EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana (left), Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul (center) and Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani speak to reporters following the end of nuclear talks today in Ankara. Further talks are expected in two weeks (Mustafa Ozer/Getty Images). Iran, EU Envoys Approach “Unified View” on Nuclear Crisis EU and Iranian diplomats emerged today from two days of nuclear talks in Turkey expressing optimism and agreeing to meet again in two weeks, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 25). “In some areas we are approaching a united view,” said Iranian delegation leader Ali Larijani, who said that he and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had discussed some “new ideas” on how to break the deadlock preventing formal negotiations to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis...Full Story

Pentagon Issues Anti-WMD Wish List By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency envisions a day when a soldier’s uniform would be able to detect a biological or chemical agent, and then neutralize the threat with a fast-acting counteragent (see GSN, April 19)...Full Story

Russian Missile Defense Fears “Ludicrous,” Rice Says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today strongly reaffirmed the Bush administration’s position that Russia has nothing to fear from U.S. missile defense installations in Europe, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 25)...Full Story

	Thursday, April 26, 2007

Pentagon Issues Anti-WMD Wish List By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency envisions a day when a soldier’s uniform would be able to detect a biological or chemical agent, and then neutralize the threat with a fast-acting counteragent (see GSN, April 19). The agency, which is devoted solely to countering WMD threats, this month issued a wish list of research projects it would like to explore in the coming year.  One item on the list is biomimetic material, which could be used for so-called “living” clothes. Merging research in the life sciences, chemistry, physics and advanced materials, DTRA officials hope to end up with fabrics that could mimic living processes, including an immune response. The material would continually check the environment, “possibly give some sort of warning indication” and then release a counteragent, according to the document. The proposed research topics are directed at outside facilities that might be inclined to pitch projects to the defense agency for funding.  They are characterized as “basic research,” which means they have the potential for broad applications. Other items on the DTRA wish list: — Some sort of bleach bomb that would destroy a facility storing chemical or biological weapons along with the harmful agents. Such a weapon would combine the incredibly intense pressure pulse of something like a thermobaric blast with a substance to chemically neutralize agents before they spread (see GSN, Jan. 23, 2004).  One way to do this, the agency points out, would be with a bleaching compound or an oxidizer.  Explosives have been developed that produce chlorine bleaching compounds, but the amount released is small. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency is looking for explosives that could “yield copious amounts of products that neutralize the chemical and biological agents within.” — Faster ways to analyze debris from a nuclear blast or a radiological “dirty bomb” to determine the composition of the radioactive material and perhaps determine its origin. Nuclear experts have recently called attention to deficiencies in the U.S. government’s capacity to conduct what is called nuclear forensics.  Despite a concerted effort to improve the technology “a pressing scientific need for new methodologies” exists, according to the defense agency (see GSN, Dec. 4 2006). The current method uses radiochemical analysis that can take as long as a week to obtain accurate results, a period the agency calls an “unacceptably long time.” “Nuclear forensic methodologies need innovative new ideas to achieve quicker, more accurate, and higher confidence detection,” DTRA officials state in the document, noting that the impact of advances would be significant.  “Rapid, reliable, and accurate detection and attribution of a radiological or nuclear incident is essential to any national response and deterrent capability.” — Less cumbersome ways to shield people and objects from high-energy radiation. Operations following nuclear or radiological event could “generate challenging shielding requirements,” and sometimes just making material thicker or denser is not the best solution, according to the agency.  A personal radiation protection suit, for instance, could become so heavy someone would no longer be able to walk. Agency officials write that a dirty bomb is likely to spew radioactive particles that emit high-energy gamma radiation, but the heavy radiation shielding is “not weight practical for most vehicles or for individual protection purposes.” — Research into the specific ways chemical and biological agents move through protective materials or human tissue. “This understanding will provide (the Defense Department) with the ability to predict toxicity and mechanism of toxicity of old and new chemical and biological warfare agents,” DTRA officials write. — A fusion of nanosciences, biosciences, information sciences and cognitive sciences that could detect and neutralize a toxic threat and immediately alert soldiers and commanders to their presence (see GSN, Sept. 8, 2006). This system could transmit data through a “brain-machine interface,” which the document does not describe in detail. — Better understanding of what happens when bombs slam through layers of earth and hardened underground defenses (see GSN, March 27). The agency that recently scrubbed the “Divine Strake” test, a huge conventional blast some critics contended was meant to mimic the effect of a low-yield nuclear weapon on underground bunkers, wants a better idea of the forces that affect a warhead as it penetrates the earth (see GSN, Feb. 23). The high heat caused by friction can melt the shell’s metal and make the warhead wobble and deviate from the intended course.  The Defense Threat Reduction Agency is particularly looking for ways to reduce frictional drag on the penetrator. Back to top       U.S. Considers Sharing Nuclear Forensics Data The United States might share with Japan a database to help identify the source of a nuclear bomb after it explodes, Kyodo News reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 20, 2006).  Providing the so-called nuclear forensics and attribution information would be part of larger effort to improve joint U.S.-Japanese efforts to prevent and respond to WMD terrorism, said Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, commander of U.S. forces in Japan. “We must work together across the whole range of the prevention of such attacks and in response to such a horrific attack (if) it occurs,” he said. The two nations plan to discuss the issue at a meeting next week in Washington, Kyodo reported (Kyodo News, April 25). Back to top

