U.S. Defense Department Employees Discount Bush Administration Claims of Safety of Anthrax Vaccine

Six anonymous U.S. Defense Department employees have claimed the Bush administration is trying to “manipulate” a U.S. Appeals Court in the ongoing legal case over the safety of the anthrax vaccine, Inside the Pentagon reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2005).

A U.S. District Court in October 2004 ruled that the mandatory anthrax vaccination program for military personnel was illegal. Justice Department lawyers have appealed that decision, while the Pentagon has gone ahead with a voluntary anthrax vaccination effort.

The Food and Drug Administration last month said the vaccine worked against anthrax contracted through the air and through the skin.   After this determination was made, lawyers for the government filed a brief with the appeals court arguing the FDA decision justifies reinstating the mandatory program.

However, lawyers for the Defense Department employees have argued that the Bush administration is “attempting to orchestrate the course of litigation through their ability to act as government regulators,” according to a brief filed last week in response to the government’s December motion.   As the recent FDA decision is not a part of the government’s original appeal, “the court should reject this attempt by the government to put inadmissible material before the court in an effort to bolster its unsustainable case.”

The Defense Department employees filed the lawsuit in March 2003 that later stopped the mandatory vaccination program. They argued that the vaccine was “investigational” and had not received FDA certification.   Military law does not allow investigational vaccines to be administered to personnel without their informed consent or a presidential waiver.

Service members who refused to take the vaccine have faced administrative discipline and court-martials, Inside the Pentagon reported. Experts said that if the district court’s ruling is upheld, the cases of the service members will be strengthened, as they would have been disobeying an illegal order.

“FDA's actions, which were specifically directed by the district court's order and judgment, cannot retroactively alter the status of the vaccine as determined by the district court in December 2003 and October 2004,” lawyers for the employees argued.

However, the government argues that the program was legal since its inception and that the recent FDA action on the vaccine was needed only to show the court that the agency approved the vaccine.

“If the Court of Appeals doesn't reach the merits of the case due to the injunction having become moot, vacatur of [District] Judge [Emmet] Sullivan's judgment and injunction would be highly appropriate, [or] else a fundamentally flawed ruling … would evade review and remain on the books,” said Brian Boyle, a former Justice Department attorney who worked on the case. “Mere dismissal of the appeal would be improper, since there is still a live dispute as to whether DOD was lawfully using the vaccine prior to the most recent FDA approval” (Elaine Grossman, Inside the Pentagon, Jan. 19).

Back to top

U.S. Terror Threat Level Unchanged Despite Threat

The United States does not plan to raise the terror threat level in response to threats from Osama bin Laden on an audiotape that al-Qaeda plans new acts of terrorism, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, July 11, 2005).

The threat level is yellow, which means there is an elevated risk of terrorism.

The Bush administration also rejected a truce offered by bin Laden.

“We don't negotiate with terrorists,” said Vice President Dick Cheney. “I think you have to destroy them.”

No intelligence indicates an attack is imminent and no increase in terrorists’ communications has been noticed, according to counterterrorism officials.

However, security was increased at Los Angeles International Airport as well as at the city’s port, water and power facilities.

“At this time, we lack corroborating information suggesting that al-Qaeda is prepared to attack the United States in the near term,” said Homeland Security spokeswoman Michelle Petrovich. “But we recognize that al-Qaeda remains committed to striking the homeland.”

Counterterrorism officials speculated that the audiotape might be a way for bin Laden to show supporters that he is still alive.

“He has made threats before, but there hasn't been a public utterance for a long time, and for that reason no one is being dismissive of it,” said one official (Associated Press/USA Today, Jan. 19).

Back to top

Japan Approves 21 Regional Contingency Plans

Japan today approved contingency plans designed to protect 21 of its regions in the event of an invasion or terrorist attack, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, Oct. 21, 2005).

The plans take into account local geography, climate, population density and the presence of facilities such as nuclear reactors. Saitama Prefecture lists measures designed to manage scenarios such as the “spraying of sarin nerve gas in a terminal station,” while Osaka Prefecture instructs residents to evacuate toward the direction of the wind during a nuclear attack. Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Saga and others address issues related to their nuclear installations, Kyodo reported.

