A U.S. nuclear warhead undergoes testing. The Bush administration announced plans yesterday to reduce the number of nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal by another 15 percent in five years (White House photo). U.S. to Reduce Nuclear Stockpile By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The White House announced yesterday that President George W. Bush has decided to reduce the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile by an additional 15 percent by 2012 (see GSN, June 7). The new retirements come on top of those already undertaken over the past three years.  In 2004, Bush said the United States would cut its arsenal — which includes a vast number of warheads in storage — in half by 2012 (see GSN, June 4, 2004). However, the nuclear agency has retired weapons much more swiftly than anticipated and now expects to achieve the 50 percent reduction before the end of this year, Thomas D’Agostino, head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, said at a press conference earlier in the day...Full Story

States’ Preparedness for Biological Terrorism Undercut by Federal Funding Reductions, Group Says Efforts by U.S. states to prepare for a disease outbreak or a biological weapons incident could be undermined by federal funding cuts, a health advocacy organization said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2006)...Full Story

Cuba Focus Distracts U.S. From Terrorism, GAO Says The efforts of various U.S. agencies to apprehend citizens for traveling to Cuba or illegally importing goods from the country might undercut more pressing pursuits such as fighting terrorism, according to a Government Accountability Office report released today (see GSN, Feb. 28)...Full Story

	Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Cuba Focus Distracts U.S. From Terrorism, GAO Says The efforts of various U.S. agencies to apprehend citizens for traveling to Cuba or illegally importing goods from the country might undercut more pressing pursuits such as fighting terrorism, according to a Government Accountability Office report released today (see GSN, Feb. 28). Congressional investigators found that 20 percent of charter passengers arriving from Cuba undergo secondary inspections by Customs and Border Protection agents at Miami International Airport, the New York Times reported.  That is more than six times the number of inspections conducted for arrivals from other foreign nations. The emphasis on inspecting arrivals from Cuba and seizing prohibited goods such as cigars and rum has “strained CBP’s capacity to carry out its primary mission of keeping terrorists, criminals and inadmissible aliens from entering the country at Miami International Airport,” the report says. The report also urges the Treasury Department to review the priorities of its Foreign Assets Control Office, which is charged with preventing WMD proliferation and freezing assets held by terrorist entities, among more than 20 economic and trade sanctions programs.  The office has focused its efforts on Cuba for years, investigating and determining penalties for Cuba embargo violations in 61 percent of its cases between 2001 and 2006.  Congressional auditors determined that the agency during that time pursued 10,823 cases involving Cuba and 6,791 involving any other nation. “This is not good policy,” said Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who called for the report one year ago with Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). “It’s vindictive.  It’s stupid.  It’s costly.  And now we find out it’s a threat to our national security.” Addressing the report, the State Department said in a statement that the United States isolates Havana by enforcing the Trading With the Enemy Act, a 1917 law prohibiting U.S. citizens from conducting trade with hostile nations without federal approval. Enforcing the embargo less strictly, as major Democratic presidential contenders have called for, would “provide increased revenue to the successor dictatorship run by Raúl Castro, and prolong its tight control over all aspects of Cuban life,” the statement said (Marc Lacey, New York Times, Dec. 19). Back to top       House Approves Terrorism Insurance Bill By Bill Swindell CongressDaily WASHINGTON —    The U.S. House of Representatives cleared legislation yesterday that would renew the federal government's terrorism risk insurance program for seven years, providing a lengthy extension for a program designed to bring stability for the commercial real estate sector in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (see GSN, Dec. 13). By a 360-53 vote, the chamber passed the bill and sent it to the White House, where President George W. Bush is expected to sign it into law before the program expires Dec. 31. Passage ends a one-year lobbying battle that pitted sectors of the insurance industry against each other. Commercial real-estate interests were successful in pushing for inclusion in a House bill a provision that required carriers to make available coverage for a nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological attack. Shopping-center and hotel operators who wanted such coverage scored a victory when the American Insurance Association, the umbrella group representing all carriers, endorsed the provision this year. Small carriers bitterly opposed the language, arguing such a mandate would put them at risk because they would not be able to shoulder such a burden in the event of an attack. Under such pressure, the Senate scrapped the provision in its bill, along with numerous other House items.  The lone exception was to expand coverage for terrorist acts committed by Americans. