U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday urged North Korea to declare all of its nuclear assets and activities as part of a six-party disarmament deal (Evaristo Sa/Getty Images). U.S. Calls for North Korean Nuclear Transparency U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday called on North Korea to provide a complete picture of its nuclear weapon program in order to promote the denuclearization process, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 14). “The United States is ready to fulfill its obligations when North Korea fulfills its obligations,” she said...Full Story

Iraqi Kurds Remember CW Attacks 20 Years Later Iraq’s Kurdish population yesterday observed the 20th anniversary of chemical weapons attacks that occurred during the Saddam Hussein regime campaign that killed 180,000 Kurds, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 6)...Full Story

Solana Hopes for New Iran Nuclear Talks European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana yesterday said he hopes within 90 days to resume discussions over Iran’s disputed nuclear activities with the nation’s top negotiator, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 13)...Full Story

	Monday, March 17, 2008

Israel Plans Major WMD Attack Drill Israel plans to respond to simulated chemical and biological weapon attacks early next month during what would be the nation’s largest ever emergency drill, the Jerusalem Post reported (see GSN, March 20, 2007). At the beginning of the five-day exercise scheduled to begin April 6, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to organize a response to the mock attacks in a meeting with Cabinet officials in Jerusalem. The drill is expected to involve the Israeli Defense Forces; additional military services; fire, police and other emergency agencies; and all hospitals in the nation. As sirens sound around the country, rescue workers are expected to evacuate “hit zones” affected by WMD or other attacks while hospitals conduct exercises simulating the treatment of thousands of injured people. On one day of the drill, all government workers would be relocated to bomb shelters by their ministries while civilians are evacuated to public shelters near their residences. Israel’s new National Emergency Authority planned the exercise in preparation for a nuclear-armed Iran or chemical and biological weapon attacks from an enemy state, basing elements of its scenario on information gleaned from the 2006 Lebanon war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants (Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post, March 17). Back to top

