U.S. to Buy Anthrax Treatment

The U.S. government plans to spend $165 million on an experimental anthrax infection treatment to add to its emergency stockpile of WMD countermeasures, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, May 8).

Human Genome Sciences Inc. of Rockville, Md., is expected today to announce the sale of 20,000 doses of Abthrax. The purchase is being made through Project Bioshield, the federal government’s $5.6 billion effort to build up stocks of various treatments, including vaccines and drugs, for exposure to chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological weapons.

The government has also been considering an anthrax treatment produced by Canadian biotechnology firm Cangene Corp. However, Cangene is not expected to receive a contract today, the Post reported.

Abthrax would likely be used following exposure to anthrax. The Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved the product, but it could already be used in the event of an emergency. 

Tests on 105 people indicated the drug is safe, but several hundred more will need to be tested. It is unclear how much the proceeds of the sale would go into the continued testing of the product (Michael Rosenwald, Washington Post, June 20).

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Cheney Sees Progress in War on Terrorism

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday that strong U.S. antiterrorism action has deterred additional attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 15, 2004).

“Nobody can promise that we won’t be hit,” Cheney said. He said, however, that an unwavering military, improved intelligence and preventive internal moves helped discourage terrorism against the United States.

“I think we’ve made significant progress, if you look back over the last nearly five years now,” Cheney said.

“The fact of the matter is we have been safe and secure here at home,” he continued. “That’s not an accident.  It didn’t happen just because we got lucky.”

The major threat facing the country now, Cheney said, “is the possibility of an al-Qaeda cell armed with a nuclear weapon or a biological agent in the middle of one of our own cities” (Tom Raum, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 19).

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Experts Hail CTR Extension

Arms control specialists praised the recent Russian-U.S. deal to extend by seven years the Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement aimed at securing former Soviet WMD stockpiles, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, June 16).

“The extension of the umbrella agreement is critical,” said Raphael Della Ratta, a weapons specialist at the Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council. Without it, “nuclear weapons delivery systems would not be dismantled, chemical weapons would remain unsecured and undestroyed and biological pathogens would remain unsecured as well.”

The original 1992 agreement was co-sponsored by Senators Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and was renewed in 1999. Weapons deactivated or destroyed in those years include 6,828 nuclear warheads, 612 ICBMs, 885 nuclear air-to-surface missiles, 577 submarine-launched missiles, 155 bombers and 29 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, according to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. About half of the nuclear warheads, ICBMs, ICBM silos, submarine-launched missiles and nuclear submarines scheduled for disposal have yet to be dealt with, according to the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

“We are in a race against time to secure these materials before they’re lost, stolen or get into the wrong hands,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. “This is a necessary but insufficient step. The [Bush] administration needs to push down the accelerator in terms of the pace of work.”

Lugar called on Congress to remove other conditions that could undermine the effort.

“If the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the number one national security threat facing our country, we cannot permit any delays in our response,” he said (Peter Baker, Washington Post, June 20).

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Nobel Laureates, Others to Discuss Nonproliferation

Nobel laureates, government officials and celebrities are scheduled to gather this week in Jordan to discuss WMD nonproliferation and other pressing global issues, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, June 8).

“In the 21st century, humankind must find new ways of dealing with emerging threats and develop a deeper understanding about the connections between them,” event organizers said of the conference scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday. “‘Petra II:  A World in Danger’ provides a forum to reflect on both old and new problems, and propose novel strategies for transforming challenges into opportunities.”

Participants are to include the Dalai Lama, actress Uma Thurman and Nobel peace laureates David Trimble and Betty Williams. Delegates will focus on four areas: nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, education, health and poverty and economic empowerment.

“The international community needs to work in unison to counter mounting threats to peace and stability,” officials said. “More effective measures are needed to control nuclear stockpiles and create disincentives to uranium enrichment and reprocessing of weapons-grade material.”

Participants at the meeting, organized by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development and the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, are expected to offer recommendations to world leaders (Randa Habib, Agence France-Presse/INQ7, June 20).

