Bush Defends Port Deal

U.S. President George W. Bush today defended a deal in which a United Arab Emirates company will take control of six major U.S. ports, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 22).

“The more people learn about the transaction, the more they'll be comforted that the ports will be secure,” Bush said at the end of a Cabinet meeting.

The president cautioned against sending “mixed messages” by protesting the deal, saying security concerns did not exist when a British company controlled the ports. 

“This wouldn't be going forward if we weren't certain our ports would be secure,” Bush said 

Details of the $6.8 billion sale are beginning to emerge. Routine restrictions were not part of the pact, according to documents obtained by AP. Those include keeping records on U.S. soil where they are subject to U.S. courts, and appointing a U.S. citizen to deal with government requests.

Dubai Ports, for its part, said if requested it would deliver documents concerning “foreign operational direction” and pledged to continue participating in programs to detect weapons of mass destruction.

James Lewis, a former U.S. official who has worked on similar deals, said the terms of the pact were “not lax, but they’re not draconian.” He said that if the White House anticipated this backlash, “they might have made them sound harder.”

Bush’s defense of the agreement did little to quell criticism of the deal from Capitol Hill.

“There is a very serious question as to why the records are not going to be maintained on American soil subject to American jurisdiction,” said Representative Peter King (R-N.Y.).

“These new revelations ask more questions than they answer,” added Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Lebanon today said that the United Arab Emirates was a “a very good ally” and “if more details need to be made available then I'm sure they will be.”

“This is supposed to be a process that raises security concerns, if they are there, but does not presume that a country in the Middle East should not be capable of doing a deal like this,” Rice said (Ted Bridis, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23).

Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that surveillance at maritime ports has increased dramatically since Sept. 11, 2001, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.

Customs said 9.6 million shipping containers, or 26,000 per day, went through U.S. ports in 2004. Officials said they fear that a nuclear weapons or radiological “dirty bomb” could be held in such a container.

The United States and other countries in 2002 began to Container Security Initiative, which calls for identification and inspection of suspect containers at foreign ports before they are shipped to U.S. soil.

The United States has also developed a second program with importers called the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Importers are asked to identify and fix vulnerabilities in their business practices. 

Ships heading to the United States must alert the U.S. Coast Guard before reaching shore.

“Ostensibly, the flurry of U.S. government initiatives since 9/11 suggests substantial progress is being made in securing the global trade and transportation system,” wrote security expert Stephen Flynn in the last edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review.  “Unfortunately, all this activity should not be confused with real capability.”

Flynn also said he was concerned that a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb would not be detected by sensors at ports.

“This is because nuclear weapons are extremely well-shielded and give off very little radioactivity,” he said (Jerome Bernard, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Feb. 22).

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Scientist’s Visa Rejected over CW Concerns

Indian scientist Goverdhan Mehta said a U.S. consulate in India refused him a visa because his knowledge of chemistry was considered a threat, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 21).

Mehta was asked to submit more information regarding his request to visit the United States to lecture at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Mehta’s written account of the matter, obtained by the Post, said he was accused of “hiding things” and that his work was dangerous because of possible chemical weapon applications. 

The scientist maintains that his work has nothing to do with chemical weapons. He said he would provide his passport if he received a visa, but would not do anything more.

“If they don’t want to give me a visa, so be it,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, after outrage over the incident in India, issued a statement of regret. The State Department is working with Mehta to resolve the issue, according to the Post (Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post, Feb, 23).

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India Deal Will Take Time, Patience, Bush Says

By Joe Fiorill
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that talks on a nuclear cooperation agreement with India would take time and patience, and he offered no specific schedule for completing the deal (see GSN, Feb. 22).

The basic principles ðof the agreement were announced last year: U.S. provision of nuclear materials and technology to India, in exchange for New Delhi’s separation of military from civilian nuclear facilities and the submission of the latter to U.N. inspections.

Differences persist over how the nuclear-armed country, which is not a Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty member, should determine which facilities it calls civilian and which it designates as military. Bush is slated to discuss the deal with Indian officials during his visit next week and reportedly plans to submit the agreement to U.S. congressional approval in the near future.