U.S. Calls for North Korean Nuclear Transparency U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday called on North Korea to provide a complete picture of its nuclear weapon program in order to promote the denuclearization process, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 14). “The United States is ready to fulfill its obligations when North Korea fulfills its obligations,” she said. North Korea pledged last year to give up its nuclear programs in return for energy, diplomatic and security benefits from the other nations in the six-party talks — China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.  The deal has faltered this year amid U.S. charges that Pyongyang has yet to submit the required declaration of its nuclear activities and North Korean complaints that the other nations are too slow in providing the promised rewards. The top U.S. and North Korean envoys to the nuclear negotiations met last week in Geneva in hopes of resolving the standoff. They reported no breakthroughs in the session. “My understanding is that there will now have to be some period of referrals to capitals,” Rice said. Reports indicated that China had developed a proposal under which two sticking points — North Korea’s suspected uranium enrichment efforts and its alleged nuclear support for nations such as Syria — might be addressed in a secret document separate from the rest of the declaration (Associated Press/PR-inside.com, March 14).  “We gave the North Koreans some ideas with the understanding that they need to be clear about what they have been doing,” U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said Saturday following his meeting with North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan. “I think they took back our ideas and they said they’re going to have them studied …carefully in Pyongyang.  We don’t have a comprehensive reaction yet,” the assistant secretary of state added (Kyodo News I, March 15). Hill suggested yesterday, though, that Pyongyang might not be happy with the proposal, Kyodo News reported. “I had a good talk with Kim Kye Gwan.  I gather he did not have a good talk when he phoned back to Pyongyang,” Hill said. “I don’t know if there is any fundamental problem here or not,” he added (Kyodo News II, March 17). While questioning whether “we can have a secret agreement secretly arrived at,” Hill said “we have some ideas that may be workable.” Experts expressed optimism that a deal could be reached to end the deadlock, the Christian Science Monitor reported. “I’m quite optimistic that they will be able to make two agreements,” said Sue Jae-jean, director of North Korean studies at the Korea Institute of National Unification in Seoul.  “One will be open, the other secret.  A secret agreement is the only solution” (Donald Kirk, Christian Science Monitor, March 17). Meanwhile, Japan appears ready to maintain significant economic sanctions against North Korea for the next six months, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.  The penalties, enacted following Pyongyang’s October 2006 nuclear test, are scheduled to expire on April 13. However, given the lack of movement on the nuclear negotiations and the issue of North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens, Tokyo appears ready to extend the sanctions. “It would be a different story if some progress were made before they expire,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura.  “Otherwise the government will make a proper judgment” (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, March 16). Back to top       Solana Hopes for New Iran Nuclear Talks European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana yesterday said he hopes within 90 days to resume discussions over Iran’s disputed nuclear activities with the nation’s top negotiator, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 13). “I hope to be able to meet soon” with Saeed Jalili, Solana said at a conference in Brussels.  “Let’s see what is the [Iranian] response.” Talks between EU and Iranian officials have stretched on for nearly two years.  Solana has offered political and economic benefits intended to persuade Tehran to halt uranium enrichment efforts.  Iran, though, has refused. Two weeks ago, the U.N. Security Council imposed a third round of sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program, which Western powers suspect is aimed at nuclear weapons development.  The resolution calls for a review of progress in resolving the standoff 90 days after its enactment. Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham on Saturday ruled out the possibility of additional negotiations, saying that “the issue of nuclear talks” with the five permanent Security Council member nations and Germany “is over” (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, March 16). “We will continue our path within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency as this is the only legal body for this issue,” he added, reiterating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statement in early March that Tehran would only discuss its nuclear program with the U.N. nuclear watchdog (see GSN, March 5; Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, March 15). Back to top       U.S. Unprepared for Spread of Nukes, Officials Say High-level government strategists and independent experts believe the U.S. military is less ready than at any point in the last 10 years to handle the proliferation of nuclear weapons to nations or militant groups, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN, March 14). The weaknesses are part of a host of challenges — including greater levels of terrorism — facing the armed services still dealing with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Sun reported. U.S. forces remain geared toward fighting large-scale conflicts and would require outside assistance to root out local militants, officials said.  The day may come when the United States is far less able to take unilateral action on the international stage. One official likened restructuring the current system to “changing a tire at 60 mph.” “The best we can do with all these problems is just coping,” a high-level strategic planner said.  “What the United States cannot do any longer is strategy by assertion.” Channeling points for U.S. forces such as ports, air bases and aircraft carriers remain highly vulnerable to nuclear attacks that could devastate U.S. power, high-level officials said. “I am probably more worried in the near future about bio,” a four-star officer said, adding that the potential for death and chaos from a biological weapon attack on the United States “is staggering” (David Wood, Baltimore Sun, March 17). Back to top       Plutonium Plan Opposed by New Mexico Officials A senior New Mexico state official last week urged the U.S. Energy Department to defer plans to increase its capacity to produce plutonium nuclear weapon components at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Albuquerque Journal reported (see GSN, March 13). The facility is the only U.S. site capable of producing the plutonium cores, or “pits,” for nuclear weapons, and the department is seeking regulatory approval to make the laboratory capable of producing up to 80 pits each year. A top state environmental official, however, discouraged the idea. “Addressing and correcting LANL’s legacy of pollution should be job No. 1 for the lab,” Environment Secretary Ron Curry said Thursday. His remarks coincided with a public hearing Thursday on the Energy Department plan that drew both support and criticism. “I believe that, as an American taxpayer, it is the best, most cost-effective option,” said retired laboratory physicist Dennis Erickson. “Nuclear weapons are a dinosaur industry,” countered Jessica Wilbanks of the National Religious Partnership on Nuclear Weapons Danger.  “They’re on the way out” (Raam Wong, Albuquerque Journal, March 14). Back to top