The number of prefectures with their own war contingency plan is now 23, according to Kyodo. The remaining 24 prefectures are expected to submit their plans by the end of March, officials said (Kyodo/TMCnet.com, Jan. 20).

Back to top

Iran Several Years From Nuke, German Intelligence Says

Iran remains at least three or four years away from acquiring a nuclear weapon, according to Germany’s foreign intelligence agency (see GSN, Jan. 19).

“Our guys believe the minimum scenario is three to four years. Our allies in Tel Aviv and the U.S. also believe it would take quite a few years,” a source close to the BND intelligence agency told Reuters yesterday.

The estimate is consistent with a report released last week by the Institute for Science and International Security, according to Reuters.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has said Iran could build a weapon in a short period once it acquires nuclear fuel.

“If they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponization program along the way, they are really not very far — a few months — from a weapon,” he told Newsweek (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Jan. 19).

Meanwhile, a dissident group has accused Iran of planning a nuclear weapons test before the Iranian New Year on March 20, United Press International reported yesterday.

The Foundation for Democracy also cited sources in Iran as saying that Shahab 3 missile units have been ordered to relocate mobile launchers every 24 hours in preparation for a possible air strike by Israel or the United States.

Prior to the new orders, issued this week, the units were moved on a weekly basis, according to the organization (United Press International, Jan. 19).

Russia’s atomic energy agency chief said today that Iran is prepared to discuss Moscow’s compromise proposal that it conduct uranium enrichment on Iran’s behalf, the Associated Press reported.

Tehran “considers our proposal extremely interesting and is prepared for detailed discussions,” said Sergei Kiriyenko (Jim Heintz, Associated Press/Washington Post, Jan. 20).

U.S. and European Union officials said yesterday that they were working to avoid provoking anti-Western sentiment in the Iranian public, the New York Times reported.

The officials said sanctions would not be implemented any time soon, and that an immediate oil embargo or other economic penalties had also been ruled out.

“A heavy-handed sanctions approach is going to hurt an awful lot of Iranians that we don’t want to alienate,” said a State Department official. “We’re going to have to be more surgical.”

Western diplomats said alternatives include travel bans, a freeze of government officials’ assets or punishing entities suspected of assisting Iran’s nuclear program. One Bush administration official said a ban on Iran’s participation in the soccer World Cup was not being considered.

However, Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) announced that he would introduce a resolution calling for sanctions.

“We have wasted valuable time, diverted resources and ignored this problem at our peril,” Bayh said. “No one wants to forestall the need to use military force more than I do, but if we are to do so, we must act now.”

Andy Fisher, a spokesman for Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), said the panel only wanted to look at sanctions if it was clear that diplomacy would fail.

Fisher added that if the time for sanctions came, the United States ought to avoid repeating past mistakes. He cited a 1990s ban on Iraqi oil exports that caused suffering in the population but yielded black-market profits for the regime of former President Saddam Hussein.

“The focus on smart sanctions makes sense because they work the best,” said Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Big economic sanctions would not only be difficult to get, but Iran has vast foreign reserves from its oil revenues, so they can ride out what gets thrown at them.”

Clawson added that Iranian leaders were sensitive about diplomatic isolation, making travel bans and asset freezes good options (Steven Weisman, New York Times, Jan. 20).

Iran, meanwhile, is transferring its financial assets in order to protect them from possible sanctions, Reuters reported today.

“We transfer foreign reserves to wherever we see as expedient. … We have started transferring,” said Iranian central bank governor Ebrahim Sheibani.

The London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported yesterday that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council had ordered foreign holdings transferred to Asia (Parinoosh Arami, Reuters/Yahoo!News, Jan. 20).

Iran warned yesterday that sanctions would result in a world oil crisis, Agence France-Presse reported.

“In case of sanctions, other countries will suffer as well as Iran,” said Iranian Oil Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari. “One of the consequences will be the unleashing of a crisis in the oil sector and particularly a price hike” (Agence France-Presse I/IranMania.com, Jan. 19).

