North Korean representative Kim Kye Gwan listens today in Beijing at the opening session of six-nation talks to seek a resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis (Frederic Brown/Getty Images). North Korea Makes Major Demands for Disarmament In the opening session of renewed six-party talks, North Korea said today it must be considered a  nuclear power and offered a list of demands to be met if it is to eliminate its atomic weapons program (see GSN, Dec. 15). U.N. sanctions imposed following Pyongyang’s Oct. 9 nuclear test must be lifted, along with U.S. economic penalties, according to a summary of the North’s opening speech obtained by the Associated Press.  North Korea also wants a new nuclear reactor and energy assistance...Full Story

Bush Signs Bill Enabling U.S.-Indian Nuclear Deal U.S. President George W. Bush today signed legislation to enable the U.S-Indian nuclear trade deal to advance by exempting New Delhi from U.S. nuclear nonproliferation laws (see GSN, Dec. 15)...Full Story

DHS Moves to Reduce Terrorist Risk to Rail Traffic By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Homeland Security Department plans to require rail companies to be able to report the locations of cars carrying toxic chemicals or radioactive material within an hour of a government request (see GSN, Dec. 14)...Full Story

	Monday, December 18, 2006

Former British PM Calls for Inquiry on War Former British Prime Minister John Major said an independent investigation is needed to study British participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the London Independent reported Saturday (see GSN, Dec. 15). “The more we learn about the beginning of the war, the more uncertain its rationale seems to be,” he said. A former senior Foreign Office official said in a recently released statement from 2004 that British officials did not believe that prewar Iraq posed a threat to the United Kingdom or the United States.  Carne Ross also said there had been no evidence that Iraq had “significant holdings” of weapons of mass destruction at the time of the invasion. Major said he had “no doubt” that the U.S. Congress would study the reasons for the war once the Democratic Party takes control in January 2007. “I do think it is important in due course we do precisely the same,” he said.  “I would like an independent inquiry that would examine all the information dispassionately.” British lawmakers joined Major in calling for an inquiry, the Independent reported. “This has to be a matter for an independent, and perhaps judicial, inquiry because this is not just the stuff of fibs; it is the basis for a referral to the international war crimes tribunal,” said left-wing Labor Party lawmaker Alan Simpson (Colin Brown, The Independent, Dec. 16). A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said no further studies were needed, the London Daily Telegraph reported. “We have had four inquiries into these matters.  All four have had full access to all the information they required and all came to the conclusions that have been published,” the spokesman said (Graeme Wilson, The Daily Telegraph, Dec. 16). Back to top       U.S. Army Tests Stryker WMD Detection Vehicle The U.S. Army has completed initial operating tests on a vehicle designed to detect weapons of mass destruction on the battlefield, according to a release issued last week (see GSN, July 6, 2005). Testing at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah was intended to assess how well the latest version of the Stryker Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle performed its mission of detecting and identifying WMD agents. “Test players executed route, area and zone reconnaissance, and search and survey missions to detect, identify, locate, sample and mark the various threats,” said Army test officer Maj. Joseph Giese in the release (U.S. Army release, Dec. 14). The Army has purchased 17 of this version of the Stryker vehicle in a low-rate production order, according to a release from contractor General Dynamics.  By the end of next year it is expected to decide whether to order full-rate production (General Dynamics release, Dec. 9, 2005). Back to top

North Korea Makes Major Demands for Disarmament In the opening session of renewed six-party talks, North Korea said today it must be considered a  nuclear power and offered a list of demands to be met if it is to eliminate its atomic weapons program (see GSN, Dec. 15). U.N. sanctions imposed following Pyongyang’s Oct. 9 nuclear test must be lifted, along with U.S. economic penalties, according to a summary of the North’s opening speech obtained by the Associated Press.  North Korea also wants a new nuclear reactor and energy assistance. Pyongyang threatened to increase its nuclear arsenal if the five other negotiating nations — China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States — fail to meet its demands. That did not go over well with some diplomats gathered in Beijing. “The position of the North Korean delegation is wide apart from the rest of us and we cannot accept it,” said Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae. North Korea has to end its nuclear program if it wants normalized relations with the United States, according to the delegation from Washington. “The supply of our patience may have exceeded the international demand for that patience, and we should be a little less patient and pick up the pace and work faster,” said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, lead U.S. negotiator (Alexa Olesen, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Dec. 18). If North Korea fails to shut down its program, Hill indicated that the United States might leave the talks and push for heightened U.N. Security Council sanctions, the Washington Post reported. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said this round of talks, the first in 13 months, would focus on specific implementation of the September 2005 agreement reached by the six nations.  Pyongyang pledged then in principle to scrap its nuclear program in exchange for economic and energy support.  China today distributed a “work plan” for implementation of the agreement, the Post reported. The price for ending North Korea’s nuclear program increased once it conducted a nuclear explosion, one expert said. “The cost will be higher,” Li Dunqui, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the China Youth Daily.  “In other words, North Korea will ask more.  This is a fact we have to face.” Treasury Department officials have traveled to Beijing for talks on the U.S. sanctions (Edward Cody, Washington Post, Dec. 18). Officials from the six nations conducted bilateral meetings yesterday, and Hill expected today to meet with lead North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan.  That meeting was likely to focus on the U.S. sanctions, diplomats told Agence France-Presse (Verna Yu/Jun Kwanwoo, Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Dec. 17). Experts held out little hope for significant progress in these talks, AFP reported. “North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons will never happen,” said John Feffer, global affairs director at the U.S.-based International Relations Center.  “Now that North Korea has the nuclear bargaining chip, it is never going to give it up.  And the United States is not in a position to change North Korea’s position.” The resumed negotiations give Pyongyang additional time to work on its nuclear program, said Scott Bruce, program officer at the Nautilus Institute. “Every day that passes is one more day until (U.S. President) George Bush leaves office and one more day that the D.P.R.K. gets to continue to reprocess plutonium and build its nuclear arsenal,” he said (Karl Malakunas, Agence France-Presse II/Philippine Daily Inquirer, Dec. 17). Following a meeting Friday with two North Korean officials, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said he was “cautiously optimistic” that something of value would emerge from the talks, AP reported. “We know each other,” the former U.N. ambassador said.  “They like to call me to discuss things, and I try to push them in the right direction.” That could include allowing nuclear inspectors back into the country or halting operations at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, Richardson indicated. He said the delegates from the North Korean mission to the United Nations were “positive, hopeful,” but that the negotiations are likely to be “an extended process.” “They said that everything’s on the table,” he said.  “They obviously want the United States to take some steps, too, along with the six-party countries” (Deborah Baker, Associated Press II/Yahoo!News, Dec. 16). Back to top       Bush Signs Bill Enabling U.S.-Indian Nuclear Deal U.S. President George W. Bush today signed legislation to enable the U.S-Indian nuclear trade deal to advance by exempting New Delhi from U.S. nuclear nonproliferation laws (see GSN, Dec. 15). By signing the “Henry Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act,” Bush removed one major obstacle blocking his plan to sell nuclear technology and materials to India. The new law “will help keep America safe by paving the way for India to join the global effort to stop the spread of nuclear weapons,” Bush said in today’s signing ceremony.  “In return for access to American technology, India has agreed to open its civilian nuclear power program to international inspection.” “This is an important achievement for the whole world,” Bush added.  “After 30 years outside the system, India will now operate its civilian nuclear energy program under internationally accepted guidelines — and the world is going to be safer as a result” (White House release, Dec. 18). Meanwhile in India, domestic opposition to the deal continued from some sectors.  One group, including former nuclear scientists, criticized the agreement in an Asian Age commentary. Conditions in the U.S. law impose too many restrictions on Indian policy, they said last week. “These stipulations … constitute intrusion into India’s independent decision-making and policy matters,” the commentary says (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 16). Back to top       Russia Removes Fuel From German Reactor Russia today completed the removal of more than 300 kilograms of enriched uranium fuel from a German nuclear research reactor, Reuters reported.  The transfer was part of a U.S.