Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, shown at six-nation nuclear talks last year, said today that deadlines set by the talks would probably be missed (Greg Baker/Getty Images). North Korea Deal May Miss Deadline, Officials Say It will be “difficult” to meet the deadline for the first stage of a February agreement addressing the North Korean nuclear crisis, a Japanese Cabinet official said Monday (see GSN, April 3). The Feb. 13 deal called for a number of steps to be completed within 60 days, including the suspension of nuclear activities within North Korea, but a continuing problem in freeing up once frozen North Korean bank accounts now threatens that timeline...Full Story

U.S. Terrorism Prosecutions Decline By Shane Harris National Journal WASHINGTON -- The U.S. federal government prosecuted international terrorism cases in 2006 at the lowest rate since the attacks of September 11, 2001. More significant, the number of prosecutions classified as “domestic terrorism” -- acts or plots such as the Oklahoma City bombing -- has remained relatively higher than the number of prosecutions for international terrorism -- acts or plots by foreign terrorist groups such as the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 (see GSN, Nov. 6, 2006)...Full Story

Technology No Hurdle to Nuclear Iran, Scientists Says A political decision is the only hurdle preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, as the nation has already acquired the necessary technology, a top Russian nuclear scientist said Monday (see GSN, April 3)...Full Story

	Wednesday, April 4, 2007

U.S. Terrorism Prosecutions Decline By Shane Harris National Journal WASHINGTON -- The U.S. federal government prosecuted international terrorism cases in 2006 at the lowest rate since the attacks of September 11, 2001. More significant, the number of prosecutions classified as “domestic terrorism” -- acts or plots such as the Oklahoma City bombing -- has remained relatively higher than the number of prosecutions for international terrorism -- acts or plots by foreign terrorist groups such as the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 (see GSN, Nov. 6, 2006). Furthermore, two recent reports suggest that the Justice Department’s definition of what constitutes a terrorism prosecution may be on the expansive side of the ledger. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan research group that collects and analyzes official government records, has found that prosecutions for crimes that the Justice Department calls domestic terrorism increased sharply after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But unlike the prosecution of international terrorism cases, which have dropped precipitously in the years after 9/11, domestic prosecutions have decreased only about half as much, according to a TRAC study. In fiscal 2006, the last year for which complete data are available, the prosecution rate for domestic terrorism was two and a half times that of international terrorism. The study’s authors also found that the prosecution rate in a third category -- financial support of terrorists -- has declined in the past year but that the drop-off has not been nearly as significant as in the international terrorism category. Taken together, the findings that more prosecutions are aimed at domestic terrorism and terrorist financing “presents a picture of the government’s overall terrorism enforcement campaign that appears somewhat in variance with that emerging from the government’s official statements, congressional testimony, and the resulting newspaper reports where the battle against international terrorism appears to dominate the effort,” the study’s authors wrote. The researchers based their findings on “case-by-case data” obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Justice Department’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys, which oversees all federal prosecutors. TRAC, which is supported by private foundations and research grants and is affiliated with Syracuse University, has published reports on terrorism enforcement trends since 2001. The trends from fiscal 2002 to 2006 may reflect an overall shift in the Justice Department’s terrorism enforcement priorities, the TRAC study authors wrote. In fiscal 2006, the government reported that it prosecuted 194 individuals for international or domestic terrorism or terrorist financing. More than half of those cases -- 104 -- were for domestic terrorism, which the government defines as a crime that occurs primarily in the United States, is violent in nature, and is motivated by an intent to coerce, intimidate, or retaliate against the government or the civilian population. Such cases do not involve foreign terrorist organizations. Of the remaining 90 cases, 49 were for terrorist financing and 41 for international terrorism. The 194 prosecutions resulted in 133 convictions, the majority of which, 53 percent, were for domestic terrorism, the study found. About one-fourth of the convictions were for terrorist financing. By contrast, in fiscal 2002, the government prosecuted 530 cases. Most of them, 355, were for international terrorism, while domestic cases, 162, accounted for 30.5 percent of the total. Of the total number of cases, the government obtained 266 convictions. Of those, about 35 percent were for domestic terrorism, but