Elsewhere, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Iran to halt its sensitive nuclear research, AFP reported.

“I think they (Iranians) should not escalate, they should not press ahead with their nuclear fuel research. We need time to build confidence and trust so that these negotiations will take place in an atmosphere which is appropriate,” Annan said (Agence France-Presse II/IranMania.com, Jan. 19).

Russia called for a cautious approach to dealing with Iran, AP reported.

“The most important thing is not to focus on aspects that cause sensations, such as when the issue reaches the United Nations, when the Security Council makes a decision,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday after meeting with his French counterpart, Philippe Douste-Blazy.

Douste-Blazy said international efforts on Iran should display “firmness, unity and speed” (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press/Jerusalem Post, Jan. 20).

Syria yesterday expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program, AP reported.

“We support Iran regarding its right to peaceful nuclear technology,” President Bashar Assad said at a news conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “It is the right of Iran and any other state to own nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Countries that object to that have not provided a convincing or logical reason” (Albert Aji, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 19).

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was not a precedent for military action against Iran over its nuclear program, AFP reported.

“It would be a mistake to go back and try to predict what might or might not happen, based on what happened in some other country in the past,” Cheney told Fox News.

“It is a problem for the world if the Iranians have nuclear weapons, especially with a government headed up by the kind of individual that’s there today,” he said. “We are working aggressively to avoid having that situation arise.”

Cheney also referred to Ahmadinejad as “a pretty strange duck” (Agence France-Presse III/IranMania.com, Jan. 19).

Back to top

South Korea, U.S. Urge North Korea to Return to Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations

The United States and South Korea yesterday encouraged North Korea to resume multilateral nuclear negotiations on its nuclear weapons program, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 19).

“We both urge the North Koreans to come back to the talks without conditions,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a meeting in Washington with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

“We hope that we’ll have early resumption of the six-party process,” Ban said.

Pyongyang has said it would only resume nuclear negotiations if Washington lifts sanctions on North Korean entities it accuses of engaging in illicit activities.

However, the U.S. point man on the negotiations, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, told his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan, in Beijing yesterday that the United States would not lift the sanctions.

“Assistant Secretary Hill reiterated in private what we have said in public about this issue, that they’re separate [issues] and that we would hope the North Korean government would return without preconditions to the six-party talks,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack (Agence France-Presse/INQ7, Jan. 20).

North Korea today condemned recent remarks by Rice and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow, the Associated Press reported.

Rice this month said North Korea is a “dangerous regime,” while Vershbow has referred to Pyongyang as a “criminal regime.”

Pyongyang’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland today called the remarks “threatening and blackmailing.”

“The army and people of (North Korea) are well aware of the U.S. aggressive nature and methods and its belligerent nature and are fully ready to cope with every event,” the committee said in a statement. “The U.S. and its allies should know that they will not be safe from (North Korea’s) merciless counteraction” (Associated Press, Jan. 20).

Back to top

United Kingdom Working on Laser Capable of Creating Conditions of a Nuclear Explosion

The United Kingdom is working on a $176 million laser capable of creating the conditions of a thermonuclear explosion, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, Sept. 14, 2005).

The Orion project, which would be built at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, would only be able to mimic the conditions for a fraction of a second. However, this would allow scientists to hone computer models of nuclear explosions. The project is also meant to attract and keep young scientists, according to the Guardian.

The West Berkshire Council next week has its last chance to object to construction of Orion and other facilities at Aldermaston. If approved, work on the laser could begin.

Antinuclear protesters claim the laser would be used to develop the next generation of British nuclear weapons. They are pushing for a public investigation into the project.

“This is of major national importance and shouldn't be put through on the nod at a local planning committee meeting in a church hall,” said Di MacDonald of the Nuclear Information Service. “Given the number of objections, the planning committee would be well within its remit to pass this back to the government to raise a public inquiry.”

The United Kingdom hopes to have Orion in operation by 2010. It is expected to work by placing a 1-millimeter piece of material in a 6-ton hollow aluminum sphere. This material would be struck with lasers from 10 angles and crunched to the width of a human hair. Two additional lasers would then fire, heating the material to 3 million degrees Calvin.

