Bioshield Funding Insufficient for Drug Companies

Funding available under the U.S. Project Bioshield is not sufficient to prompt large pharmaceutical companies to develop countermeasures against biological, chemical or radiological weapons, Investor’s Business Daily reported Friday (see GSN, June 7).

The Bush administration in 2004 designated $5.6 billion over 10 years for production of vaccines and antidotes.

“The country would benefit immeasurably from pharma getting involved,” said Tom Inglesby, deputy director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Biosecurity.  “But when a single drug can cost $1 billion to develop, $560 million a year for counterterrorist products isn’t enough for them.”

The funding levels are more appealing to smaller biotechnology firms.  However, to date only six companies have received contracts.

Hollis-Eden has pushed for a contract to produce 10 million doses of a drug that rebuilds infection-fighting white blood cells vulnerable to radiation exposure, according to Investor’s Business Daily.  That campaign appears to have failed, and the company is competing against three others for a 100,000-dose Health and Human Services Department order for an antiradiation drug.

Troubles also can arise after receiving a contract.  The government in 2004 ordered 75 million doses of an anthrax vaccine from California biotechnology firm VaxGen.  The government in May ordered additional human tests of the drug (see GSN, May 11).  VaxGen will not be compensated for the additional work or paid until delivery of the vaccine begins.  That is now scheduled for late 2008, two years behind the original schedule.

“What happened to us is what investors fear most:  a contract change without compensation,” said Lance Ignon, vice president of corporate affairs at VaxGen (Peter Benesh, Investor’s Business Daily/Yahoo!News, Sept. 8).

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Bush Defends War in Iraq on Sept. 11 Anniversary

U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that military withdrawal from Iraq would leave the United States more vulnerable to its enemies, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 11).

“If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons,” Bush said in a televised speech on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.  “We are in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world.”

“Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone,” he said.  “They will not leave us alone.  They will follow us.  The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad.”

There have been at least 2,670 deaths of U.S. military personnel since the March 2003 invasion, AP reported.  The war was a component of the effort to protect the United States from foreign threats after Sept. 11, which also included the invasion of Afghanistan to unseat the ruling Taliban, Bush said.

“I am often asked why we are in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks,” Bush said.  “The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat.”

“America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over.  So do I,” he added.  “But the war is not ever, and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious.”

Democrats blasted the president for using the Sept. 11 anniversary to make his case for remaining in Iraq.

“The president should be ashamed of using a national day of mourning to commandeer the airwaves to give a speech that was designed not to unite the country and commemorate the fallen but to seek support for a war in Iraq that he has admitted had nothing to do with 9/11,” said Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in a statement.  “There will be time to debate this president’s policies in Iraq.  Sept. 11 is not that time” (Nedra Pickler, Associated Press/RedOrbit.com, Sept. 12).

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Temporary Nuclear Freeze Could Allow for Iran-U.S. Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday indicated that the United States might be willing to open direct talks with Iran if it agrees to even a temporary suspension of its sensitive nuclear activities, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, Sept. 11).

“The point is, there would have to be a suspension,” Rice said.  “If there is a suspension, we can have discussions, but there has to be a suspension.  As far as I know, the Iranians have not yet said that they would suspend prior to negotiations.”

In response to questions about Iran’s reported willingness to suspend nuclear work for two months, Rice said she has not “heard any Iranian offer, so I don’t know what to make of that.”

“First of all, it’s suspension, verified suspension  —  that’s the condition,” she said.  “Secondly, it’s suspension for suspension,” she said, meaning that Western countries would stop their efforts to impose U.N. sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a nuclear suspension.

The Institute for Science and International Security yesterday released a copy of Iran’s confidential response to a June nuclear incentives package from the world powers.

Institute President David Albright said the document includes a stated openness to discussing suspension.

“This is not a hollow offer by the Iranians,” he said.

He added, however, that the document is so contradictory that “you just get mad reading this thing” (Kessler/Linzer, Washington Post, Sept. 12).

U.S. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency Gregory Schulte today welcomed Iran’s reported willingness to consider a suspension, the Associated Press reported.