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) became frustrated with the Senate's take-it-or-leave-it stance during negotiations and had threatened to pass a short-term extension to provide more time to work out differences between the versions. Last week, the House passed a revised bill, stripping most of its provisions except three notable sections, including one that would allow the program to decrease deductibles for areas that have already suffered a terrorist attack. The New York delegation pushed for such language, arguing it is needed to aid in rebuilding the former World Trade Center site. "Under the reset, if, heaven forbid, our country does suffer another catastrophic attack, the nationwide trigger would be reset and the nationwide deductible for any insurer that pays out losses related to that attack would be reset at lower levels," said Representative Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.).  "God willing, New York will never be hit a second time, and, God willing, your state will never suffer a catastrophic attack like 9/11." But the Senate did not budge and Frank was forced to bring up the Senate bill Tuesday. Frank said he would likely revisit some of the House provisions next year, by moving them as standalone pieces. He also took aim at Senate Banking ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), blaming him for a "one-person veto" that did not allow the Senate to vote on floor amendments to the bill. "I disagree with his obstruction," Frank said. A Shelby spokesman defended the Senate bill, noting that it stood the best chance of passing with unified support from industry and White House backing. "Senator Shelby believes it fairly accommodates those who rely on the program," the aide said. Back to top

U.S. Certifies Puerto Rico WMD Response Team The U.S. Defense Department announced yesterday that it had certified the National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team for Puerto Rico (see GSN, June 4). The 22nd WMD-CST, stationed at Fort Buchanan, has been trained and equipped to assist local emergency responders in responding to an attack involving a weapon of mass destruction, the Pentagon said in a statement. The team is the 53rd such unit certified by the Defense Department out of 55 teams authorized to date by Congress.  Congress has called for the establishment of at least one Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team in each U.S. state and territory as well as the District of Columbia (U.S. Defense Department release, Dec. 18). Back to top

U.S. to Reduce Nuclear Stockpile By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The White House announced yesterday that President George W. Bush has decided to reduce the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile by an additional 15 percent by 2012 (see GSN, June 7). The new retirements come on top of those already undertaken over the past three years.  In 2004, Bush said the United States would cut its arsenal — which includes a vast number of warheads in storage — in half by 2012 (see GSN, June 4, 2004). However, the nuclear agency has retired weapons much more swiftly than anticipated and now expects to achieve the 50 percent reduction before the end of this year, Thomas D’Agostino, head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, said at a press conference earlier in the day. Having achieved that milestone five years early, Bush has approved a plan to trim roughly another one-sixth off the total arsenal, the NNSA administrator explained. “This means the U.S. nuclear stockpile will be less than one-quarter of its size from the end of the Cold War,” D’Agostino said.  “That’s quite significant.” The baseline dates back to 2001, when the arsenal numbered approximately 10,500 warheads, according to Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists.  In 2012, if all the reductions are made, the United States would have roughly 4,600 warheads left in the arsenal, he said. The U.S. government has not disclosed nuclear weapons stockpile figures, which remain classified. Kristensen estimates that today’s nuclear arsenal includes approximately 9,900 weapons.  Of the total, roughly 4,600 are operationally deployed on delivery systems including land-based ICBMs, submarine-based missiles and aircraft-delivered bombs, Kristensen said. The new 15 percent reduction translates to about 800 more warheads taken out of the fleet, according to nuclear experts.  It remains unclear if any of the retired warheads would come from weapon systems that are operationally deployed today. The cuts reflect a shift in administrative control over selected warheads from the Defense Department to the Energy Department’s semiautonomous nuclear agency, an NNSA official told Global Security Newswire following the announcement. “The 15-percent reduction describes a reduction in the total number of warheads in the stockpile that will be retired and scheduled for transfer from the Department of Defense to the National Nuclear Security Administration,” said John Broehm, an NNSA spokesman. However, there may be little or no physical movement of the transferred weapons for years to come, Kristensen said.  Many of the reduced weapons would remain in storage at military bases across the United States beyond 2012 because the nuclear agency lacks sufficient space for them at its own facilities, he said. By the same token, only a small fraction of retired warheads are likely to actually be dismantled by 2012, said Kristensen, who directs his organization’s Nuclear Information Project.  “What this [reduction announcement] means is they’ve opened the lock to the DOD stockpile and they’ve transferred ownership of those ‘cut’ weapons to the Department of Energy,” he told GSN.  “This is housecleaning.  We’re cleaning up our organizational custody of these weapons and transferring them from one sheet of paper to the next.” By contrast, under the warhead dismantlement project, just “a few hundred” weapons have been destroyed to date at the Pantex plant near Amarillo, where U.S. nuclear weapons are assembled and disassembled, he said. However, the NNSA warhead disassembly effort will be performed at “a significantly faster pace” in the coming years, the agency said in a statement posted online yesterday.  Broehm, the agency spokesman, would not confirm how many warheads are being dismantled each year, saying the figures remain secret. He did say, though, that it could take another 16 years to complete destruction of those warheads retired under the 50 percent reduction project.  It remains uncertain how much longer it might take to dismantle the warheads comprising the additional 15 percent cut, Broehm said. His agency has told Congress that, subject to available funds, it “would complete dismantlement of those warheads planned for retirement as of the beginning of [fiscal] 2007 before [fiscal] 2023,” Broehm said in a written response to questions.  “The planning for the dismantlement of additional quantities has not been finalized,” he added.  “Our ability to accomplish some dismantlements, or to accelerate our dismantlement plans, is related to our plans for revitalization of the facilities needed for our uranium and plutonium operations.” “It’s great that they’re speeding up the formal transition,” Kristensen said during a Tuesday phone interview.  “But we’re not talking about these weapons having been destroyed.” At the press conference, D’Agostino said Bush decided to make the cuts unilaterally, without seeking comparable warhead retirements from Russia. “This is not a quid pro quo.  We’re not expecting the Russians or demanding or asking the Russians to take a similar stand,” D’Agostino said.  The United States wants to “make sure that it’s clear to the world from a leadership perspective that we are interested in reducing the global nuclear danger,” he said. At the same time, D’Agostino noted that leaders in Moscow “have been watching” as the U.S. nuclear force posture evolves “and they will take their actions, as needed.” Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control expert at the New America Foundation, called the additional reductions a “welcome” development.  However, he added, “it doesn't change the fundamental debate about the purpose of the U.S. nuclear arsenal … and whether we need thousands or hundreds of warheads or how large our weapons complex should be.” The new warhead reductions were announced as D’Agostino outlined his plans for a broad “transformation” of the nation’s nuclear weapons infrastructure (see GSN, Dec. 3). The agency described “Complex Transformation” as its “vision for a smaller, safer, more secure and less expensive nuclear weapons complex that leverages the scientific and technical capabilities of our work force and meets national security requirements.” Over the next decade, the agency proposes to consolidate its facilities, reducing the square footage of its nuclear weapons infrastructure by 30 percent.  The complex currently includes eight major facilities, including laboratories, weapons assembly plants and test sites. The nuclear agency would also cut its work force by 20 to 30 percent, mostly through retirements.  A detailed version of the draft plan is to be released in January. D’Agostino made a point of noting that neither the warhead reductions nor his draft proposal for consolidating the weapons complex depend on whether plans for the controversial Reliable Replacement Warhead go forward (see GSN, Aug. 1). The Bush administration would like to see a variety of replacement warheads eventually renovate the entire nuclear stockpile, officials have said.  However, the warhead has encountered heavy resistance in Congress, which this week zeroed funding for the project in an omnibus appropriations bill (see GSN, Dec. 18). “There [is a] very important role for RRW to play in potentially a future stockpile, particularly [given] the safety and security features and capabilities that it brings.  However, this is not about RRW,” said D’Agostino, referring to the weapons complex plan.  “This is about transforming and making sure that our nuclear weapons infrastructure is actually sized and more geared towards future, sustainable missions.” Back to top       North Korean Nuclear Complex Disablement Running “Smoothly,” Chinese Official Says A senior Chinese official said North Korea’s disablement of three key facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex appears to be going well, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Dec. 18). Under the continuing denuclearization process, Pyongyang agreed to complete disablement and issue a full description of its nuclear program by the end of 2007.  Doubts have been raised recently about North Korea’s ability to meet the deadline and its willingness to declare its complete atomic efforts. “Denuclearization work is proceeding smoothly in accordance with steps agreed by the six nations,” said Wu Dawei, Beijing’s top envoy to the six-party talks.  “North Korean and U.S. engineers and technicians are working hard at this.” Nations participating in the negotiations are China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas.  North Korea would receive energy aid and diplomatic and security benefits for fully shuttering its nuclear program. U.S. State Department official Sung Kim, who has led Washington’s monitoring of the work at Yongbyon, is scheduled to return today to Pyongyang, Reuters reported. “He will be reviewing the progress on disablement and will be meeting with officials there in order to continue to move the six-party process forward,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey (Reuters/Straits Times, Dec. 19). Back to top