-Russian program to recover nuclear weapon-usable materials from reactors the two nations supplied over past decades (see GSN, Dec. 5; Reuters/New York Times, Dec. 18). The fuel included 268 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, according to a U.S. Energy Department release, although the exact enrichment level was not disclosed.  It was the largest amount of Russian-origin fuel transferred under the Global Threat Reduction Initiative which aims to reduce terrorist access to nuclear materials (see GSN, May 26, 2004). “This successful removal is an example of the international community working collectively to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism, and is the kind of concrete international security action that increases both U.S. security and that of our allies,” Linton Brooks, head the department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, said in the release (NNSA release, Dec. 18). More than 500 police were involved in the removal operation, which involved driving the nuclear fuel 10 kilometers in a 40-vehicle convoy to the Dresden airport, where the material was loaded onto a Russian aircraft.  A decoy convoy failed to fool a group of 20 to 30 antinuclear protesters who blocked the path of the fuel-carrying convoy and forced it to take an alternative route, Reuters reported. Russia plans to reduce the enrichment level of the reactor fuel and produce nuclear power plant fuel at its fuel fabrication site in Podolsk, according to Reuters (Reuters, Dec. 18). Back to top       No Agreement on U.S. Nuclear Needs, Report Says There is no agreement on what sort of nuclear posture the United States needs now that it is no longer embroiled in the Cold War, a Defense Department advisory body said in a report made public this month (see GSN, Dec. 15). “There is a need for a national consensus on the nature and role of nuclear weapons, as well as a new approach to sustaining a reliable, safe, secure and credible nuclear stockpile,” according to a report from a task force of the Defense Science Board. The report states that “most Americans agree that as long as actual or potential adversaries possess or actively seek nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, the United States must maintain a deterrent to counter possible threats and support the nation’s role as a global power and security partner,” the Washington Post reported.  Other than that, there are “sharp differences,” the task force said. The report “reflects the fact that the post-Cold War environment has changed, but there is no real consensus of what to do with the nuclear posture we were left with that was designed for use against the Soviet Union,” said board Chairman William Schneider Jr. Senior Bush administration officials should “engage more directly to articulate the case for nuclear transformation that provides an integrated vision of the role of nuclear weapons … and the prospect for further stockpile reductions,” the report states. Existing plans call for reducing deployed nuclear warheads from about 6,000 to less than 2,200 by 2012.  The total U.S. stockpile, deployed and nondeployed, stands at roughly 10,000 warheads, according to the Post. The administration is considering replacing existing weapons through its Reliable Replacement Warhead program, which is a component of the planned Complex 2030 transformation of the U.S. nuclear complex. The Science Board said the nuclear complex should “be capable of producing a predetermined number of RRW-class warheads per year by 2012.” The report states that political opposition to development of new warheads, spurred by proliferation concerns, has created “little progress to date in evolving needed U.S. nuclear capabilities to address effectively the more diverse range of potential threats likely to emerge in the 21st century.” U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), incoming chairwoman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, told the Post she plans to study the Bush administration’s nuclear program. The Science Board report is an attempt to “resell” the White House’s 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, said Hans Kristensen, nuclear information project director at the Federation of American Scientists. “I hope when Congress returns in the new year it will hear others than the old gang promoting that program,” he said (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Dec. 16). Back to top       Iran Offers to Spread Nuclear Technology As U.N. powers look to sanction Iran for its nuclear activities, Tehran has offered to transfer its atomic technology to other nations, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN,  Dec. 15). The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany planned to resume talks today in New York to try to finalize a council resolution in response to Iran’s refusal to curb its uranium enrichment program, AP reported (Edith Lederer, Associated Press I/Chandler News-Dispatch, Dec. 16). Iran however, has vowed to press on with its nuclear program regardless of any Security Council action. “Since our nuclear activities have been in the international framework and regulations, we will continue them even if sanctions are imposed,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Hosseini (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, Dec. 17). In addition on Saturday, Iran praised a six-nation Arab initiative to study nuclear power and offered to help (see related GSN story, today). “The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to transfer to regional states its valuable experience and achievements in the field of peaceful nuclear technology as a clean energy source and as a replacement for oil,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told visiting Kuwaiti envoy Mohammed Zefollah Shirar (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press III/Houston Chronicle, Dec. 16). Looking to dissuade any U.S. consideration of using military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, Tehran cautioned Friday that it could disperse its facilities to protect them. “We have a large country … and for centrifuge machines a room … is enough,” said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.  Centrifuge work “could be performed, could be installed anywhere and could be protected,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 15). Back to top       U.S. Questions Need for Arab Nuclear Study U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday questioned a plan by Arab nations to study the possibility of establishing nuclear power programs, Reuters reported (see GSN, Dec. 15). The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council last week announced it would begin the study, leading some nuclear proliferation experts to warn of a nuclear arms race in the region.  The council consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “One would have to wonder about the need of some states for nuclear power given their own energy resources,” Rice said.  “It’s one thing for a state to be running out of natural gas in 34 years, which is the case of Egypt” (see GSN, Sept. 25).  “It is quite another for the state to be the moist oil-rich state in the world,” she said, speaking of Saudi Arabia. Still, “there is no reason not to discuss it,” she added (Arshad Mohammed, Reuters, Dec. 16). Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti official defended the planned study, saying it was entirely peaceful and was not a response to the Iranian nuclear crisis. “The decision was not a reaction to the behavior of any country,” said Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Sabah.  “This reflects the GCC’s deep conviction that the use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is the absolute right of every country as long as it fully complies with international charters for the use of nuclear energy.” Al-Sabah said the group of nations has asked the International Atomic Energy Agency about supporting the nuclear study (The News (Pakistan), Dec. 18). Back to top       Russia Plans 12 Missile Launches in 2007 Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces is expected to conduct 12 test missile launches next year, the Russia & CIS Military Newswire reported Friday (see GSN, Dec. 15). “We will continue re-equipping the main attack forces with new missile systems, as well as guaranteeing the further extension of the exploitation period of missile systems, [along with tests] in 2007, said forces’ commander Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov. Deploying silo-based and mobile Topol M missile systems remains the priority, he said. They will become the main weapons systems for the Strategic Missile Forces, following the planned decommissioning of the RS-12M Topol, RS-18 Stiletto and RS-20 Voyevoda, which is known in the West as the SS-18 Satan missile (Russia & CIS Military Newswire, Dec. 15). Back to top

DHS Moves to Reduce Terrorist Risk to Rail Traffic By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Homeland Security Department plans to require rail companies to be able to report the locations of cars carrying toxic chemicals or radioactive material within an hour of a government request (see GSN, Dec. 14). The demand is part of a proposed security rule announced Friday that is designed to prevent a rail shipment from being transformed into a chemical or radiological weapon by terrorists. “This would be essentially leveraging our own technology against us in much the same way the terrorists did on Sept. 11,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The primary concern is of chlorine and other chemicals that would create a cloud of poisonous gas if released, Homeland Security officials said.  While less than 1 percent of all rail shipments contain chemicals that are toxic by inhalation, the effects of such an incident could be significant. A Norfolk Southern train transporting chlorine gas struck a stationary string of freight cars on Jan. 6, 2005, in Graniteville, S.C.  Three locomotives and 16 rail cars jumped the tracks, and a tanker carrying the chlorine gas ruptured. Despite the area around the accident being thinly populated, the collision and gas leak killed nine people, injured more than 600 and forced the evacuation of 5,400 nearby residents. “We’ve been working with rail companies across the country to conduct vulnerability assessments of their facilities and of the rail corridors all around the country, including the seven-mile D.C. rail corridor here in Washington,” Chertoff said. Along with the location reporting requirement, the proposed security rule would require freight companies to report any activities deemed to be of security concern, such as bomb threats or discovery of suspicious items.  