the vast majority, 65 percent, was for international terrorism. The 13 terrorist financing prosecutions that year resulted in no convictions. Although the data seem to show that the government’s criminal-enforcement activity for terrorism has shifted, it’s not clear why this is the case or if it reflects a conscious policy change. The figures that TRAC studied show that conviction rates for domestic terrorism cases were higher than for international cases: In that five-year period, prosecutors won about 63 percent of the domestic cases and 54 percent of the international ones. What is clear from the TRAC study, as well as from internal Justice Department audits, is that the government is counting as domestic terrorism some cases that appear to have little, if anything, to do with the kind of organized attacks perpetrated by Al Qaeda on 9/11. For example, the TRAC study cites a November 2006 case that the government listed as a domestic terrorism conviction. Alvin Stanley Ellis was found guilty of making bomb threats against pharmaceutical companies in North Carolina and was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison, according to court documents. However, Eric Goulian, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Ellis, said that the case was not tried as domestic terrorism. “Those words were not used,” Goulian said in an interview. “It was tried as a bomb threat.” The prosecutor described Ellis as a “disgruntled employee” who made false threats over the phone. Debra Graves, Ellis’s court-appointed defender, concurred that terrorism was not an issue at the trial. Asked why Ellis is apparently now being counted as a domestic terrorist, Graves said, “I have no idea. It makes no sense to me.” Ellis is appealing his conviction. Goulian said that the way a case is ultimately coded could depend “on how you want to define terrorism.” He noted he has a pending case in which an individual is charged with involvement in a solicitation to blow up a courthouse. That could meet the government’s definition of terrorism, because the act was aimed at a public institution. But a recent analysis by the Justice Department’s inspector general suggests that the government’s accounting methods for a range of terrorism-related statistics are highly questionable and may present a distorted picture. In February, Inspector General Glenn Fine released a study titled “The Department of Justice’s Internal Controls Over Terrorism Reporting.” Auditors identified 209 unique terrorism-related statistics reported by the department and its components -- which include the U.S. attorneys -- used to measure efforts to fight terrorism. These included the number of individuals charged as the result of a terrorism investigation, the number of terrorism convictions, and the number of terrorism-related threats to people and cities. The IG found that most of those statistics couldn’t be substantiated and that Justice was overstating its terrorism reporting. In trying to determine whether these statistics were accurate, auditors discovered that the department’s terrorism-accounting methods were “decentralized and haphazard.” Auditors concluded that the U.S. attorneys office had taken too broad a view in defining what crimes constitute terrorism, and had counted crimes that had no obvious terrorist connection but were prosecuted as a result of law enforcement efforts that the Justice Department broadly categorized as “antiterrorism.” In one prominent case, only two months after the 9/11 attacks, Justice launched a work-site investigation at the nation’s airports. Agents checked airport employees’ immigration papers and arrested anyone who had used false documents to obtain employment. The arrests were included in the department’s antiterrorism statistics. Auditors objected to that accounting. “We are concerned that [the U.S. attorneys office’s] view of the antiterrorism category permits criminal cases arising from virtually any federal law enforcement effort, including immigration violations or border enforcement activities, to be categorized as antiterrorism regardless of the actual circumstances,” auditors wrote. “We do not agree that law enforcement efforts such as these should be counted as ‘antiterrorism’ unless the subject or target is reasonably linked to terrorist activity.” Officials with the U.S. attorneys office objected to the auditors’ interpretation of what should be included in their statistics. They contended that almost all of the defendants reported under the antiterrorism heading were arrested during operations specifically executed to prevent terrorist attacks, or were handled through the department’s joint terrorism task forces, which were expanded in the wake of 9/11. Dean Boyd, the spokesman for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, which oversees all terrorism enforcement activities, noted that many of the weaknesses in counting highlighted by the inspector general “were an outgrowth” of the wholesale reorganization that the department and the FBI underwent after the 2001 attacks. The FBI has improved its internal controls over terrorism statistics since then, Boyd said. In the future, the department will not count as such cases that can’t be directly linked to terrorism, he said. Of the TRAC study, Boyd said, “We can’t independently vouch for the accuracy of that data.” Back to top