States’ Preparedness for Biological Incident Undercut by Federal Funding Reductions, Group Says Efforts by U.S. states to prepare for a disease outbreak or a biological weapons incident could be undermined by federal funding cuts, a health advocacy organization said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2006). The Trust for America’s Health issued its fifth-annual readiness report, assessing the preparedness of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for disease, disasters and bioterrorism, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported. The organization said that the fiscal 2008 federal budget slices $146 million from bioterrorism and public health preparedness systems, a 25 percent drop in funding from 2005.  Programs to boost readiness at the local level and at hospitals are particularly hard hit, the report states. “Just when we are beginning to see a return on the federal investment in preparedness programs, the president and Congress have continued to cut these funds,” Trust for America’s Health Executive Director Jeff Levi said in a press release.  “These efforts may seem penny wise now, but could prove to be pound foolish later.” The group used 10 factors to assess states’ preparedness efforts, including adequate planning to distribute vaccines and other countermeasures from the federal stockpile, public health laboratory capabilities, drills and training, and liability protections for health care volunteers during public health emergencies. The District of Columbia and 35 states met at least eight benchmarks, with Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia meeting all 10.  Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, Wisconsin and Wyoming posted the lowest scores, each meeting six of 10 indicators. Seven states and the District of Columbia did not have adequate laboratory capabilities for testing of biological threats.  That count is down from 11 in 2006 (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy release, Dec. 18). Back to top       New Anthrax Treatment Successful in Animal Tests The biological research firm Human Genome Sciences said yesterday that its experimental anthrax treatment notably improved the survival rate of monkeys exposed to anthrax spores in lethal quantities, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, Oct. 3, 2005). The Maryland company needed successful results from the study before it could carry out a $165 million U.S. government contract to produce 20,000 doses of the treatment, called ABthrax. The drug, which prevents anthrax toxins from penetrating and killing cells, represents one form of defense against anthrax attacks in a three-pronged U.S. strategy.  The government is also stockpiling vaccines that must be administered weeks before exposure and antibiotics that kill anthrax bacteria but cannot neutralize the toxins released in the body through infection. Human Genome Sciences found that 64 percent of the monkeys that received one ABthrax dose during the study survived a lethal exposure to anthrax spores.  None of the monkeys that received a placebo survived the exposure. “We believe that ABthrax offers a significant step forward in the treatment of inhalational anthrax, and could play an important role in strengthening America's arsenal against bioterrorism,” company chief executive Thomas Watkins said in a statement. The company has already conducted human testing of the treatment.  Completion of one last human safety study would pave the way for the firm to prepare the treatment to send to the U.S. strategic stockpile in late 2008 (Michael Rosenwald, Washington Post, Dec. 19). Back to top       Plum Island Security Remains Unfinished, GAO Says The U.S. Homeland Security Department has carried out all but six of 24 security recommendations made in 2003 for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, but crucial work in some areas remains incomplete, the Government Accountability Office said Monday (see GSN, Oct. 5). The Long Island facility researches and prepares vaccines for animal diseases.  The release of a pathogen from the site could be economically devastating if it infected livestock.  Humans are also susceptible to some disease agents stored at the laboratory. The Government Accountability Office in 2003 made 24 security recommendations for the facility, all of which were accepted by Homeland Security, GAO natural resources and environment chief Lisa Shames said in a letter to lawmakers. The congressional auditing agency has been tracking the status of security upgrades since 2003.  