Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech today that Iran is operating 3,000 centrifuges at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility (Majid/Getty Images). Iran Running 3,000 Centrifuges, Ahmadinejad Says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that his nation is operating 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges, a milestone in a nuclear program that Western powers suspect could be aimed at nuclear weapons development, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 6). “We have now reached 3,000 machines,” he said...Full Story

Lawmakers Restrict Conventional Trident Program By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A U.S. House-Senate budget conference committee has denied the Defense Department any fiscal 2008 funding for “testing, fabrication or deployment” of a conventionally armed version of a Navy submarine-launched ballistic missile, according to a near-final draft of the panel’s report (see GSN, Oct. 23)...Full Story

Funding Cut for Poland Interceptor Site U.S. House and Senate lawmakers yesterday cut fiscal 2008 funding for installation of 10 missile interceptors in Poland, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 31)...Full Story

	Wednesday, November 7, 2007

EU Official Seeks Heightened Antiterror Measures European Union Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini yesterday introduced antiterrorism measures including collection of information on airline passengers and outlawing actions that could promote terrorist strikes, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 6). Frattini proposed having the 27 EU nations criminalize the online posting of terrorist propaganda and bomb-building guides.  Anyone who recruits others to carry out acts of terrorism should also face punishment under current counterterrorism laws. He also recommended establishing a database for thefts of explosives in Europe. Frattini proposed creating a system that would store for 13 years extensive information on airline travelers in the European Union.  The system would be similar to one already in place in the United States, but some observers said it would encroach too much on privacy. “Retaining passenger data would only make sense if such a system were to be implemented for train passengers and cars as well,” said German Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar. Frattini argued that such measures, which would require approval from the EU member nations, are necessary safeguards against terrorist attacks.  European Union counterterrorism officials on Monday discussed a rising threat of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists (Constant Brand, Associated Press/Google News, Nov. 6). Back to top

Iran Running 3,000 Centrifuges, Ahmadinejad Says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that his nation is operating 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges, a milestone in a nuclear program that Western powers suspect could be aimed at nuclear weapons development, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 6). “We have now reached 3,000 machines,” he said. U.S. analysts have estimated that 3,000 centrifuges running at full capacity could theoretically produce enough weapon-grade uranium for a bomb in as little as one year. Although Ahmadinejad said previously that Iran had installed 3,000 centrifuges at its Natanz facility, this was the first claim that the nation is fully operating the machines. The International Atomic Energy Agency recently estimated that Tehran was operating roughly 2,000 centrifuges and testing an additional 650 at Natanz. “Whether it is 2,000 or 2,500 or 3,000 or 1,000 centrifuges, the irrefutable fact is that they are continuing to defy the international community,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, who said he could not confirm the figure offered by Ahmadinejad. While generally confirming Ahmadinejad’s claim, one source said Iran would need years to reach the point where the machines run efficiently and do not break down on a regular basis, AP reported. Iran has expressed its intention to eventually operate as many as 54,000 centrifuges in its uranium enrichment program, which officials have maintained is intended only for energy production (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press I/PR-inside.com, Nov. 7). A high-level Israeli intelligence official yesterday told the lawmakers that Iran could develop nuclear weapons within the next two years at its current rate of progress, AP reported “If nothing stops Iran, by the end of 2009, Iran will have a nuclear weapon,” a person who attended the session quoted Maj. Gen Yossi Baidatz, head of research for Israeli military intelligence, as saying (Associated Press II/New York Post, Nov. 7). Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today that she intends to push U.S. President George W. Bush to seek a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff, Agence France-Presse reported. “I want a diplomatic solution and I will make every effort to achieve it.  I am sure that the U.S. president will lend me his ear,” said Merkel, who is expected to arrive Friday in Texas for weekend meetings with Bush. “The international community must pursue its goal of preventing Iran from having nuclear arms with firmness.  