to secure the sites, and continuing annual expenses are estimated to be around $48 million, according to a newly published handbook of regulations proposed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Proposed new regulations include a permanent armed presence at all nuclear plants, according to the Journal (Jim Bronskill, Edmonton Journal/Yahoo!News, June 10). Back to top

White House Reaching Out to Get Bolton Vote A Democratic senator said the White House is reaching out in hopes of getting a confirmation vote on U.N. ambassador nominee John Bolton, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 8). “The White House did make some proposals which didn’t really do it, but they’re reaching out a little bit,” said Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). She did not provide details of the proposals. Meanwhile, Democratic Senators Christopher Dodd (Conn.) and Joseph Biden (Del) have asked John Rockefeller (W.Va.), ranking minority member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to help get more information on Bolton. Dodd and Biden proposed that National Intelligence Director John Negroponte tell Rockefeller and Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (Kan.) if “names of concern” are contained in intelligence intercepts Bolton requested. Roberts and Rockefeller would then tell Democrats whether any of the names were contained in the communications (Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, June 9).  Back to top

Even in Best Case for Tehran, Tests May Not Absolve Iran Fully Final results of tests by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Pakistani nuclear components cannot provide definitive conclusions on the origin of all uranium traces found on Iranian centrifuges, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 9). Media reports yesterday indicated that preliminary tests supported Iran’s claim that traces of weapon-grade uranium found in its centrifuges must have been present when Iran acquired the equipment from a nuclear smuggling network once headed by Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist. A senior diplomat at the agency said that, if final results confirm the preliminary ones, “they will partially support the Iranians,” but because the traces on the Iranian equipment are of different enrichment levels and compositions, they indicate various — including possibly domestic — origins, according to the diplomat. A State Department official refused comment on the preliminary results. “The bottom line is that we are looking for an IAEA report from the director general on the status of his investigation,” said the official, referring to a planned statement by IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei to the agency’s Board of Governors meeting next week (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 9). Meanwhile, a political strategist for Iran’s hard-line leaders is encouraging conservatives to unify behind a single candidate in the face of a probable victory by reformist candidate Hashemi Rafsanjani in next week’s presidential elections, AP reported today. Rafsanjani has advocated improving relations with Washington and has billed himself as the only Iranian politician other countries can trust to negotiate a settlement to the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program. He is running under the slogan “Let’s work together,” widely seen as a conciliatory gesture, according to AP (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 10). Rafsanjani expressed optimism on a potential nuclear agreement with the European Union in an interview published by Agence France-Presse today. “We can reach an accord, but I cannot predict when that will happen,” said Rafsanjani. He added that it would be a “positive” move if the United States joined the European diplomatic effort.  He also claimed that U.S. President George W. Bush recently conceded Iran had a right to low-level uranium enrichment for energy purposes (see GSN, June 1). “I think it would be easier if the Americans continue to act the way they have. We need an accord on enrichment.  (Bush) said, according to what was reported in the press, that Iran can enrich to low levels,” he said. Bush said last month that Iran was “not to be trusted when it comes to highly enriched uranium or highly enriching uranium,” omitting any reference to low-level enrichment (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 10). Back to top       U.S. to Allow Third Term for ElBaradei U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly confirmed yesterday that the United States would not oppose a third term for International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, June 8). Rice and ElBaradei held short talks in Washington yesterday, and the agency’s Board of Governors is expected to approve the third term at its meeting in Vienna next week. “We do have a long-held view that in general it is better that there be two terms for these positions,” Rice said. “Nonetheless, we have worked well with Dr. ElBaradei in the past.” A State Department official said ElBaradei was the only choice for the post, making resistance to a third term pointless. “You work with what you’ve got,” the official said, adding that the United States would continue to push for a harder line on Iran. Also in Washington yesterday was German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who threw in his support for ElBaradei. “Our experiences in cooperation with the IAEA, especially in the Iran issue, was excellent. So I have no reasons to complain,” Fischer said (Agence France-Presse I, Daily Star, June 9). IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the United States has not asked for anything from ElBaradei in return for support for a third term, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, June 9). Fleming said the issue of a third term did not come up in talks between Rice and ElBaradei this week. Instead, Rice and Elbaradei discussed “wide-ranging issues related to shoring up the nuclear nonproliferation system, including limiting access to the nuclear fuel cycle, where things stand with Iran and other matters that are on the agenda of the IAEA board meeting next week,” Fleming said. ElBaradei has indicated that he would report on Iraq when the board meets. Some diplomats have said the report is a result of strong arming by the United