Iran, EU Envoys Approach “Unified View” on Nuclear Crisis EU and Iranian diplomats emerged today from two days of nuclear talks in Turkey expressing optimism and agreeing to meet again in two weeks, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 25). “In some areas we are approaching a united view,” said Iranian delegation leader Ali Larijani, who said that he and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had discussed some “new ideas” on how to break the deadlock preventing formal negotiations to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis. “I can’t give exact details because these ideas need more time to be developed,” he told CNN-Turk television.  “But I can call them a very positive, concrete first step.” The two men met for the first time since September, after which the U.N. Security Council twice imposed economic sanctions against Iran for its refusal to curb its uranium enrichment program and other nuclear activities. At this session, the diplomats discussed the possibility of a “double time-out” during which Iran would freeze its nuclear program and Security Council leaders would not pursue additional sanctions, AP reported. The proposal is based on a similar proposals made by Swiss officials (see GSN, March 22) and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (see GSN, Jan. 30). Iran has consistently refused to shut down its enrichment facilities, but this week’s talks included discussion of how to define such a freeze, according to an official based in a European capital. That definition is “the key issue” that could open the door to resuming negotiations for a long-term resolution to the crisis, the official said. (George Jahn, Associated Press/The Union-Tribune, April 26). One idea would be to allow Iran to build and operate the centrifuges as long as it does not inject uranium gas into them, said a diplomat who monitors the issue (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse/Brisbane Times, April 26). While he targeted Larijani this week, Solana would also need to persuade Western powers to agree to adjust the freeze definition.  France, the United Kingdom and the United States have all publicly opposed such a strategy (Jahn, Associated Press). Only Iran was interested in modifying the definition, one European diplomat told Reuters. “The Security Council resolution has said Iran needs to suspend enrichment activities,” added a British Foreign Office spokesman.  “Solana won’t be making any fresh offers” (Heinrich/Elci, Reuters, April 26). Substance aside, yesterday’s meeting was significant for simply taking place, Solana said. “The fact that we are together again is itself a very important development,” he said (Jahn, Associated Press). He and Larijani met in four separate rounds of talks over the two days, including a late-night session yesterday, according to Iran’s official news agency (IRNA, April 26). Back to top       North Korea Readying for Inspections, South Says North Korea appears to be preparing to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country for the first time in years, the South Korean National Intelligence Service said today (see GSN, April 25). The South Korean parliament’s intelligence committee released a statement, based on a report issued today by the spy agency, indicating the detection of notable activity at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor, Agence France-Presse reported.  Such activity was first reported last week (see GSN, April 17). “A new small building, which is believed to be (accommodation) facilities, was constructed behind a reactor at Yongbyon in March and April, along with repair work on its slip road,” according to the committee.  “Signs of rolling the land have been detected around a facility for the storage of nuclear waste since mid-March.” “We believe such activities are part of preparations for the stay of IAEA inspectors,” the panel added. Under a February denuclearization agreement reached at six-nation negotiations, Pyongyang was by April 14 to have closed the reactor and readmitted the nuclear inspectors.  That has yet to occur, as North Korea waits to collect $25 million in frozen funds (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 26). The senior White House adviser on North Korea met yesterday with the country’s U.N. delegation to press Pyongyang to move ahead with the deal, the Associated Press reported. Victor Cha conducted a rare direct meeting with North Korean officials in New York to deliver the message that the Bush administration has finite patience in the nuclear standoff, a senior U.S. official said. “There’s no ultimatum,” the official said.  “But there is a degree of frustration among all parties” (Foster Klug, Associated Press/Centre Daily Times, April 25). Back to top       Romney to Call for Nuclear Terror Czar The United States and the international community should give a higher priority to preventing nuclear terrorism, U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to say tonight, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Feb. 18, 2005). Romney’s scheduled remarks at Yeshiva University in New York, provided to AP, say that if elected he would name an ambassador-at-large to lead U.S. nuclear terror prevention efforts.  The speech by Romney, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, says the position is needed to coordinate policy across agencies and with other nations. “Further, I would promote an international initiative to develop a new body of international law that would make nuclear trafficking a crime against humanity, on a par with genocide and war crimes,” says the text.  “By allowing for universal jurisdiction, charges can be brought up in any court preventing traffickers from hiding in complicit or weak countries” (Glen Johnson, Associated Press/Salt Lake Tribune, April 25). Back to top       Democrats Subpoena Rice on Iraq Intelligence The Democratic-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday approved a subpoena requiring U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to answer the panel’s questions about the Bush administration’s claims that prewar Iraq was seeking to develop nuclear weapons (see GSN, April 3). Of particular interest is the discredited allegation that Iraq had sought enriched uranium from Niger (see GSN, Dec. 12, 2005), said committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). “For four years I have been trying to get information from Secretary Condoleezza Rice on a variety of issues, including the reference to uranium and Niger in the president’s 2003 State of the Union speech,” Waxman said during a hearing yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported.  “My goal is to conduct investigations without subpoenas.  But if we are stonewalled, then we can’t hesitate to call up the powers that are available to us.” The committee and Rice failed to reach agreement on her testimony in recent correspondence, Waxman said. “We have hit a brick wall:  She will not propose a date to testify.  She will not agree to testify.  And she insists that our committee be satisfied with partial information that was previously submitted to other committees” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 25). Traveling in Norway for a NATO meeting, Rice today indicated she would reply by letter rather than coming before the committee, the Associated Press reported. “I am more than happy to answer them again in a letter,” she said in Oslo.  Rice said she had already testified on the uranium matter, one of the components the Bush administration used to make its case for war against Iraq. “I addressed these questions, almost the same questions, during my confirmation hearing,” she said.  “This is an issue that has been answered and answered and answered.” Rice was national security adviser during the run-up to the war.  Given that the questions cover her time as a presidential aide not confirmed by the Senate, she argued she is not legally required to obey the subpoena. “This all took place in my role as national security adviser,” she said.  “There is a constitutional principle.  There is a separation of powers and advisers to the president under that constitutional principle are not generally required to go and testify in Congress” (Matthew Lee, Associated Press/Washington Post, April 26). Back to top