This is a process we should take step by step,” Merkel said. “If the current talks are not successful, then Germany will also be willing to implement further, tougher sanctions,” she said (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Nov. 7). French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday that France remains open to negotiations with Iran although it cannot accept the prospect of Tehran acquiring a nuclear arsenal, AFP reported “The hypothesis that a nuclear weapon could find its way into the hands of the current leaders of Iran is unacceptable for France," Sarkozy said on the first day of a trip to Washington. “But at the same time, I would say just as strongly that access to civilian nuclear energy is a right, including for Iran,” he said. “There is no other solution than U.N. and European sanctions, and at the same time we have to remain open to dialogue,” he said (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Nov. 6). In Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday rebuffed an Israeli assertion that IAEA chief ElBaradei was abetting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. “There have been repeated expressions of full confidence in the agency by the IAEA member states, including the board, the General Conference, the U.N. General Assembly, the U.N. Security Council and the Nobel Peace Prize Committee,” IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said when the Iranian state-run news service questioned her on the statement by Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. A diplomat in Vienna said yesterday that Israel was criticizing ElBaradei to affect the reception of his progress report to the U.N. Security Council later this month on Iranian disclosure of its past nuclear activities (Islamic Republic News Agency, Nov. 6). Back to top       Lawmakers Restrict Conventional Trident Program By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A U.S. House-Senate budget conference committee has denied the Defense Department any fiscal 2008 funding for “testing, fabrication or deployment” of a conventionally armed version of a Navy submarine-launched ballistic missile, according to a near-final draft of the panel’s report (see GSN, Oct. 23). The Pentagon requested $175 million to develop the Conventional Trident Modification as the first in a series of weapons for the military’s new “prompt global strike” mission.  The mission would allow U.S. commanders to attack urgent targets such as terrorist hideouts or rogue-nation weapons of mass destruction virtually anywhere around the world within 60 minutes of a launch order. However, lawmakers have raised concerns that Russia or other nuclear powers might misinterpret the launch of a conventionally armed Trident D-5 missile from the same submarines that carry the missile’s nuclear look-alike, potentially triggering a dangerous response (see GSN, May 16). Going into the conference committee, the two chambers had both zeroed the Pentagon’s request for a conventional version of the Trident D-5 missile, and shifted those and other funds into a new multiservice account to develop a variety of prompt global strike weapons. Efforts under way to create potential alternatives to the conventional Trident include an Air Force Conventional Strike Missile, an Army Advanced Hypersonic Weapon and a Navy intermediate-range Submarine-Launched Global Strike Missile (see GSN, Oct. 10). The Senate voted to move $125 million into the funding pot and said the money could be spent solely on alternatives to the conventional Trident.  The House directed $100 million into the prompt global strike account but left the door open for some funds to be used on the Navy missile. In the conference, which concluded yesterday, budget negotiators agreed to embrace the House funding level of $100 million for the joint account.  At the same time, they included report language that could tie the Pentagon’s hands in proceeding with the conventional Trident effort. “The conferees agree to provide no funding for testing, fabrication or deployment of a Conventional Trident Modification program,” according to the near-final draft.  “Funds in the new conventional prompt global strike program element,” the lawmakers added, “shall be applied to propulsion and guidance systems, mission planning, re-entry vehicle design, modeling and simulation efforts, command and control, and launch system infrastructure.  Additionally, funding may be applied towards efforts such as strategic policy compliance, intermediate-range missile concepts, advanced non-nuclear warheads and other mission-enabling capabilities.” Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an early advocate of the conventional Trident concept, last month appeared to accept the notion that Capitol Hill would not allow the missile modification program to proceed.  