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Bush Says Iran Must Halt Uranium Enrichment Before Talks

U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that the world powers would not be moved from their requirement that Iran stop enriching uranium before new talks begin on its nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 19).

“Iran’s leaders have a clear choice. We hope they will accept our offer and voluntarily suspend these activities so we can work out an agreement that will bring Iran real benefits,” Bush said.

Rejection of the offer could lead to U.N. Security Council action, he said.

Bush discussed Iran with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday.

“The presidents agreed on the importance of remaining united in their efforts to press Iran to suspend all enrichment activities and begin negotiations on the incentives package,” said Kate Starr, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.

Bush said allowing Iran to enrich uranium would create a new international threat.

“The United States has offered to come to the table with our partners and meet with Iran’s representatives as soon as the Iranian regime fully and verifiably suspends its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities,” he said. “I have a message for the Iranian regime: America and our partners are united.  We have presented a reasonable offer. Iran’s leaders should see our proposal for what it is — a historic opportunity to set their country on a better course” (Deb Riechmann, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 20).

Bush was to leave today for Vienna to discuss the nuclear standoff with European Union officials. No major decisions are expected while the world powers wait for a response from Iran on the incentives package aimed at curtailing its atomic efforts, USA Today reported (David Jackson, USA Today, June 19).

Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iran could have a nuclear weapon within five years if it conducts industrial-level uranium enrichment, Ireland Online reported.

“It is a matter of will,” Blix said, adding that while Iranian leaders now say they have no desire to build atomic arms, “they might change their mind.”

“By 2010 or 2011 they could probably have a nuclear weapon, if they want it,” Blix said (Ireland Online, June 19).

Blix also said expressed optimism about the situation, Agence France-Presse reported.

“The negotiation looks better and brighter now than it was half a year ago,” he said.

“They have the right to enrich uranium but they are not obliged to. They get some advantage from staying away from it, which would increase the tension very much in the Middle East,” he said.

“It is for them to define what price they would charge in order to suspend enrichment. It’s a matter of negotiations,” Blix said (Agence France-Presse/IranMania.com, June 20).

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U.S. Senator Says Congress Unlikely to Approve India Nuclear Technology Deal This Year

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that he does not expect Congress this year to pass a pending civilian nuclear energy deal with India, the Financial Times reported yesterday (see GSN, June 19).

The precedent-setting agreement must be considered carefully, he said.

“I am not saying I will oppose it, but I still would like to hear more argument in its favor,” McCain said. “I understand our unique relationship with India ... but when you carve out an exemption, then of course you run the risk of others wanting the same exemption.”

Some critics have said the agreement would undermine the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by rewarding a country that has developed nuclear weapons while refusing to join the pact. Others have warned that by allowing India to import uranium fuel for energy reactors, the deal would allow it to divert more of its domestic supply to military use.

“For what it’s worth, we have received assurances that India will not do that, but … this is taking a risk,” McCain said (Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, June 19).

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IAEA Chief Calls for Phase-Out of HEU

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday pressed for international action to reduce the use of highly enriched uranium, the United Nations announced in a press statement (see GSN, May 12).

“Although much has been achieved so far, much vulnerability remains,” he said.

“In recent years, the security and nonproliferation concerns associated with the potential uses of HEU for malicious and terrorist purposes have further highlighted the importance of this work,” he said.

Nearly 100 civilian nuclear sites around the globe use the weapon-grade uranium, the release states.

ElBaradei urged increased efforts to address technical hurdles involved in switching to the use of proliferation-resistant low enriched uranium for civilian applications. Many experts believe isotope production for medical treatments and other humanitarian uses of highly enriched uranium could be achieved by using low-enriched uranium, he said.

ElBaradei also called for an end to fissile material production for use in nuclear weapons. Countries with HEU stockpiles should release inventories and create schedules for verifiable down-blending, he said.