CDC Slow to Fill Overseas Jobs The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been able to fill only about half of its overseas staff positions, a shortage that could undermine bioterror response efforts, a CDC official said this month (see GSN, March 12). Only 166 of 304 overseas jobs are now filled, said Stephen Blount, director of the CDC’s Global Health Coordinating Office, in an April 13 memorandum to CDC chief Julie Gerberding.  More than half of the vacancies are set to remain empty until 2008 thanks in part to hefty bureaucratic hiring processes, Blount said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is a critical time for global health,” Blount wrote in the memo.  The risk of pandemic diseases and bioterrorism create an “urgency to make overseas assignments in a timely manner.” One delaying factor in the hiring process is a requirement for another section of the Health and Human Services Department to approve every overseas assignment, the memo says. “Some positions have been delayed for so many months that our partners doubt our commitment and credibility,” Blount said. One outside expert questioned the need for the additional layer of review. “CDC isn’t sending political people abroad to do global disease detection,” said Trust for America’s Health leader Jeff Levi.  “They’re sending scientists.” The empty positions risk that “we won’t get the warning we need and we won’t be as prepared as we should be,” he added. The added review is nevertheless necessary, said William Steiger, head of the HHS Global Affairs Office.  His office examines overseas assignments “because these posts need to be strategic and align with both the department and the president’s goals and priorities,” he said in a statement yesterday (Alison Young, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 26). Back to top