Cartwright told Global Security Newswire he saw “signaling … from the Hill, which I don’t necessarily disagree with,” to shelve the conventional Trident and “start to focus the r&d on the next generation beyond conventional Trident.” An alternative land- or sea-based weapon system might “provide either flight profile or launch conditions that would be less ambiguous,” he said. Meanwhile, the development work accomplished to date on the conventional Trident missile could allow a modified variant to be “fielded quickly” if a pressing threat emerges, Cartwright said. In their draft report, the conferees also directed the Defense Department to submit a report on prompt global strike “technology thrusts and investment objectives” within 90 days of the bill’s enactment. Lawmakers on the conference panel also offered the Defense Department half the $30 million in fiscal 2008 funds it had requested for the development of a new nuclear warhead, according to the panel’s draft report. The conference committee embraced the Senate position in providing the Pentagon with $15 million for the Reliable Replacement Warhead during the new fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.  The House had earlier passed an appropriations bill that eliminated defense funds for the new warhead. The Bush administration launched the new warhead program as a means of making the nuclear weapons arsenal more safe, secure and affordable to maintain.  The effort’s boosters have also said it would help the United States preserve the scientific brain trust and manufacturing capabilities to produce nuclear weapons in the future, and would help avoid a return to atomic explosive testing. However, the effort has proven controversial on Capitol Hill, with some influential lawmakers questioning how the replacement warhead fits into U.S. nuclear weapons policy and expressing concern about its potential price tag (see GSN, Oct. 23). The conference committee has not yet officially filed its report with the House Rules Committee, according to a Capitol Hill staff aide.  Once that is done, the conference bill would proceed to votes on the House and Senate floors and ultimately be sent to the White House for the president’s signature. Back to top       U.S., South Korea Remain Concerned About North North Korea’s moves toward denuclearization have not erased U.S. and South Korean concerns about the Stalinist state, top defense officials from the two allies said today (see GSN, Nov. 6). “Although it’s true that North Korea has begun the process of disabling its nuclear program, we cannot say that the threat from North Korea has reduced tangibly or discernibly,” said South Korean National Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo.  “We don’t have any intelligence to indicate coming to that sort of conclusion. “North Korea is continuing to pursue the acquisition of asymmetrical weapons,” he said. Kim met in Seoul with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who offered a slightly less stark statement during a press conference, the Associated Press reported. “The North Korean nuclear and conventional threat remains the focal point of our alliance’s deterrent and defensive posture,” he said.  “We are started on a path (to denuclearization), but we are far from reaching our destination” (Lolita Baldor, Associated Press/Washington Post, Nov. 7). Gates and Kim, in a statement, said “that North Korea’s continued development of WMD and long-range missiles, along with the danger of … proliferation, were a challenge to the ROK (South Korea)-U.S. alliance,” Agence France-Presse reported. The U.S. defense chief declined to comments on reports indicating that Pyongyang had supported Syria’s suspected nuclear program (see GSN, Oct. 30; Yahoo!News, Nov. 7). U.S. experts are monitoring disablement of primary facilities at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex, which has produced plutonium for its weapons efforts.  Participants in the six-party talks expect disablement to be finished this year and hope it will precede the final closure of Pyongyang’s nuclear program “This is groundbreaking territory,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.  “The world has not been to this point vis-à-vis the North Korea nuclear program before.” “We’ve gotten to the point of freezes and shutdowns but we are now to the point of disablement so that there would be a significant effort that would be required in order to get back to a functioning reactor,” he added. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency are tracking the work, Reuters reported.  North Korea in July allowed agency personnel back into the country after a five-year absence as it halted operations at Yongbyon (Jon Herskovitz, Reuters/Washington Post, Nov. 6). Back to top       University of California Protests Lab Security Fine The University of California said yesterday it would seek judicial review of a $3 million fine over a Los Alamos National Laboratory security breach in which a contract employee brought classified documents home, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported (see GSN, Oct. 1). Police found more than 1,000 pages of documents from the New Mexico facility during an October 2006 drug raid on the trailer.  The contract employee was not the target of the raid. The university’s notice of intent to seek the review is intended to protect its legal rights, according to UC spokesman Chris Harrington.  