“By investing in these measures, we could alleviate proliferation concerns associated with the continued uses of HEU and reduce substantially the risk of nuclear terrorism,” he said.

ElBaradei also called again for placing enrichment operations under multinational control (United Nations release, June 19).

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U.S. Inspects Russian Missile-Scrapping Facilities

Experts from the U.S. Defense Department yesterday finished inspecting a Russian facility that is disposing of missiles once used by that country’s Strategic Missile Troops, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, Jan. 27).

“Pentagon specialists watched the destruction of ground-based solid fuel ballistic missiles in the settlement of Bershet, Perm Territory, for three days under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1),” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Pentagon officials inspected three additional facilities in the Perm Region that are used to destroy missiles. Up to 15 solid-fuel ICBMs are scrapped annually at those sites, ITAR-Tass reported.

“The missile engine disposal technology is based on the pyrolysis reaction, which is burning in high temperature with oxygen,” said a ministry official. “The resultants then go through multistage fine filters, which make them completely harmless.”

The U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program provides roughly $450 million annually for disposal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in Russia. (ITAR-Tass, June 19).

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Al-Qaeda Fascination with Cyanide Called ‘Scary’

Al-Qaeda practiced using cyanide on dogs in preparation of unleashing the lethal gas against humans, the New York Daily News reported today (see GSN, June 19).

Eritrean terrorist Binyam Ahmed Muhammad consulted with one-time U.S. “dirty bomb” suspect Jose Padilla (see GSN, April 4) and al-Qaeda operations head Abu Zubaydah on “spraying people with cyanide in nightclubs,” according to U.S. military prosecutors. As with the plot to use cyanide in the New York City subway system, the nightclub attack failed to materialize.

U.S. anti-terror experts have worried about cyanide plots since convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam said during a 2001 trial that he saw the gas being used to kill dogs in an Afghanistan training camp, the Daily News reported.

“We all took it very seriously,” a former White House adviser said Monday, referring to the 2003 cyanide subway plot. “The modeling ultimately showed it wouldn’t kill many people in a realistic setting. But it would be really scary.”

In February 2003, the Daily News obtained a CIA report that revealed 15 al-Qaeda operatives were in the United States to “place sodium cyanide in large swimming pools.” The document also said the group had brought a nuclear bomb into the country, a claim doubted by the CIA. The report also said the chemical “blue mercury” was smuggled into the country — a claim the CIA found to be untrue.

The 2003 threat caused New York City hospitals to stock cyanide antidotes, according to Lewis Nelson, a medical toxicologist at New York University School of Medicine.

Cyanide is reportedly easy to obtain, which is why terrorists are attracted to the chemical. Producing a weapon that could kill masses of people, however, would be difficult, officials said.

Nonetheless, terrorists could build mechanisms that pump high levels of cyanide as a gas or mist into a confined area. A 12-ounce soda can of the substance could kill 5,000 people, Nelson said (Gendar/Meek, New York Daily News, June 20).

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U.S. Army Destroys WWII Chemical Munitions

A U.S. Army team helped detonate four munitions thought to contain mustard gas that were left on the Solomon Islands following World War II, the Australian Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 10, 2002).

The Solomons government sought help in disposing of shells on Mbanika Island.

Senior Sgt. Rex Waiwori, who lead the Solomons police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, said the controlled explosions were required to ensure the shells and suspected chemicals were completely destroyed in a safe manner. Destroying the shells eliminated the threat of accidental gas leaks, he said. 

The U.S. military fought the Japanese in the Solomon Islands from 1942 to 1943 and left equipment and munitions in the jungles and ocean (Australian Associated Press, June 19).

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North Korea Warned on Missile Test

A North Korean ballistic missile launch would be a “provocative act,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday (see GSN, June 19).

“I think it is already taken with utmost seriousness by regional states and by the world because it would once again show North Korea determined to deepen its isolation, determined not to take a path that is a path of compromise and a path of peace, but rather instead to once again saber-rattle,” Rice said. “From our point of view, it would be a very serious matter indeed.”

