U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly sought fast-track presidential approval of this week’s nuclear agreement with North Korea (Win McNamee/Getty Images). Rice Bypasses Bureaucracy to Advance North Korean Deal This week’s agreement to freeze North Korea’s nuclear activities was partially enabled by reduced bureaucratic review in the Bush administration, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 15). U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice bypassed the vice president’s office and the Defense Department, both of which had resisted earlier negotiation efforts with North Korea, according to the Times...Full Story

IAEA Board to Approve Cuts to Iranian Nuclear Aid The International Atomic Energy Agency’s plan to cut its technical assistance to Iran will probably be easily approved next month by the agency’s 35-nation governing board, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Feb. 9)...Full Story

Top Russian Official Threatens INF Treaty Withdrawal A top Russian official warned yesterday that Moscow could withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty because other nations have increased their arsenals of such missiles and because of U.S. plans to deploy missile defense in Eastern Europe, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, Feb. 13)...Full Story

	Friday, February 16, 2007

Rice Bypasses Bureaucracy to Advance North Korean Deal This week’s agreement to freeze North Korea’s nuclear activities was partially enabled by reduced bureaucratic review in the Bush administration, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 15). U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice bypassed the vice president’s office and the Defense Department, both of which had resisted earlier negotiation efforts with North Korea, according to the Times. After bilateral meetings with North Korea produced significant progress in Berlin last month, Rice spoke with U.S. President George W. Bush and his national security adviser Stephen Hadley.  Hadley then vetted the diplomatic strategy through a streamlined process, the Times reported. “There was no process here,” said a deeply involved official.  “Nothing.  There was no airing of whether this is the way to deal with the North Koreans.” White House officials rejected that description. National security adviser Stephen Hadley “walked it through with concerned people,” said a senior administration official who agreed that the process was less extensive than earlier reviews. The rapid review may have contributed to criticism voiced by current and former officials. Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph has said privately that he opposes the deal and considers it to be possibly worse than the 1994 Agreed Framework that collapsed during President George W. Bush’s first term, the Times reported (Sanger/Shanker/NewYork Times, Feb. 16). Also criticizing from within was Elliott Abrams, the National Security Council’s top Middle East expert.  Abrams bashed the deal in set of e-mails to colleagues, Reuters reported. He has since changed his mind, White House spokesman Tony Snow said yesterday (Steve Holland, Reuters I, Feb. 15). “I talked to Elliot about that today. Now, what he did is he raised a question about how does the piece work when it talks about delisting North Korea as a terrorist state,” Snow said.  “He had the same concerns that many people have had, which is, is this a political deal?  Are you trying to offer a political deal to the North Koreans, saying if you come to the table, all is forgiven, we'll delist you [from the U.S. list of terrorist states]? And the answer is no. Just as we've done with other states, you still have performance requirements before you get delisted,” Snow said. “And I talked with Elliot about that this morning, and he says this has in fact satisfied his concerns, and he does support it” (Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire, Feb. 15). Rice called yesterday for administration officials to back the president’s decision to sign the nuclear deal. “The U.S. government is the U.S. government,” she said.  “So the decision has been taken.  And since people are loyal to decisions that are taken, I think that everybody expects there to be loyalty to this decision” (Sanger/Shanker, New York Times). Meanwhile, Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao spoke by phone yesterday to reaffirm their support for implementing the new agreement that calls for North Korea to receive 50,000 tons of fuel oil in exchange for freezing its nuclear activities within 60 days.  The question of North Korea abandoning its stockpile of nuclear weapons was pushed forward to future talks. “Full implementation of the document is not only of great significance for safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia, but also serves the common interests of all parties concerned,” Hu told Bush (Associated Press, London Guardian, Feb. 16). North Korea’s desperate economic conditions and recent military demonstrations probably forced the nation to agree to curtail its nuclear program, according to a South Korean official. North Korea lost significant support from China after Pyongyang conducted its first nuclear test last October (see GSN, Oct. 10, 2006) and a major missile test in July (see GSN, July 5), the official said. “They may have exhausted all the cards they had with the nuclear test,” said top South Korean nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo.  “Considering how difficult the North’s economy and its energy situation are, they would have to think long and hard before giving up on this scale of benefits,” said the official (Jack Kim, Reuters II/Washington Post, Feb. 16). Still, many analysts have expressed doubt that North Korean Kim Jong Il would ever relinquish the nation’s nuclear arsenal, the Associated Press reported. “I don’t think he has any intention of eliminating all of his nuclear weapons in his lifetime,” said nuclear expert Graham Allison of Harvard University.  Instead, Kim would “demand a high price” for small concessions in the future, he added (George Jahn, Associated Press I/International Herald Tribune, Feb. 16). Kim marked a lifetime milestone yesterday, celebrating his 65th birthday, a major North Korean holiday.  