“This is not an easy decision for India, nor is it an easy decision for the United States, and implementing this agreement will take time, and it will take patience from both our countries,” Bush said yesterday in a speech organized here by the Asia Society.

“I’ll continue to encourage India to produce a credible, transparent and defensible plan to separate its civilian and military nuclear programs,” the president said. “By following through on our commitments, we’ll bring India’s civil nuclear program into the international mainstream and strengthen the bonds of trust between our two great nations.”

Bush said India’s energy needs are growing and called nuclear power a “clean and reliable way to help meet this need.”

“Nuclear power now accounts for nearly 3 percent of India’s electricity needs, and India plans to increase the figure to 25 percent by 2050, and America wants to help. … India first needs to bring its civilian energy programs under the same international safeguards that govern nuclear power programs in other countries,” Bush said.

At a Brookings Institution discussion today on Bush’s coming trip to India and Pakistan, George Washington University international affairs professor Karl Inderfurth said the press has concentrated too much on the nuclear deal in its coverage of Bush’s trip, which is also expected to focus on economic matters.

“There is no urgency to finalize this [nuclear agreement], in my view, before the president lands in New Delhi next week,” said Inderfurth, formerly a top State Department official for South Asia (see related GSN story, today).

Speaking at the same event, Brookings foreign-policy expert Stephen Cohen said both countries are just beginning internally to work out a consensus on the nuclear deal and that a final agreement is not likely for months.

“The core issue” in the Indian debate over separation of military and civilian nuclear sites, said the former State Department policy planner, is “the question [of] how much is enough.”

“How many nuclear weapons does India really need for its own security?” Cohen asked. “What is overkill?  Do you destroy the horde three times, four times or five times?”

“These are questions that the Indians have not yet faced,” Cohen said. He added, though, that India seems to have decided not to follow the path of the United States and Soviet Union, which “just built nuclear weapons to excess.”

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Iran Says Ready to Compromise on Nuclear Issue

A top Iranian official announced today that Tehran was prepared to accept a proposed Russian nuclear compromise if four outstanding issues can be resolved, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 22).

“We are ready to compromise,” said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. “We believe that we should move from here to compromise, not go back.”

Mottaki said four issues, including which countries and firms would be involved in enriching uranium in Russia on Iran’s behalf, must still be resolved. “If you ask me, the main element is timing and place or places,” he said.

China, meanwhile, announced that Vice Foreign Minister Li Guozheng would travel to Tehran on Friday for three days of consultations on the issue.

“We will discuss how to resolve this issue ... properly through dialogue and consultation,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (Chris Brummitt, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23).

Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he remains hopeful that Iran will accept Moscow’s uranium enrichment offer, AP reported.

“The talks are not going easily but we are counting on reaching a positive result,” Putin said. “We are not losing optimism.”

A Russian nuclear official said the European Union, Russia and the United States had reached a consensus that Tehran cannot possess a domestic uranium enrichment program. If Iran does not accept Russia’s offer, Russia would support action by the U.N. Security Council against Tehran, the official said.

The official warned, however, that Iran has no fear of sanctions because officials there believe a ban on Iranian oil supplies would send global oil prices soaring (Aida Sultanova, Associated Press II, Feb. 23).

Elsewhere, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Carter administration national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski yesterday called on the United States to negotiate with Iran, AP reported.

Brzezinski criticized the Bush administration for staying out of the negotiations and advocated establishing a multilateral forum like the one being used in North Korea nuclear disarmament efforts.

“We have an important opportunity to solve this if we work together,” Fischer said. “Europe is not strong enough” (Barry Schweid, Associated Press III/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23).

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Bush Administration Aims for More CTBT Funding

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is seeking to provide increased U.S. support for the international effort to build a global nuclear test monitoring system, after a sharp drop requested last year (see GSN, Nov. 2, 2005).

The State Department in its fiscal 2007 budget request this month asked Congress to provide $19.8 million for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization’s preparatory commission in Vienna, up from $14.35 million sought and received for the current fiscal 2006. The administration sought and received $19 million for fiscal 2005.