President George W. Bush discussed the matter with international officials, according to the Los Angeles Times, and Japan warned that it would respond “severely” in case of a launch.

Satellite intelligence from the launch site in Musudan-ri yesterday indicated that the assembled Taepodong 2 missile was almost fully fueled, the Times reported.   U.S. sources said any launch probably would occur within 48 hours of completion.

A South Korean official said all that was needed for the missile flight was “the click of a button.” However, another South Korean official questioned whether fueling was completed and indicated that there was still time to persuade Pyongyang to refrain from testing.

“The unofficial communication channel is always open,” said the second official.

“We’re still waiting. We don’t know what their intentions are,” said a top State Department official. “We don’t know for sure that they’re going to push the button. But the trend lines have all been in one direction.”

U.S. and South Korean missile experts believe the assembled Taepodong is carrying a satellite rather than a warhead, which could allow Pyongyang to claim any potential launch as a civilian effort.

U.S. Defense Department officials would not comment on the alert status of U.S. forces, but Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the United States “does have a limited missile defense system” in the Pacific (see related GSN story, today). He added that the Pentagon would categorize any North Korean missile firing as a “launch” rather than a “test.”

“‘Test’ would imply we know their intentions,” Whitman said (Spiegel/Demick, Los Angeles Times, June 20).

Rice said a missile launch would violate North Korea’s Sept. 19 commitment to the other members of six-nation nuclear talks — China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States (U.S. State Department release, June 20).

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said yesterday that Security Council envoys are considering potential responses to a missile launch, Reuters reported.

“Right now we are in consultation with various members of the council on what steps might be taken because it obviously would be very serious,” Bolton said. “But in any event we are just now in the preliminary consultations phase.”

Bolton said Washington did not know North Korea’s intentions.

“We need to wait for the event,” he said.

“The first preference is that the North Koreans not light the missile off. We have made that clear to them,” he added. “Obviously we would like to know, if the North Koreans do light it off, what is under the nose cone” (Reuters I, June 19).

Poor weather conditions over the launch site today could delay a planned launch, Reuters reported.

Clouds and storms would make it difficult for Pyongyang to track a missile once launched, experts said.

“You don’t want to test launch a missile into a storm,” said Peter Beck, an analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Beck said North Korea has once again drawn international attention, which might be the point.

“If they are really playing a finesse game they will back away but ... they are not known for their finesse game,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow said today that any missile-related work creates a serious security threat (Jon Herskovitz, Reuters II, June 20).

“My government is deeply concerned that a launch of a long-range missile by North Korea would have serious negative repercussions for stability on the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia as well as for international efforts against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” said South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

“North Korea is strongly urged to refrain from taking such a negative step,” he said (Reuters III, June 20).

The South Korean Defense Ministry said the Taepodong 2 can carry a 1,000-kilogram warhead up to 6,700 kilometers, bringing parts of Alaska and possibly Hawaii into Pyongyang’s range for the first time, Agence France-Presse reported.

U.S. and South Korean intelligence sources said Pyongyang is also working on a multistage Taepodong 2, which could carry a smaller payload more than 10,000 kilometers, which would put the U.S. West Coast into striking distance. U.S. intelligence reported in 2004 that the latter weapon might be ready for flight-test with a nuclear weapon-sized payload, according to AFP.

The Federation of American Scientists, however, gives the missile a maximum range of 4,300 kilometers (Agence France-Presse, June 20).

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U.S. Missile Defense System Goes Online

The U.S. Defense Department this month placed the missile defense system on active status, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, June 19).

The Bush administration is considering intercepting any missile launched by North Korea, which is believed to be preparing for such a test, one senior official told the Times.

In the last two weeks the U.S. antimissile system has gone from test mode to operational. Two Navy Aegis warships are also on patrol near North Korea, officials said yesterday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow declined to comment when asked if preparations were being made to destroy a North Korean missile in flight (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, June 20).

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