The proposed regulations are now open to two months of public comment. The Homeland Security plan also codifies the Transportation Security Administration’s right to inspect rail facilities and requires firms to appoint a rail-security coordinator as a single point of contact with the government. An alternative proposal from Homeland Security to the one-hour rule would decrease the response time to five minutes for the location of an individual car or less than 30 minutes for all railcars carrying hazardous material within a given geographic region. “We want to know where these cars are, and we want to know how to reach them if necessary, if there’s information about a threat,” Chertoff said.  “That will give law enforcement a real-time response capability that will enable them to prevent an attack before it happens.” The department has asked for comments regarding how such short time frames might be achieved and how much it might cost to make them happen.  As it stands now, the requirements outlined in the new regulation are expected to cost the industry about $162 million over 10 years, a DHS official said. Some in Congress have called for hazardous chemicals and materials to be routed around urban centers that served as transportation hubs when the country’s rail system was built.  To a certain extent that is unfeasible, Chertoff said. Some hazardous chemicals are shipped to cities where they are used in industrial processes — chlorine is used in the purification of water.  Also, “to do a lot of rerouting would result, I think, in a substantial reconstruction of the rail industry and the rail network in this country,” he said. The Transportation Department issued a companion rule Friday to the DHS regulations that would require railroads to analyze security concerns along routes and select those which minimize risks while shipping hazardous chemicals. The proposed rules would also require shippers to maintain a continuous chain of custody of rail cars as they are passed from one company to another.  “The bottom line is someone has to have ownership and accountability for the way this material is handled,” Chertoff said. An agreement reached with the rail industry this summer also requires the “standstill time” of cars carrying dangerous chemicals to be minimized.  A situation in which cars are shunted off the track and left sitting increases vulnerabilities. “There is the least vulnerability to risk when the car is moving rapidly,” Chertoff said. With the new regulations the department will have addressed 90 percent of toxic, potentially gaseous chemicals moving through across the country, he said, noting that 90 percent travel via train, barge or ship. “We’re talking about a small number of cars, a significant reduction in risk, which we think is a very, very powerful step and also a cost-effective step in protecting Americans.” Back to top       Documents Link Hussein to Use of Chemical Weapons Prosecutors in the genocide trial of former Saddam Hussein today presented documents that they argued connect the former Iraqi leader and his co-defendants to chemical weapons attacks on Kurds, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 6). A 1988 memorandum, reportedly from Hussein’s office to Iraqi military intelligence, calls for an attack using “special ammunition and possibly implemented by means of the air force, air aviation and artillery.” “The president ordered that your directorate be merged with the experts’ directorate to carry out a pre-emptive strike against the bases of Khomeini guards,” according to the document. The memorandum was apparently referring to Kurdish guerrillas, whom the regime believed to be collaborating with then-Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini while Iraq and Iran were at war from 1980 to 1988. Additional documents submitted today also referred to “special ammunition,” AFP reported. Hussein and six fellow suspects are charged in the late-1980s deaths of 182,000 Kurds through use of chemical weapons, artillery, air attacks and death camps.  The deposed president was sentenced to death last month in his first trial for ordering the execution of 148 people in the Iraqi village of Dujail following a failed assassination attempt (see GSN, Nov. 6).  That sentence is under appeal (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 18). Meanwhile, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons last week conducted a third training session to prepare Iraqi officials for their country’s anticipated entry into the Chemical Weapons Convention. The four-day session provided 12 officials with guidance on preparing declarations required by the treaty and on instituting mandatory regulations to put the convention’s provisions in place within Iraq, according to an OPCW press release. Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States provided support for the session (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Dec. 15).   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.