Administration officials last year said the requested fiscal 2006 reduction was a temporary result of budget difficulties.

The proposed amount for fiscal 2007 is still short of the assessed U.S. commitment of 22 percent of the commission’s roughly $104 million annual budget, which is about $23 million.

Still, “It’s a lot better than where we were,” said David Culp, legislative representative for the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington.

Though not preferred, underpayment of contributions by the treaty’s membership is not unusual, CTBTO spokeswoman Daniela Rozgonova said by e-mail earlier this month.

“On average, the CTBTO Preparatory Commission receives 90 percent of the assessed contributions in any given year,” she wrote. 

“Every shortfall in contributions has an impact on program implementation. The higher the collection rate the better the organization can fulfill its mandate,” she wrote.

Most of the contributions pay for ongoing construction of nuclear test detection stations around the world.

“At the end of 2005, 219 [International Monitoring System] stations were installed and certified or substantially met specifications.  We expect that in 2006 another 37 stations will be completed so that by year’s end approximately 246 stations will be either installed or certified,” Rozgonova wrote.

The commission aims to build 337 International Monitoring System facilities, for operation if the treaty banning nuclear weapons testing comes into effect. Ratification by another 11 countries from a special list of 44 contained in a treaty annex is required for entry into force.

The United States is on the list and has not ratified the treaty, reflecting opposition in the Republican-led Senate and the administration’s unwillingness to rule out resuming U.S. testing at some point. 

The treaty has 176 member states, 129 of which have ratified the pact, with new ratifications occurring regularly. 

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Former U.S. Official Warns Against Rushing to Complete U.S.-Indian Nuclear Sharing Agreement

Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation Robert Einhorn called for careful consideration of a plan to separate Indian civilian and military nuclear sites, a move necessary for the U.S.-Indian nuclear technology sharing agreement to move forward, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 22).

“If the Bush administration wants to demonstrate clearly that civil nuclear cooperation is not contributing to an increased Indian nuclear weapons capability, then it will have to be very demanding on the separation issue,” Einhorn said. “If it cuts unwarranted compromises, it will further erode the administration's credibility on nonproliferation issues in general” and hurt the U.S. ability to address the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea.

India to date has offered three separation plans, none of which met U.S. expectations. In December, Indian negotiators suggested to U.S. chief negotiator and Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns that it wanted military control over fast-breeder reactors, which are capable of producing large amounts of weapon-grade plutonium, until 2010. The facilities are not yet online. 

“We've made significant progress, but the last part of any complex negotiation is the most challenging,” Burns said. “We'd like to have an agreement, but not at any cost.”

Burns is in India to continue negotiations before President George W. Bush visits the country next week. He met with high-ranking congressional officials before he left, and is expected to brief them upon his return (Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Feb. 23).

An official close to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said New Delhi would not put its fast-breeder reactors under civilian control, Agence France-Presse reported.

“Who said we are going to put the fast-breeder reactors in the civilian side? We cannot and will not do so,” said Singh’s scientific adviser, C.N.R. Rao.

Also yesterday, junior foreign minister Anand Sharma told the Indian parliament that reactors would be separated “voluntarily” and based on “national interests.”

Unidentified government officials said in media reports that India is willing to put up to 32 reactors under civilian control. The United States has asked for 60 facilities to be designated as civilian, which would place them under international safeguards (Parul Gupta, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23).

Undersecretary Burns added that he is not sure whether a deal would be in place before Bush visits next week, the Associated Press reported.

“We simply don’t know if we’ll have an agreement ready for President Bush’s visit. We’re trying our best,” Burns said following a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran. The two are expected to meet again today.

“There is no question both of us want to complete these negotiations. But there are still some remaining differences between us and those differences need to be worked out,” Burns added (Matthew Rosenberg, Associated Press/Khaleej Times, Feb. 23).

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Malaysia Proposes West Asian Nuke-Free Zone

Malaysia has proposed a nuclear weapon-free zone for West Asia, the Malaysian National News Agency reported Sunday (see GSN, Oct. 5, 2005).

Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said such a zone existed in Southeast Asia under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality. 

The 10 ASEAN nations established their zone in 1995.

Syed Hamid said a West Asia zone could reduce fears over Iran’s nuclear program. He called for a diplomatic solution to standoff with Tehran.

“We don't want any more conflicts in the region,” he said (Lena Liew, Bermana, Feb. 19).

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South Korean Officials Examine Counterfeit U.S. Currency Allegedly Printed by North Korea

Some South Korean lawmakers who have examined specimens of counterfeit U.S. currency provided by Washington said the $100 “supernotes” are printed in North Korea and circulated through a state-run trading firm, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Feb. 22).

A nondescript building in Pyongyang prints the notes, as well as other “special documents” such as portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, said Kim Jae-won, a member of parliament from the opposition Grand National Party.

“The information comes from a recent defector from the North who was a high-ranking official,” said the lawmaker. An expert at the Korea Exchange Bank has deemed the notes of superior counterfeit quality, according to his aide.

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, however, maintained that North Korea was not conclusively implicated in the scheme.

“It has not been clearly and unmistakably confirmed where, who and how these counterfeit notes were issued and circulated,” Lee said.

“But the government is looking at various worrying situations, and that’s why we have conveyed our serious concern to the North,” he said (Jack Kim, Reuters, Feb. 23).

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Anniston Nears Completion of Sarin Destruction

The final batch of sarin-filled weapons was moved yesterday from a storage igloo to the weapons incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama (see GSN, Jan. 13).

The Enhanced On-site Container has made 2,872 trips, moving the entire sarin weapon stockpile. It took 31 months to clear out 43 storage igloos, according to a U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency press release.

The delivery signals that destruction of sarin weapons at Anniston is nearly finished. However, VX and mustard gas weapons still need to be processed, with VX destruction expected to begin this summer following a decontamination period (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency press release, Feb. 22).

The final 105 mm sarin-filled munitions are expected to be eliminated by the end of February, the Anniston Star reported Sunday.

“We think it will only be a matter of days until we can finish processing the last of our GB munitions,” said Mike Abrams, spokesman for the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.

Work on the weapons began in August 2003. As of Feb. 16, 137,856 weapons and 88,560 gallons of the nerve agent had been processed, according to the Star.

Other chemical processing facilities are also moving forward with agent destruction. Between Feb. 7 and Feb. 14, 900 gallons of VX nerve agent were neutralized at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana. From Feb. 8 to Feb. 15, workers at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Oregon eliminated 270 sarin-filled munitions and destroyed 48,989 gallons of the agent.

Work at the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Arkansas has stopped so that piping in the pollution-abatement system can be replaced (Ben Cunningham, Anniston Star, Feb. 19).

Meanwhile, the Army announced yesterday that a nerve agent leak was discovered at Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky six weeks ago, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

The leak was caused by building pressure in a rocket and only a small amount of nerve agent was released, according to an Army statement.

None of the agent escaped from storage, and subsequent monitoring indicated that the leak had sealed itself (Lexington Herald-Leader, Feb. 22).

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Afghanistan Asks Pakistan to Change Missile Names

Afghanistan is protesting Pakistan’s practice of naming its nuclear-capable missiles after Afghan heroes, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Feb. 17).

A letter from Kabul requests that Islamabad rename its nuclear-capable Ghauri and Abdali missiles, said Afghan Information and Culture Minister Sayed Makhdom Raheen. Mohammad Ghauri was a 12th-century conqueror of India from Afghanistan, while Ahmad Shah Abdali in the 18th century led invasions of India and founded the Pashtun dynasty.

Another Pakistani missile is named after Mahmud Ghaznavi, an invader of India who died in southern Afghanistan in 1030.

“Afghan kings and emperors such as Ghauri, Abdali and Ghaznavi spread art and civilization across the subcontinent. Their names should not be used for tools of war and killing,” Raheen said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23).

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Ex-U.S. Official Warns Canada on Missile Defense

A former U.S. defense official said that the cost of participating in the U.S. missile defense program would outweigh the benefits to Canada, the CanWest News Service reported today (see GSN, Jan. 13).