In that time Homeland Security has boosted physical security, restricted access to pathogens, enhanced security capabilities and re-evaluated threats to the facility. Specific measures included making all alarms and door sensors operational to prevent intruders, boosting security of the sole food-and-mouth disease vaccine bank in North America, creating a system for conducting regular background checks of employees, increasing monitoring of nonessential personnel who enter the biocontainment area and allowing security guards to carry weapons, Shames stated. Recommendations that are not yet fully implemented are:  having contract security personnel report to the security director rather than the administrative contract officer; preventing contractors and visitors with criminal records from entering the biocontainment area; ensuring students or other laboratory personnel are approved to enter the biocontainment area; developing an incident response plan for a terrorist attack or other event that overwhelms the security system; conducting exercises with local law enforcement agencies; and revising incident response plans as necessary “to reflect any redefined risks, threats and assets.” The New York laboratory is due to be replaced around 2013 by the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, which would conduct research on anthrax, botulism and other diseases lethal to animals and humans.  Plum Island might be upgraded to become the new facility and there has been discussion of keeping it operating no matter where its successor opens. “Whether Plum Island continues to operate in its current capacity or as a higher level biosecurity facility, it is important that DHS fully implement the remaining recommendations to reduce the risk of pathogen theft and to enhance response capabilities,” Shames wrote (U.S. Government Accountability Office release, Dec. 17). Back to top       N.C. Residents Oppose Biodefense Lab Some North Carolina residents are pushing to have a site in their state removed from consideration as the home for a $450 million U.S. laboratory that would study deadly biological weapons agents, the Raleigh News & Observer reported  yesterday (see GSN, July 12). The 4,000-acre Umstead Research Farm in Butner is one of five locations across the country in the running to host the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. Those who oppose using the Granville County site for the Homeland Security Department facility have begun frequenting civic meetings, where they question local leaders about the expected benefits of hosting the laboratory and safety measures that would be put in place there. “If you really take the time to understand this, you can't possibly support it,” said Granville County doctor Joe Melamed. Despite the occasionally contentious exchanges, few county leaders have reneged on their support for the laboratory.  “I'm convinced that there would be some economic value to Granville County, but that's beside the point,” said James Lumpkins, chairman of the Granville County commissioners.  “If it helps us counter diseases in the country, then I'm for it.” Officials in Raleigh, located about 25 miles south of Butner, have questioned the Homeland Security Department on effects the laboratory could have on Falls Lake, which the city depends on for drinking water. Local resident Matt Petrovick, who has examined the flight patterns of local birds, has suggested that biological agents that accidentally escape from the facility could be carried by birds to Falls Lake and other locations throughout North Carolina’s Research Triangle. A small portion of the pathogens to be studied at the laboratory have no known cures or treatments, requiring the government to give the site its highest security rating. Local universities, research firms, politicians and other supporters of hosting the laboratory contend that no biological agents have ever escaped from a U.S. biodefense facility to affect the surrounding region.  The laboratory’s opponents, however, have argued that out safety incidents have occurred in such sites (see GSN, Oct. 5) and that there have been troubles at foreign facilities. Government assessments and some independent reports have examined safety concerns and other expectations for the laboratory, but local officials in Butner and neighboring Creedmor have asked the Homeland Security Department dispatch a spokesman to address the concerns of residents.  The government rejected one such appeal from Granville County, leading county officials to resubmit the request (Tim Simmons, Raleigh News & Observer, Dec. 18). Back to top

Russia, Poland to Hold Talks on U.S. Missile Shield Russian and Polish officials plan to meet in early 2008 to discuss U.S. plans to deploy missile defense elements in Europe, Reuters reported (see GSN, Dec. 18). “I am happy there will be discussions over the missile defense shield,” Kremlin aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky told reporters, adding that the discussions would take place in Warsaw. Russia has been a frequent critic of the Bush administration’s proposal to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic.  The new Polish government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk has appeared more hesitant about the plan than its predecessor. “The previous government refused to talk to us,” Yastrzhembsky said.  “The information we will provide (to Poland) will help them to look at the problem in another way.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that Moscow hopes to obtain a more specific justification from U.S. officials for deployment of the the missile shield. “We hope that the negotiations that we are carrying on would be conducted with mutual respect and not just limited to statements that (the shield) is not against Russia,” he said (Reuters/Moscow Times, Dec. 19). NATO welcomed the announcement of the Polish-Russian talks, the New York Times reported. “NATO would certainly welcome the greatest possible bilateral consultations on the issue of the U.S. missile defense proposal, and not just in the NATO context,” said spokesman James Appathurai.  “We need to lower the temperature on this issue and move to common ground” (Judy Dempsey, New York Times, Dec. 19). 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.