Tougher Sentence Sought for Chemical Dealer Dutch prosecutors yesterday used the appeal hearing of a businessman sentenced to 15 years in prison for supplying chemical agent components to Iraq to argue for a stiffer punishment, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 2). Frans van Anraat was convicted in 2005 of complicity in war crimes, as his materials were used in poison agents used against Iraqi Kurds and Iranians.  He was acquitted of complicity in genocide. Van Anraat’s lawyers argued his conviction should be thrown out for reasonable doubt, as the complete picture of international chemical sales to Iraq in the 1980s is not known to the court.  Potential witnesses, including former senior Iraqi official Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as “Chemical Ali,” did not testify at trial, defense attorneys argued (see GSN, April 3). Prosecutors countered on the last day of the hearing that The Hague Appeals Court should convict van Anraat of the genocide charge, which could add another 30 years to his sentence. “Prosecutors consider it proven beyond reasonable doubt that the suspect van Anraat is complicit in genocide carried out by the former Iraqi regime against the Kurdish population in 1987 and 1988 and complicit in war crimes committed against the Iranian population from 1986-1988,” said prosecutor Simon Minks. He argued against any reduction in the sentence, AP reported. The chemical dealings with Iraq “are so … objectionable that they deserve the maximum sentence even if that is only 15 years,” Minks said. Judges are expected to rule on the case May 9 (Mike Corder, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, April 26). Back to top

Russian Missile Defense Fears “Ludicrous,” Rice Says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today strongly reaffirmed the Bush administration’s position that Russia has nothing to fear from U.S. missile defense installations in Europe, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 25). “Let’s be real about this and realistic about this.  The idea that somehow 10 interceptors and a few radars in Eastern Europe are going to threaten the Soviet strategic deterrent is purely ludicrous and everybody knows it,” Rice said while in Oslo, Norway, for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.  “The Russians have thousands of warheads.” The proposed missile defense sites, which Washington says would be intended to provide protection against threats from nations such as Iran, are expected to be a primary topic of discussion at the NATO session.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to attend the meeting (Paul Ames, Associated Press/ABC News, April 26). U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday he believes there are divisions within the Russian government on responding to the missile defense initiative, Agence France-Presse reported.  Gates met Monday with officials in Moscow to discuss plans to place missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic. “There clearly have to be divisions in Moscow on how to respond, frankly,” Gates said in Berlin.  “We’ve made a very forthcoming offer to partner with the Russians” (Jim Mannion, Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, April 25). Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated today that the U.S. missile defense plans contributed to his decision to have Russia suspend its commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, Reuters reported. “(NATO countries) are … building up military bases on our borders and, more than that, they are also planning to station elements of antimissile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic,” Putin said in his state of the nation address.  “In this connection, I consider it expedient to declare a moratorium on Russia’s implementation of this treaty — in any case, until all countries of the world have ratified and started to strictly implement it.” Under the treaty, European nations are restricted in the number, type and location of heavy conventional weapons they can deploy. Russia could pull out of the treaty if NATO nations are unable to adequately address the concerns in Moscow, Putin said (Christian Lowe, Reuters/Washington Post, April 26). Back to top       Turkey Seeks Ballistic Missile Defenses Turkey is seeking bids for a host of ballistic missile defense components, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 16, 2006). “Turkey has accelerated efforts to acquire different sorts of missile defense systems to deter a possible attack on its homeland,” according to the Zaman newspaper.  Suppliers could come from China, Israel or the United States. The Turkish Defense Industry Undersecretariat recently issued requests for information “for the acquisition of various types of air defense systems for the main branches or the armed forces, the Turkish Air Force Command, Land Forces Command and Naval Forces Command,’ according to the newspaper. The Land Forces could buy up to 90 low-altitude, air-defense missile systems, while the Naval Forces are seeking 12 of the systems, according to one request for information issued this month. The Land Forces also want three medium-altitude systems, while the Turkish Air Force Command is seeking four long-range air and missile defense systems, according to separate requests for information. Thirteen companies have “declared their intention to respond” to the requests, including the U.S. firms Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.  The three companies have also “reportedly teamed up to meet Turkish requirements” for Patriot Advanced Capability 3 systems, according to Zaman (Martin Sieff, United Press International, April 25). Back to top       U.S. to Move Missile Defenses to Guam From Japan The United States plans to establish a ballistic missile defense site on its Pacific island territory of Guam, Radio Australia reported Monday (see GSN, Aug. 22, 2006). The new facility would be staffed by personnel now deployed in Japan as part of an effort to relocate 8,000 troops from Japan.  About 600 of those would be involved in missile defense activities, according to Radio Australia. The plans were disclosed at meetings in Guam intended to inform residents of U.S. military plans (Radio Australia, April 23). Back to top

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