“When I talk to most Americans they’re astonished that Canada would want to spend money on this,” said Philip Coyle, a former assistant defense secretary and Pentagon chief weapons tester. “Their first reaction is, ‘Who’s going to attack Canada?’”

Coyle said countries that join the system are being asked to bear the financial burden, which is set to reach $21 billion annually in 2013.

“The U.S. defense establishment is always interested in getting money from other countries. That’s why they market military systems to them,” he said. “So I can’t imagine that Canada would not be asked to contribute also.”

Ottawa last year refused a U.S. $500 million plan to install a missile defense radar in Canada. However, newly elected Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said his government would reopen a debate on joining the system, CanWest reported (CanWest News Service, Feb. 23).

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Taiwan Determined to Buy PAC-3s, President Says

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian yesterday denied reports that his government has abandoned plans to procure six Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile batteries from the United States, the Taiwanese Central News Agency reported (see GSN, Feb. 22; Taiwanese Central News Agency/BBC Monitoring, Feb. 22).

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Experts Criticize U.S. Plan to Protect Nuclear Reactors

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected recommendations to require guard forces at nuclear reactors to be capable of defending against terrorists armed with such weapons as rocket-propelled grenades and armor piercing ammunition, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 16, 2005).

“Instead of sizing the [Design Basis Threat] on the actual threat, the NRC bases security standards on what the NRC, or perhaps the nuclear industry, believes a private guard force can be expected to handle,” said Peter Stockton, a former Energy Department security adviser now with the Project on Government Oversight.

Industry and congressional sources familiar with the commission’s deliberations confirmed those decisions, according to AP.

Preparation of the Design Basis Threat “takes into account not only what is the threat but what is reasonable for a private security force to protect against,” said Michael Weber, deputy director of the commission’s Nuclear Security and Incident Response Office.

A declassified version of the plan indicates that guards must be prepared to defend against attacks from multiple directions including from water, though not from the air. It also assumes a potential suicide attack, AP reported.

Sources said the plan anticipates an attack by about twice as many terrorists than had been assumed in plans prepared before Sept. 11, 2001. Such plans only had to anticipate four attackers, one of which was an inside accomplice.

Attorneys general from seven states that contain 31 nuclear reactors said last year that the commission “should require defenses against attacks … by groups at least as large as that involved in the 9/11 attacks.” Nineteen men were involved in those strikes.

Nuclear industry experts said most requirements in the plan have been implemented and that nuclear plants are much more secure than chemical plants and other potential terrorist targets.

“We feel pretty good on balance that we have the right level or protection,” said Steven Floyd, vice president for regulatory affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry lobbying group.

“To be able to do what (some critics) are asking us to do we’d need our own army, navy and air force,” Floyd said.

“We’ve never seen a [rocket-propelled grenade] used in this country,” he said (Josef Hebert, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 22).

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Stolen NYC Water Supply Map Raises Concerns

Experts on the environment and unconventional weapons have warned that terrorists could attack New York City’s water supply using a stolen map of the city’s water system, the New York Sun reported today (see GSN, Jan. 27).

Someone last week apparently broke into a vehicle belonging to an Environmental Protection Department maintenance supervisor and removed an agency laptop computer containing a New York City water distribution map, police said.

Depending on the level of detail on the map, “there could be the opportunity to pose a threat,” said Cindy Stachowski, executive director for the Center for Environmental Information.

Terrorists looking to hit a certain neighborhood could remove manhole covers and tamper with the pipes that bring water into homes, added one chemical and biological weapons expert.

Several vehicles were broken into along with the supervisor’s, and the map in question was a pictorial representation of city water mains, according to Charles Sturcken, chief spokesman for the department.

“It’s nothing you wouldn’t observe in the streets,” Sturcken said. “It’s nothing serious.”

President George W. Bush warned about a potential attack on city water systems in his 2002 State of the Union Address, the Sun reported (Lauren Elkies, New York Sun, Feb. 23).

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