He said the filing would not interfere with ongoing settlement talks between the school and the U.S. Energy Department. “It is important to note that the university has not decided to appeal the decision,” he said. The employee had worked as an archivist at the laboratory, which the university managed for the Energy Department until June 2006.  Management is now handled by Los Alamos National Security LLC, a consortium that includes the school. The consortium has already paid a $300,000 fine related to the security breach, said laboratory spokesman Kevin Roark. The Energy Department levied a greater fine against the university because Energy Department investigators determined that it was responsible for “structural management deficiencies” that contributed to the security breach.  The new overseer did not take steps to correct the problems, the auditors said. The university has maintained it was not responsible for the breach and did not violate Energy Department rules because the incident involved an employee of a subcontractor and not a university staffer (Wendy Brown, Santa Fe New Mexican, Nov. 6). Back to top

U.S. Funds Vaccine Testing Sites The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced yesterday that it would provide more than $180 million to eight sites that conduct clinical trials of infectious disease vaccines and therapies (see GSN, Oct. 11). Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units in Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa City, Nashville, Seattle and St. Louis are each expected to receive $23.7 million over seven years. Facilities, most operating at universities, since 1962 have tested vaccines for a variety of diseases, including those such as anthrax and smallpox that are considered potential agents of bioterrorism. “In more than four decades of research, the VTEUs have conducted hundreds of clinical trials of investigational vaccines and therapeutics for a variety of infectious diseases of public health concern, and many of these trials have contributed to the licensure of products,” NIAID chief Anthony Fauci said in a press release.  “We expect this success to continue, as each VTEU has exceptional experience in vaccinology and an impressive capacity to recruit volunteers from diverse populations in its community.” The latest funding boosts the number of units from seven to eight.  It requires them to conduct a greater number of clinical trials on larger numbers of people and to “safely test vaccines in specific vulnerable populations, such as infants and the elderly,” according the release (U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases release, Nov. 6). Meanwhile, a researcher at Albany Medical College in New York has received $1.8 million in NIAID funding to develop nasal or oral vaccines that could be more effective than injection treatments in countering bioterror agents or other infectious diseases, the Times Union reported. “Vaccines that can be swallowed or inhaled are going to work better than those that enter the bloodstream,” said professor Dennis Metzger.  They could provide protection in nearly all cases rather than 70 to 90 percent of patients (Cathleen Crowley, Albany Times Union, Nov. 6). Back to top       Virginia Agency Conducts Drug-Delivery Drill Health officials in Chesapeake, Va., were scheduled yesterday to test their ability to quickly deliver medicine following an act of bioterrorism, the Virginian-Pilot reported (see GSN, Sept. 25). The exercise called for volunteers transported on school buses to leave bags containing brochures and four empty pill bottles at 1,000 homes. “The idea is speed,” said Robert Rendin, emergency planner for the Chesapeake district of the Virginia Health Department. Residents were asked to call a telephone number included in the packet to confirm they had received the delivery.  Officials hope the training would translate to preparedness for an actual incident and help keep people off the street during a crisis. “Stay at home, stay with your families,” Rendin said.  “We’re coming to you” (Nancy Young, Virginian-Pilot, Nov. 6). Back to top

Chemical in U.N. Office “Nonhazardous,” Panel Says A three-member expert panel reported that a suspected choking agent discovered at a U.N. office in August was “nonhazardous,” the Associated Press reported  yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 10). The substance discovered at the office of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission was labeled only with an inventory number that indicated it was the chemical weapons agent phosgene. Records indicated the chemical had been retrieved in 1996 from the remains of a bombed Iraqi research laboratory and mistakenly shipped to the U.N. administrative center. The UNMOVIC office was evacuated following the Aug. 24 discovery.  Hazardous materials personnel retrieved the material and sent it for laboratory analysis.  In early September, authorities indicated that the substance was likely a nontoxic cleaning agent. After completing its investigation, the expert panel confirmed the material “as nonhazardous after testing by U.S. authorities,” said U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe. The tested samples contained no chemical weapons agents or related substances, she said (Associated Press/Google News, Nov. 6). Back to top