“It’s encouraging that progress was made,” he said.  “But ... we will be looking to move forward to the Security Council with the sanctions regime unless Iran suspends.”

Another diplomat said Iran wanted security guarantees from the United States during any negotiations.

“They are essentially seeking assurances that they would not be bombed while they are talking,” the diplomat told AP.

Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, meanwhile, warned in remarks yesterday to the IAEA Board of Governors that “the window of opportunity is not very long” and that Iranian cooperation was “much overdue.”  He said inspectors were unable to “provide assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran.”

The European Union, in a draft statement provided to AP, expressed concern about new traces of highly enriched uranium discovered by inspectors.

A diplomat from a board member country said the European Union had prepared a “moderate” statement and that the six world powers were also considering a joint statement.

Another diplomat said the tone of any statement would be determined by what European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told the powers in a conference call yesterday following his meeting with top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani (George Jahn, Associated Press, Sept. 12).

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U.N. Resolution on North Korea Sanctions Should Be Enforced, U.S. Official Says

The U.S. point man on North Korea said yesterday that the international community must enforce a U.N. Security Council resolution that this year condemned Pyongyang for its July missile tests and required U.N. nations to end any financial support for North Korean missile or WMD programs, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 7).

The North “needs to understand that if they get involved in this type of production of weapons of mass destruction, if they fire off missiles as an effort to intimidate their neighbors, as an effort to create a situation of blackmail, they should not be surprised if nations take actions which are essentially designed to protect us and our financial systems,” said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said.

“I hope they want to come back to talks but I cannot make hope the basis of our policy,” he said in Seoul.  “We have to take measures to protect ourselves and we certainly have to take measures to implement [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 1695.”

“It’s very important that when the Security Council speaks as it did, and it spoke very clearly with one voice, it’s very important that what the Security Council says gets implemented,” he added (Lim Chang-Won, Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Sept. 11).

Hill also reportedly proposed a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan, while in China this week — a proposal Pyongyang rejected, the Yonhap News Agency reported.  However, South Korean officials were unable to confirm that report, according to the Associated Press (Kwang-Tae Kim, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 12).

South Korean officials yesterday called on the United States to show greater flexibility in efforts to restart talks, AFP reported.

“It is necessary that all countries concerned engage in various forms of dialogue in a flexible manner,” Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok told Hill.

“There should be no restrictions on the form of dialogue for the resumption of the six-way talks,” ministry spokesman Yang Chang-seok told AFP (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, Sept. 12).

South Korea’s top envoy to the stalled talks, Chun Young-woo, supports a U.S. proposal to hold multilateral talks on the issue without North Korea on the sidelines of the upcoming U.N. General Assembly meeting, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported today.

“It is possible to form any kinds of multilateral meetings but under the assumption that none of these meetings would undermine the credibility of the six-party talks,” Chun said.

A similar meeting in Malaysia on the sidelines of a regional security forum in July included Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States, according to DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/MonstersandCritics.com, Sept. 12).

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U.S. Questions Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone

The United States yesterday raised possible problems with a nuclear weapon-free zone signed Friday by five Central Asian nations, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 8).

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the pact outlawed production, purchase or deployment or nuclear weapons within their borders.

France, the United Kingdom and the United States have warned that ambiguity in the document could create problems.

“Other international treaties could taken precedence over the provisions of this treaty, and thus obviate the central objective of creating a zone free of nuclear weapons,” according to the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan.

A 1992 treaty between Russia and four of the zone nations could allow deployment of Russian missiles in the region, AP reported (Associated Press, Sept. 11).

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, meanwhile, lauded the agreement, United Press International reported.  Nuclear weapon-free zones promote the international nonproliferation regime, and peace and security in the region, Annan said.

“May the efforts of the Central Asian states help move us further in that direction,” he said in a prepared statement (Edith Honan, United Press International, Sept. 9).

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Japanese Firm Under Investigation for Illegally Exporting Dual-Use Items Via the U.S.

A Japanese company under investigation for illegal exports might have sent some devices that could be used to produce nuclear weapons to the United States, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept. 8).