North Korean citizens have historically received special allowances, such as food, on Kim’s birthdays, according to AP. “Holidays in North Korea mark occasions on which the leadership is obligated to show tangibly its ability to care for the people,” said Scott Snyder, head of the Asia Foundation’s office in Seoul (Kwang-Tae Kim, Associated Press II/Washington Post, Feb. 16). Back to top       IAEA Board to Approve Cuts to Iranian Nuclear Aid The International Atomic Energy Agency’s plan to cut its technical assistance to Iran will probably be easily approved next month by the agency’s 35-nation governing board, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Feb. 9). The agency identified 22 programs last week that it said should be partially or entirely cut to ensure agency compliance with a December U.N. Security Council resolution that banned international support for Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. The decision requires the approval the agency’s Board of Governors, scheduled to begin its next meeting Mar. 5. A briefing this week for board members provoked few questions or criticisms, even from developing nations, which some Western diplomats feared would oppose the cuts out of concern for setting a precedent to reduce nuclear assistance, Reuters reported. “No one is totally satisfied,” said a diplomat from the Nonaligned Movement.  “But the review is as balanced as can be under the circumstances.  I see no one wanting to pick a fight when the board convenes” (Mark Heinrich, Reuters/Washington Post, Feb. 16). Meanwhile, Japan formally decided today to implement U.N. sanctions on Iran by freezing the assets of 10 firms and 12 individuals identified in the December resolution. “We must execute the measures with a determined will and resolve because (the Iranian nuclear problem) affects the nuclear nonproliferation regime and North Korea’s nuclear problem,” said Foreign Minister Taro Aso after the Japanese cabinet approved the sanctions. The measures are set to take effect tomorrow (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 16). Back to top       Top Russian Official Threatens INF Treaty Withdrawal A top Russian official warned yesterday that Moscow could withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty because other nations have increased their arsenals of such missiles and because of U.S. plans to deploy missile defense in Eastern Europe, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, Feb. 13). Under the 1987 INF Treaty, the United States and the Soviet Union, followed by Russia, destroyed all their missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (Financial Times, Feb. 15). “It is possible for a party to abandon the treaty if it provides convincing evidence that it is necessary to do so,” said Russian Army chief of staff Yuri Baluyevsky.  “We have such evidence at present” (RIA Novosti, Feb. 15). “Many countries are developing and perfecting medium-range rockets,” he added (Financial Times). “Unfortunately, by adhering to the INF Treaty, Russia lost many unique missile systems,” said Baluyevsky (RIA Novosti). A senior U.S. Defense Department official said the United States would “resist” a Russian treaty withdrawal.  The official complained that Russia had taken an inconsistent stance by privately telling U.S. officials that Moscow wanted medium-range missiles to counter Iran’s growing missile fleet, while publicly criticizing the U.S. missile defense plans which are designed to address the same threat (Financial Times). The United States hopes to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a missile tracking radar in the Czech Republic (see GSN, Feb. 13). “Their actions to deploy missile defense sites in Europe are inexplicable,” Baluyevsky said (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press/San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 15). U.S. officials have argued that the limited number of planned interceptors would not undermine Russia’s strategic deterrent. “Absolutely not.  This missile shield will provide security from attacks from rogue regimes and that’s clearly what it’s meant for,” NATO Supreme Allied Commander John Craddock told a news conference today in Warsaw (Natalia Reiter, Reuters/Washington Post, Feb. 16). Back to top       China Improves Nuclear Export Controls China has updated its nuclear export controls to close loopholes that could have allowed Chinese technology to be illicitly transferred, Xinhua reported today (see GSN, Dec. 4, 2006). The new regulations, approved today by China’s State Council, ban customers from copying Chinese technology without permission, according to Xinhua. Computer software was also added to the list of controlled technologies, Xinhua reported (Xinhua, Shanghai Daily, Feb. 17). Back to top       First Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Hits 40 Nations comprising the Latin American nuclear weapon-free zone marked its 40th anniversary Wednesday in Mexico City, Inter Press Service reported (see GSN, Apr. 27, 2005). The Treaty of Tlatelolco established the first regional nuclear weapon-free zone and it bans the possession of nuclear weapons by all nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. “The Tlatelolco Treaty was a pioneer and a guiding light for other instruments,” said international law expert Santiago Velez.  “But the most important aspect is that it kept the region free of many headaches, conflicts and expenses linked to the aspiration of having nuclear weapons.” Despite its success — all nations in the region have joined the treaty (see GSN, Oct. 28, 2002) — the pact’s implementing agency is experiencing financial troubles, IPS reported. Treaty countries have not paid their treaty dues to fund the agency’s $300,000 annual budget, and the agency is in danger of closing, according to IPS (Diego Cevallos, Inter Press Service/Carribean360.com, Feb. 16). U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the treaty as a model for disarmament efforts. “I hope this commemoration can help energize efforts to halt, and reverse, the spread of nuclear weapons,” he said in statement (U.N. release, Feb. 14). Back to top       Russia Support Arab Nuclear Plan Russia has backed Arab plans to study the possibility of developing nuclear technology, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 15, 2006). “Certainly we are in favor of respecting the right of the faithful members of [the Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty to have access to peaceful use of nuclear energy,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a visit to the United Arab Emirates (see GSN, Feb. 14). The Gulf Cooperation Council, consisting of six Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, plans to visit the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna soon to discuss the study (see GSN, Feb. 12; Agence France-Presse, Feb. 15). Back to top