States. “The sheer fact that there will be a report is interesting,” a diplomat said, adding that ElBaradei is delivering the report “under U.S. pressure.” IAEA officials deny that the report is a result of pressure from the United States (Agence France-Presse II, June 9). Back to top       South Korean, U.S. Leaders Meet in Washington South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun arrived at the White House today for a summit with U.S. President George W. Bush in which they were expected to discuss the North Korean nuclear standoff, Reuters reported (see GSN, June 9). “This is a very critical point in time concerning the six-party talks,” a senior South Korean official traveling with Roh said, referring to efforts to persuade North Korea to resume disarmament talks. “The two leaders are expected to reaffirm once again that North Korea should return to the six-party talks and that the United States and South Korea will continue to resolve the nuclear issue through peaceful and diplomatic negotiations,” said the official. Today’s meeting was scheduled to last 50 minutes and the leaders were expected to dine together before Roh departs. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were scheduled to coordinate approaches ahead of the presidents’ meeting, the South Korean official said. National security advisers to the presidents were also expected to meet (Martin Nesirky, Reuters, June 10). The White House said yesterday that North Korea’s announcement Wednesday that it is manufacturing more atomic bombs only serves to further its international isolation, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, June 8). “Such steps and comments only further isolate North Korea from the rest of the international community,” said spokesman Scott McClellan. “All parties in the region are saying to North Korea that we want a nuclear-free (Korean) peninsula, a de-nuclearized peninsula,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Manorama Online, June 9). Washington should provide Pyongyang with security guarantees and lift economic sanctions on the country, while North Korea must in turn give up its nuclear weapons program, former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung wrote in a commentary for Reuters today. “First, it is imperative for North Korea to immediately return to the six-party talks and resume dialogue. North Korea must show its willingness to completely give up its nuclear weapons program and accept thorough inspections,” Kim wrote. “North Korea is suspicious and fearful of the United States,” he added. “Therefore, the United States should clearly state its position on providing security guarantees and lifting sanctions on the North Korean economy in order for North Korea to have a firm belief in it,” said Kim. He said Pyongyang wanted to improve relations with Washington. “(North Korean leader Kim Jong Il) said that the U.S. military presence on the peninsula should continue even after unification to keep the neighboring powers in check. Of course, he said it under the condition that the U.S. troops should not attack North Korea,” he wrote. Former President Kim encouraged Washington to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang to resolve the standoff (Herskovitz/Lee, Reuters, June 10). Back to top       Authorities Doubt Los Alamos Whistleblower’s Story Santa Fe, N.M., police have determined that a weekend assault on Los Alamos National Laboratory whistleblower Tommy Hook occurred after he struck a pedestrian with his car in a Santa Fe parking lot, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 9). Hook was badly beaten early Sunday morning outside an adult club and told police that his attackers had intended to prevent him from testifying about alleged financial misconduct at the laboratory.  A police official expressed doubt that there was a link between the beating and Hook’s planned testimony. “Facts, evidence and information obtained during the course of this investigation has led investigators to believe that the altercation involving Mr. Hook is an isolated incident and is in no way related to Mr. Hook’s whistleblower status at the Los Alamos National Laboratories,” said Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Eric Johnson. Police investigators are “leaning toward a fight in the parking lot as a result of Mr. Hook backing into a pedestrian … at which time the confrontation escalated into a physical attack,” Johnson said. The Santa Fe District Attorney has yet to determine how many of the people involved in the attack will be charged with a crime, Johnson said. However, fellow Los Alamos whistleblower Chuck Montano said Hook stands by his story. “What’s unfortunate about this is that it appears to be Mr. Hook’s word against the word of four or more assailants,” said Montano. “These individuals involved would have every incentive to portray a different scenario than what Mr. Hook portrayed. That says volumes about how difficult it is as whistleblowers to bring issues to the surface” (Anna Macias Aguayo, Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, June 9). Back to top

Legislators Urge Increased Biosecurity Investment By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Prominent Republican and Democratic legislators and experts yesterday urged increased federal investment in efforts to mitigate possible biological terrorism or infectious disease crises, arguing that efforts since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have been greatly insufficient. While the United States has spent more than $20 billion on biological defense since then, “in the future we’re going to have to do much more than this,” said Representative Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee and was recently tapped by President George W. Bush to be the next chairman of the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) said the United States has just two of 57 vaccines, drugs or diagnostics identified by the Defense Department’s Defense Science Board in 2000 as most needed to respond to a biological weapons attack. There was only one in 2000, he said. “At this rate of development, we won’t have 20 countermeasures available into 2076,” he said. Public Health System Concerns Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who heads a Senate subcommittee on bioterrorism and public health preparedness, said the country is “challenged by the current structure of our public health system.” “I’m concerned that our public health system is not fully prepared to face the challenges that we know are ahead,” he said. Providing an example, Brookings Institution Visiting Fellow Richard Falkenrath, a panelist at the conference, said the United States since the late 1990s has relied on state and local public health agencies to distribute medical countermeasures to the population in the event of a biological crisis. “Four years later, it’s now clear that not a single city in America is prepared to do that in a relevant time period in response to an anthrax aerosol attack,” he said. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) she said that better biological attack surveillance equipment is needed and that the country lacks and needs an effective mechanism for federal state and local authorities to communicate biological crisis information. “We need to ensure that if a bioterror attack is launched, our health delivery system is prepared to handle the outbreak as a matter of healthcare and national security,” she said.  “We are not making the public health investments that are required for the scale of the threat that we face,” she said. Lieberman argued that U.S. biotech and pharmaceutical companies do not have enough incentive to invest heavily in biological defense research and development.  He urged passage of his proposed Project BioShield II Act of 2005, which would limit drug company liability and extend company patents on potential biodefense vaccines, as a way to encourage private sector investment in defenses against bioterrorism and infectious disease outbreaks. “We’ve got to get more serious than we have about this threat,” he said, and urged conference participants to suggest additional ways in which pharmaceutical companies can be given incentives to invest in biological security measures. He said Americans “face an even larger threat from [naturally occurring] infectious diseases,” adding, “We don’t have the diagnostics and therapeutics to deal with those either.” The conference was organized primarily by Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and titled, “Preparing for the Inevitable: Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases.” Dispute over Threat Priorities Cox said a debate was underway within the country about whether future biological terrorism is inevitable. “Not everybody believes that there is anything inevitable about the next terrorist attack,” he said. “The idea that there is an enemy out there [for which] we need to organize and prepared to meet is itself under challenge.” Similarly, panelist Michael McDonald, president of the health information and technology company Global Health Initiatives, said bioterrorism “is not a theoretical threat,” noting that those responsible for the October 2001 anthrax attacks against members of Congress and the media are “still walking free.” While prominent experts have not denied that terrorists including al-Qaeda have sought to produce dangerous biological weapons for terrorism and that future attacks are possible, they have argued that the potential for catastrophic bioterrorism has been exaggerated and prioritized to the neglect of efforts to deal with potentially more catastrophic naturally occurring disease threats, (see GSN, Mar. 9). Prompted by a question, Cox suggested the government has not neglected naturally occurring infectious diseases such as a deadly avian flu detected in Southeast Asia that scientists have warned could begin spreading from human to human and kill millions across the globe. He said it was his “hope” that “dual-use” benefits from the administration’s investments in biological defense countermeasures would benefit a public response to a naturally occurring infectious disease. “I would view this as a big opportunity for public health, and America and the world,” he said. Falkenrath, who was until May 2004 a White House deputy assistant to the president and deputy homeland security advisor focusing on potential terrorism, criticized Cox’s response. “I respectfully disagree with what Chairman Cox said. I do not think that our response to avian flu is commensurate with the real risk that we face,” he said. Were a terrorist plot uncovered that presented the same level of threat that the avian flu poses, he said, “you would get an enormous response out of the government … far beyond what we have today.” “Microbes and microbial threats are the most profound threat faced by our species in the 21st century, they are more profound than Muslim militants certainly,” Falkenrath said. “The highest probability, highest consequence devastating incident in America is an outbreak of pandemic flu, I think. I think it exceeds by an order of magnitude the severity of a risk of [an al-Qaeda biological attack],” he said. Back to top       Anthrax Clean Up Stops at Florida Building Decontamination of a Florida building exposed to anthrax in 2001 has stopped because of a contract dispute, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported today (see GSN, March 24). The Albany, N.Y.-based firm Bio-ONE was hired to clean up the American Media, Inc. building where photo editor Bob Stevens died after inhaling anthrax from a contaminated letter. But disagreements over economic terms with building owner David Rustine caused the contract to expire without extension. Rustine bought the building from American Media two years ago. Bio-ONE had hoped to lease the building as its new headquarters, but the contract problem could threaten that move. “Right now, a move into the building or any lease relationship is moot,” said Bio-ONE counsel Karen Cavanagh said. “In some ways, we need to sit down and start over again.” Palm Beach County Health Department spokesman Tim O’Connor said Rustine was responsible for the building’s decontamination and the quarantine would not be lifted until the job was done. “At this point, it’s in the same position as it was” before cleanup began, O’Connor said (Luis F. Perez, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, June 10). Back to top