Mitutoyo Corp. is suspected of fraudulently avoiding examinations that would have found that it could not legally export 1,600 high-precision measuring devices to the United States, the Sankei newspaper cited police officials as saying. 

Some of the devices might have then been sent from the United States to a nation involved in WMD development, Sankei reported (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 12).

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U.S. to Provide Nuclear Training to South Korea

U.S. experts are in Seoul to provide nuclear inspection training, The Korea Times reported today (see GSN, Sept. 7).

The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency team is expected to stage a scenario in which North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program.  Some 20 South Korean officials are expected to receive the training over two days, said a Defense Ministry official.  Army units in Kwangju and Yangpyong are then scheduled to conduct the drills through Saturday, he said.

“The training program is being conducted in order to master the process related to inspecting nuclear and conventional weapons, because that training has been suspended for some 10 years,” a ministry official said.  “Suggestions have been raised inside the Defense Ministry late last year that there was a need for educating on inspections.”

Some of the visiting U.S. officials carried out inspections in the early 1990s on former Soviet nuclear installations, the official said (Jung Sung-ki, The Korea Times, Sept. 12).

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Mideast Conference Calls for Nuclear-Free Region

The Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday called for a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 8).

“Security and stability will not be achieved unless Israel gives up its nuclear arsenal and programs, signs up to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty like other countries of the region ... and opens its nuclear facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency,” according to a statement issued at the end of a two-day regional conference.

Participants also said Arab states must be “associated with efforts to resolve the crisis over Iran’s nuclear file by peaceful means,” but that “the Arab peoples have the right to acquire nuclear technology and develop it for peaceful uses.”

The council’s secretary general, Abdulrahman al-Attiya, on Sunday called the group’s concerns over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions “real and justified,” AFP reported (Agence France-Presse, Sept. 11).

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Hussein Accuses Kurdish Chemical Attack Witnesses of Attempting to Divide Iraqis

Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein yesterday accused witnesses at his genocide trial of divisiveness for testifying about alleged chemical attacks on civilians by his troops in the late 1980s, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 22).

“All the witnesses said in the courtroom that they were oppressed because they were Kurds,” Hussein shouted.  “They’re trying to create strife between the people of Iraq.  They’re trying to create division between Kurds and Arabs and this is what I want the people of Iraq to know.”

Katreen Elias Mikhail testified about a June 5, 1987, bombing of the Kurdish town of Qalizewa.

“I smelled something dirty and strange,” she said.  “People were falling to the ground.  They vomited and their eyes were blinded.  We couldn’t see anything.”

“We were all afraid,” she said.  “It was our first time seeing bombs falling on our heads” (Qais al-Bashir, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 11).

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Senate Funds U.S. Missile Defenses

The U.S. Senate last week approved billions of dollars in fiscal 2007 for development of U.S. missile defenses, The Huntsville (Ala.) Times reported (see GSN, Sept. 5).

The defense appropriations bill cuts $200 million from the Defense Department budget request for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, which would be designed to eliminate enemy missiles in their boost phase.

However, the Senate designated $3.3 billion for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system and $164.7 million for the program to place multiple kill vehicles on single missile interceptors.  Lawmakers directed another $489 million toward the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 program, the Times reported.

The House and Senate must now reconcile their defense appropriations bills in a conference committee.  Fiscal 2007 begins on Oct. 1 (Shelby Spires, The Huntsville Times, Sept. 9).

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New Aegis Missile Defense System Certified

An upgraded version of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Weapon System has been certified for deployment, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said Sept. 1 (see GSN, Aug. 17).

“The upgraded system enhances the ballistic missile defense capabilities of the current Aegis fleet.  The system also adds capability in other warfare areas and brings the BMD mission to additional destroyers and cruisers,” the agency said in a press release.

Several U.S. Navy destroyers are now equipped with radar for long-range monitoring of various missile threats.  The Ballistic Missile Defense System receives that information, the release states.

Three cruisers also have this equipment and can use Standard Missile 3 interceptors against short-to-medium range threats.  A total of 15 destroyers and three cruisers by 2009 are scheduled to have this capability (U.S. Missile Defense Agency release, Sept. 1).

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