Funding Cut for Poland Interceptor Site U.S. House and Senate lawmakers yesterday cut fiscal 2008 funding for installation of 10 missile interceptors in Poland, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 31). Budget negotiators sliced the money from a $460 billion bill containing funding for Defense Department operations, according to Representative John Murtha (D-Pa.). The full House and Senate are not expected to reverse the decision as they consider and then vote on the bill.  Construction of the planned Polish silo site could be delayed if the funding does not come through. The Bush administration wants to deploy the interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic to counter what it says is a growing Iranian missile threat.  Russia has strenuously objected, threatening to aim nuclear missiles at European targets should Washington move ahead with its plan. Some Democrats in Congress have expressed doubts about the missile defense system’s capabilities and the potential effect of European installations on relations with Russia, AP reported. Incoming Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday took a more reserved tone on the interceptor site than his departing predecessor, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. “If we decide that missile defense will unambiguously increase Poland’s security, then we will be open to negotiations,” he said.  Tusk said that Warsaw would seek input from other European Union nations during its deliberations (Desmond Butler, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Nov. 6). Meanwhile, U.S. and Czech officials yesterday reported progress in their negotiations on the radar site, AP reported. “We’ve made significant progress today on a range of issues” said Assistant Secretary of State John Rood.  That included “an agreement on a provision that would require both sides … to approve a visit of an official from any other country.” Washington has proposed allowing Russian officials to monitor the site as one way of overcoming Moscow’s opposition.  Prague has said such visits could not include Russian military personnel. Other topics of discussion included operation of the radar, Czech involvement in the system and the obligations that both countries would be expected to meet, Rood said. There was no word on when negotiations might conclude.  Additional talks are expected next month (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, Nov. 6). Elsewhere, the Russian Duma today voted 418-0 in favor of halting compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, Reuters reported.  The upper house of the Russian parliament and President Vladimir Putin must approve the move, which would go into effect on Dec. 12. The 1990 treaty limits the number of tanks, heavy artillery and other conventional weaponry that parties can concentrate in Europe.  Russia’s move away from the pact has been seen as a response to the U.S. missile defense effort in Europe. “Russia cannot be blamed for the dismantling of the CFE treaty, if such a thing happens,” said Army Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, Russian military chief of staff.  “It would not be an irreparable loss for our country but as regards the European states, this will be a significant and sensitive loss for them” (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Nov. 7). Back to top       U.S. Tests Sea-Based Missile Defense System The U.S. Navy in an exercise yesterday tracked and destroyed two ballistic missile targets fired nearly simultaneously from Hawaii (see GSN, Nov. 6). The two targets were launched at about 6:12 p.m. Hawaii time from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands on the island of Kauai, U.S. Missile Defense Agency chief Lt. Gen. Henry Obering said in a statement. The Aegis ballistic missile defense system on-board the USS Lake Erie detected and tracked the mock enemy missiles and calculated a firing trajectory.  Within about two minutes, the ship fired two Standard Missile 3 interceptors that hit and destroyed the targets.  The targets were destroyed outside earth’s atmosphere, about 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 250 miles northwest of Kauai.  The interception occurred roughly two minutes after the launch of the interceptors, destroying the targets using the force of their impact. The target missiles destroyed in yesterday’s test, dubbed Flight Test Standard Missile-13, were the 10th and 11th targets successfully intercepted by the Aegis system out of 13 total attempts and 12 separate flight tests. The targets destroyed yesterday were also the 32nd and 33rd eliminated in “hit-to-kill” interceptions since 2001.  The test was the first to use unitary “nonseparating” targets whose warheads did not separate from their booster rockets. The Aegis-equipped Japanese destroyer JDS Kongo conducted long-range surveillance and tracking of the target missiles in preparation for a live-fire test next month of the ship’s ballistic missile defense system.  Japan’s planned test would be its first attempt to intercept a ballistic missile from one of its ships. Yesterday’s test was the fourth U.S. ballistic missile defense test involving an allied military (U.S. Missile Defense Agency release, Nov. 6). 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.