Japan to Deploy More WMD Response Gear Japan plans to deploy WMD testing and response equipment at 66 fire stations around the nation beginning next month, the Kyodo News agency reported Monday. The equipment is to include a WMD detection kit that will shorten the time needed to identify toxic substances.  In addition the stations will receive decontamination tents that can process up to 200 people per hour. Earlier this year, fire stations in five cities also received large mobile blowers designed to push gas or fumes out of underground spaces, such as subway tunnels (Kyodo News, April 2). Back to top

North Korea Deal May Miss Deadline, Officials Say It will be “difficult” to meet the deadline for the first stage of a February agreement addressing the North Korean nuclear crisis, a Japanese Cabinet official said Monday (see GSN, April 3). The Feb. 13 deal called for a number of steps to be completed within 60 days, including the suspension of nuclear activities within North Korea, but a continuing problem in freeing up once frozen North Korean bank accounts now threatens that timeline. “We should not lose hope, but objectively speaking, it is getting quite difficult,” said Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi.  “The issue, however, is not in our hands and that is somewhat frustrating.” While the United States has lifted its objections to transferring $25 million in frozen assets back to North Korea, no bank has yet agreed to accept the funds for Pyongyang. North Korean officials have vowed to abstain from nuclear negotiations until the transfer is completed (Associated Press, April 2). China’s top nuclear envoy agreed with the Japanese assessment today. “I think that will be the outcome. It cannot be helped,” said Wu Dawei (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, April 4). Meanwhile, a private U.S. group led by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was cleared by the White House yesterday to visit North Korea Sunday to collect the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War, Agence France-Presse reported. Richardson has traveled repeatedly to Pyongyang, first when he was a U.S. Representative, and he later conducted official diplomacy when he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary during the Clinton administration.  He ties continued during the Bush administration, and he hosted a North Korean delegation in New Mexico late last year (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2006). “Hopefully this trip will advance the progress made by the Bush administration during the six-party talks to dismantle nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula,” said Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos (Olivier Knox, Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, April 4). Back to top       Technology No Hurdle to Nuclear Iran, Scientists Says A political decision is the only hurdle preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, as the nation has already acquired the necessary technology, a top Russian nuclear scientist said Monday (see GSN, April 3). “From a scientific point of view of course they could create nuclear weapons,” said Yevgeny Velikhov, president of Russia’s Kurchatov Institute. “If they have decided to create nuclear weapons, then they could create them," Velikhov added.  “It is important that Iran does not get nuclear weapons. If Iran gets nuclear weapons it will be very negative for the security of the whole world.” Iran’s mastery of nuclear technology means that Western nations should abandon the goal of preventing Iran from establishing an indigenous uranium enrichment program, said a Vienna-based diplomat familiar with International Atomic Energy Agency affairs. “In fact … they already have enrichment technology,” the diplomat said.  “To continue to insist on zero centrifuges is doomed to failure and bound to drive Iran to further reduce the IAEA’s access” to Iranian nuclear facilities (Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters/Scotsman.com, April 2). Enough Uranium by 2009? Iran’s underground centrifuge installation at Natanz has proceeded more rapidly than once predicted and could allow the nation to enrich enough uranium for a nuclear weapon sooner than expected, according to a leading proliferation analyst. “If they continue at this pace, and they get the centrifuges to work and actually enrich uranium on a distinct basis,” said David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, “then you're looking at them having, potentially having enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 2009.” Iranian officials have repeatedly stated a goal of installing 3,000 centrifuges at the site by June, a target that most experts believed to be unrealistic.  That assessment may be changing, however. “I think we have all been caught off guard,” Albright said.  “[Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad said they would have these 3,000 installed by the end of May, and it appears they may actually do it” (Ross/Isham, ABCNews.com, April 2). Iran to Free British Personnel In Tehran today, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran would free 15 British sailors and marines it seized in the Persian Gulf nearly two weeks ago, the Associated Press reported.  The detention threatened to affect the nuclear crisis. He announced the personnel would be freed following a press conference at which he would praise the Iranian forces that seized the Britons Iran has charged were in Iranian waters. “On behalf of the great Iranian people, I want to thank the Iranian coast guard who courageously defended and captured those who violated their territorial waters,” Ahmadinejad said.  “We are sorry that British troops remain in Iraq and their sailors are being arrested in Iran” (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, April 4). Back to top       Jordan Seeks Nuclear Reactor by 2015 Jordan plans to bring its first nuclear power reactor online by 2015, the nation’s energy minister said Sunday (see GSN, March 28). Energy Minister Haled Sharida said Jordan’s plan to pursue nuclear energy for electricity and desalination was a result of “Arab trends accepted by the west,” according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Sharida’s ministry is drafting a timetable for implementation of the nuclear project, and according to a report in the Arabic newspaper al-Hayat universities in Jordan plan to begin instruction in nuclear physics to provide a base of technically trained individuals. Later this month, Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, will visit Middle Eastern kingdom to discuss cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Jordan. As a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Jordan is entitled to the use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes but in return must make those facilities accessible to international inspectors. Jordan’s announced pursuit of nuclear power comes as a number of other Arab countries in the region including Saudi Arabia and Egypt have also publicly stated similar desires (Yoav Stern, Haaretz, April 2) Back to top       Reports says DOE Counter-Spy Unit Lost Computers  The Energy Department’s Counterintelligence Directorate, the division in charge of keeping plans for the U.S. bomb away for foreign spies, was found to have lost 20 desktop computers, at least 14 of which at some time held classified data, according to a report released Friday by the department’s inspector general. The computers remained unaccounted for despite “expending significant effort,” and beyond the missing hard drives the directorate’s record keeping was so shoddy it had to resort to “extraordinary means” to find another 125 computers, the inspector general wrote. “Problems with the control and accountability of desktop and laptop computers have plagued the department for a number of years,” according to the audit. In just more than four years it is the 13th such report that the department’s inspector general has issued highlighting problematic issues with control over sensitive computer equipment. Linton Brooks, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, was fired in January over security problems including computer-related incidents at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  A semi-autonomous branch within the Energy Department was created by Congress in 2000 as a bid to address persistent security concerns. The missing computers were not reported until the inspector general’s office began its investigation, the report states (Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire). Following submission of a report addressing similar issues last year, a new position responsible solely for property accountability was created, according to a letter to the inspector general from Stanley Borgia, deputy director of the Counterintelligence Directorate. Back to top

Head of Electronic Firm Denies Guilt in Scheme The head of an international electronics pleaded not guilty yesterday to U.S. charges that he was involved in a conspiracy to illegally obtain computer technology and ship it to India for use in military and missile systems (see GSN, April 3). Parthasarathy Sudarshan, chief executive officer of the company that was based both abroad and in South Carolina, remains in custody pending a bail hearing scheduled for tomorrow, the Washington Post reported. Justice Department investigators said Sudarshan was involved in an ongoing plan to circumvent U.S. regulations prohibiting the export of technologies that can be used for both civilian and military end unless the Commerce Department verifies they are for civilian purposes (Washington Post, April 4).     Back to top

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