U.S. Gives CW Emergency Equipment to Philippines The United States plans to contribute chemical weapons response equipment to the Philippines to aid emergency officials, the U.S. Embassy announced today (see GSN, Oct. 27, 2005). The equipment, worth $150,000 and slated to be delivered next week to the Bureau of Fire Protection, includes detection equipment, decontamination gear and medical tools. “The equipment is expected to help Filipino firemen to save lives faster and easier,” according to an embassy statement (Xinhua, Feb. 16). The supplies follow a U.S.-sponsored training course completed recently (U.S. Embassy release, Jan. 31). Back to top

Israeli Missile Defense Gets Extended U.S. Support The U.S. Defense Department has extended its support for the Israeli Arrow missile interceptor by five years, Defense News reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 12). Original plans called for U.S. to support Arrow upgrades through 2008, but growing ballistic missile threats in the Middle East require the program to continue further, according to U.S. and Israeli sources. The Missile Defense Agency currently plans to spend $86.3 million on Arrow upgrades in fiscal 2008, $83.5 million in fiscal 2009, and about $80 million annually after that, according to Defense News. The program extension follows a successful interceptor test Sunday that demonstrated the latest version of the Arrow in realistic conditions, according to an Israeli official. “What distinguished this test was the special target, which was simulated to represent the extreme, difficult conditions in which the Arrow Weapon System may have to operate in the future,” said Uri Sinai, a manager with Israeli Aerospace Industries. The target was intended to simulate a nuclear-armed missile of the type that could be deployed by Iran in the future,” Defense News reported (see GSN, Jan. 30; Barbara Opall, Defense News, Feb. 15).   Back to top

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