Umatilla Resumes Rocket Destruction Incineration of rockets filled with sarin nerve agent at the Umatilla Chemical Weapons Depot in Oregon resumed yesterday even though officials have found no cause yet for fires that stopped weapons destruction at the plant in May, the Oregonian reported (see GSN, June 6). Investigators suspect the age of the rocket propellant contained in the weapons as the cause for the fires. Oregon Health and Environmental Quality Department officials have allowed destruction to go forward under the assumption that more blasts will occur but can be safely contained. Don Barclay, the Army’s manager at the site, said work was resuming slowly, and expressed hope the pace would return to normal in the near future (Andy Dworkin, Oregonian, June 10).  Back to top

Pentagon Panel Criticizes Missile Defense Effort A panel of three rocketry experts selected by the U.S. Defense Department to provide an independent review of the missile defense program has concluded that the Pentagon’s effort to field the system rapidly has led to quality control difficulties, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, May 26). “Manage quality first and then schedule,” the panel advises in an unclassified, 37-page version of a still-classified report made available to the Post by an official who monitors the program. The experts offered no judgment on the justification for speeding up the deployment offered by the Bush administration: to counter North Korea’s missile capability. Recent flight-test failures have been blamed on minor technical glitches (see GSN, May 13), but the panel cites the Pentagon’s preoccupation with deadlines as a cause. Before December’s test, for example, an interceptor was shipped to the launch site before resolving “open issues,” while more than 20 problems had not been fixed two days before the February launch, raising the risk of failure in each instance, according to the report.  The panel’s recommendations remain under review by Rear Adm. Kathleen Paige, the new director of “mission readiness,” said a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency (Bradley Graham, Washington Post, June 10). Back to top       Committee Cuts Missile Defense Funding By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A congressional committee earlier this week called for trimming next year’s missile defense budget and urged tightening financial oversight of the Missile Defense Agency’s research and development operations (see GSN, May 26). In marking up the fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill on Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee approved $7.6 billion for the agency next year, $143 million less than requested by the administration. The reduction would be less than the $7.9 billion authorized by the House last month and $1.2 billion less than the agency received last fiscal year. In a report accompanying the appropriations bill, the committee said that relaxed financial restrictions on the research and development agency’s expenditures in recent years should be tightened, since the Bush administration last year achieved its goal of beginning to field elements of a ground-based long-range defense system (see GSN, Feb. 16).  President George W. Bush in a December 2002 directive had ordered the systems, which include interceptor missiles, fielded by the end of fiscal 2004. “In order for MDA to achieve this goal, considerable financial flexibility was granted by Congress to allow the agency to respond rapidly to achieve” the initial capability, the report says. “Now that a working system operated by trained war fighters has been fielded, the Committee wishes to enhance financial oversight as the missile defense effort continues to move forward,” it says. For financial accounting, the committee directed the agency to break down 12 major program elements, “many of which total greater than $400 million in a single line,” into sub-elements. The current accounting approach, it said, obscures funding details and creates significant oversight issues.” The new breakdown would provide “greater visibility and oversight of the programs,” it said. In approving the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill last month, the House Armed Services Committee approved $7.9 billion for the agency, a $100 million increase above the administration request. The extra $100 million was added at the suggestion of Representative John Spratt (D-S.C.) to enable the agency to conduct a realistic intercept test by the end of this fiscal year. The House approved the total along with that bill last month. The Senate Armed Services Committee last month approved the administration’s $7.8 billion requested amount. Missile Defense Capability Report The appropriations committee in its report also called for an assessment this year of the operational capabilities of U.S. boost-phase missile defense systems against ballistic missiles launched from North Korea and the Middle East against the United States. The study would also include an assessment of the quantity of systems needed to sustain defensive operations over various lengths of time, basing options, and life cycle costs of the systems. Center for Defense Information Research Analyst Victoria Sampson said that the United States currently lacks a system for intercepting ICBMs in the boost phase. She said though the administration in its budget this year cut funding for a program to develop such capability in the future, the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, and that “it sounds like the House [appropriators] are trying to ensure that there’s some reason for KEI to continue its existence.” Back to top       U.S. Reluctant to Give Tokyo Missile Warning Data The United States appears to be reluctant to provide Japan with technology for receiving missile-launch data from a U.S. early warning satellite, sources told Kyodo News yesterday (see GSN, June 7). As a result, Japan’s Aegis destroyers would have to rely on secondhand information even after Standard Missile 3 interceptors are installed as part of a joint missile defense project with Washington. Analysts have said Washington is critical of Tokyo’s position that it would only use the missile defense system to defend Japanese territory and remains concerned about providing Japan with advanced technology, which could be transferred to a third party. Japanese Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono and U.S. Missile Defense Agency Lt. Gen. Henry Obering discussed the issue at a meeting in Tokyo Wednesday, Kyodo News reported (Kyodo News/Japan Times, June 9).   Back to top

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