“[It] replicates in the lab on a very small scale conditions that would exist at the heart of a nuclear detonation on a minute scale for one thousandth of a millionth of a second,” said a Defense Ministry spokesman.

Former Atomic Weapons Establishment scientist Frank Barnaby said Orion would only tangentially help warhead development.

“I think it's a genuine misunderstanding. There are so many designs already available, it's hard to see the need for a new one,” he said. “What you do need is to maintain a team of scientists who could develop a nuclear weapon if you ever wanted them to and that is a national asset. But in order to get young people to join and stay, you've got to excite them. Orion and supercomputers have a definite element of keeping together the team and getting them to stay” (Ian Sample, Guardian, Jan. 20).

Back to top

Progress Made in Australian, Chinese Uranium Talks

There was “good and substantial” progress this week in talks on the sale of uranium from Australia to China, according to a spokesman for the Australian Foreign Ministry (see GSN, Jan. 18).

Negotiations focused on ensuring the uranium would not be used in nuclear weapons, Agence France-Presse reported.

The two nations plan to meet again at a time yet to be determined, according to the spokesman. He declined to discuss details of the ongoing negotiations (Agence France-Presse/InteractiveInvestor.com, Jan. 20).

Back to top

Los Alamos Keeps Four Managers on New Team

Incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio plans to keep four senior managers currently at the New Mexico facility as part of a new 21-person management team, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 22, 2005).

Anastasio said the transition to the new management team is going smoothly. 

“We’re making good progress,” he said.

The group led by the University of California and Bechtel Corp. takes over management of Los Alamos on June 1. The university alone has managed the laboratory for decades, but was forced by a series of security and safety mishaps to seek partners last year and compete for the management contract.

The director said he meets daily with the transition team and with National Nuclear Security Administration officials. He is also currently serving as the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. 

Anastasio, who plans to resign his post at Livermore, said he is working with University of California President Robert Dynes on finding his replacement.

“It won’t be very long,” he said (Heather Clark, Associated Press, Jan. 20).

Back to top

Bids Sought for Work on Blue Grass CW Plant

U.S. Army contractor Bechtel Parsons is accepting bids from subcontractors to build a two-lane road and clear the site of a planned chemical weapons disposal facility at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported (see GSN, Nov. 15, 2005).

Construction of the new processing plant is expected to begin in April and be completed in three years, said Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group.

Once complete, the plant would undergo a one-year test period, followed by a two-year operational phase, according to Williams.

The depot stores 523 tons of nerve and blister agents (Marc Zarefsky, Lexington Herald-Leader, Jan. 20).

Back to top

Pentagon Testers Show Declining Confidence in U.S. Missile Defense Capabilities This Year

Testing of rudimentary U.S. missile defenses fielded in Alaska and California “suggests” that they “may have some inherent defensive capability” against missiles launched from North Korea, according to this year’s installment of an annual Defense Department testing office report (see GSN, Dec. 6, 2005).

The report issued last year expressed more confidence in missile defense, saying the system “should have some limited capability,” Bloomberg reported today.

“From a ‘limited capability’ to ‘may have some inherent capability’ means it’s an on-paper capability,” said Steven Hildreth, missile defense analyst for the Congressional Research Service. “But in terms of real-world data, we don’t have it.”

“With time and money, they will get it, but the only question is: Will it take a year, or two or 50?” Hildreth said.

Report author David Duma, Pentagon acting director of operational test and evaluation, said the Missile Defense Agency’s plan to test all missile components before resuming intercept tests is “prudent” (see GSN, Jan. 12).

“Flight testing has been delayed while corrective measures are implemented,” the assessment says. The agency “will restore confidence in the system through a series of basic and progressively more challenging flight tests, culminating in an intercept attempt,” it adds.

The agency said in a statement that it has responded to the report “by appropriately restructuring test program objectives to emphasize fundamentals and gradually increasing complexity this year” (Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News/Arizona Daily Star, Jan. 20).

Back to top