Man Awakes After Apparent Ricin Exposure The man at the center of the Las Vegas ricin case was awake Friday and talking to investigators, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 5). Roger Bergendorff reportedly began suffering respiratory troubles Feb. 14 while living at the Extended Stay America hotel near the Las Vegas strip.  He was hospitalized and had reportedly lost consciousness by the time that several vials of the deadly toxin were found in his room later that month. Authorities also found castor beans, which are used to produce ricin, and four “anarchists cookbooks” containing recipes for the toxin, AP reported.  No ricin traces have been found in the room or other locations. While investigators have said they do not believe Bergendorff had any terrorist connections, they do hope to learn more about the ricin found in his room.  An FBI spokesman would only say that questioning was under way Friday. The 57-year-old graphic artist woke up Wednesday, according to his younger brother, Erich Bergendorff of Escondido, Calif. “It was my impression that they were able to communicate with him and he had talked enough to ask a few things,” Erich Bergendorff said (Associated Press I/USA Today, March 15). Bergendorff believes his sickness was caused by ricin exposure, his brother told AP.  The toxin breaks down quickly in the body, making infection difficult to diagnose. “He did mention that he would have never done anything to anybody,” Erich Bergendorff said.  “He himself is under the impression he was contaminated by it — he did mention the ricin and seemed to say something like, ‘Gee, it sure worked on me.’” Erich Bergendorff said his brother was not able to speak clearly yet and had not provided a definite indication on whether he had produced the toxin. “He did talk [in a telephone conversation yesterday] as through he just had it there, he was almost kind of casual about it,” Erich Bergendorff said.  “It’s almost as though in his own mind it wasn’t that big of a deal” (Allison Hoffman, Associated Press II/Star Tribune, March 17). Back to top       NIH Chief Urges Tough Review of Boston Biolab National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni told a commission of scientists Thursday to carefully consider potential environmental and safety threats that a $200 million Boston University biological defense laboratory could pose to surrounding neighborhoods, the Boston Globe reported (see GSN, March 7). “We are not here because we want you to rubber-stamp what we have done,” Zerhouni said of the project, which would include a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory to study anthrax, Ebola, plague and other deadly biological agents.  “We need to do this right, even if it takes a long time. “Basically, you should be tough,” he said.  “I can't say it in any other way.  There are no foregone conclusions here.” One lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation, which sued to stop the site from being built, said federal officials should have sought out a tough risk assessment of the facility before beginning its construction.  Funded largely with federal dollars, the facility is more than three-quarters completed. “They should have taken the time before they spent a dime of the taxpayers’ money,” Eloise Lawrence said. While Boston University could open other sections of the facility while review of the Biosafety Level 4 laboratory is under way, university officials intend to open the site in full operation as it was designed, spokeswoman Ellen Berlin told the Globe (Stephen Smith, Boston Globe, March 14). Back to top       Lab Plays Crucial Role in Biowatch System The Sandia National Laboratories site in Livermore, Calif., last year began operating a program to provide support for emergency responders dealing with the possible release of a biological weapons agent, the Contra Costa Times reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 9). A handful of Sandia scientists and engineers are aiding the Homeland Security Department’s Biowatch program, which has deployed biological material sensors at 30 locations, including high-traffic transportation facilities. Using models of each location and decades of research experience, the Sandia personnel could provide insight on the dispersal of material through a building.  The scientists, through access to a large database on possible biological attack scenarios and information on the situation at a facility, could also provide guidance on how to respond to an emergency. That support includes mapping the probable spread of a potentially dangerous agent through a building.  The map can be refined as the situation develops over a period of hours or days. “In the immediate aftermath of one of these events, people aren’t going to know a lot right away,” said chemical engineer Nate Gleason, head of the Biowatch Indoor Reachback Center.  “We can make some useful information out of very little data.” “We try to help them figure out where [a biological agent] came from and where it might be going on the facility,” he said (Betsy Mason, Contra Costa Times, March 14). Back to top

Iraqi Kurds Remember CW Attacks 20 Years Later Iraq’s Kurdish population yesterday observed the 20th anniversary of chemical weapons attacks that occurred during the Saddam Hussein regime campaign that killed 180,000 Kurds, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 6). In Halabja, where roughly 5,000 villagers died in the March 16, 1988, poison gas attacks, surviving victims and their families again demanded reparations and the execution of officials who helped carry out the killings.  Mourners also held events in Baghdad and the Kurdish stronghold of Arbil. Iraq’s three-member presidency council in February approved the long-delayed hanging of former Iraqi official Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali” for ordering the use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds, but the government has not yet announced a date for the execution.  The execution is being held up by the debate over the fate of two other former regime officials.  “My three brothers and parents died in the attacks.  I am the only survivor from my family,” said 50-year-old Suad Hassan.  “We want compensation and we also demand that Ali Hassan al-Majid be executed in Halabja.” Mourners also called for the punishment of firms that supplied chemical weapons to the Iraqi regime (see GSN, Feb. 6). “My nine children died in the attacks.  I had six daughters and three sons.  We want the company which supplied the gas to be prosecuted,” said 75-year-old Ahmed Abdallah. Iraqi leaders intend to push for compensation from companies and nations that helped former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein acquire chemical weapons, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement. “We are also approaching the United Nations to declare March 16 as an international day against chemical arms,” he said. Halabja residents on Friday held funeral proceedings for Ismail Abdallah Rashid, who was 40.  He was among the dozens of residents who continued to suffer effects from chemical exposure, AFP reported. “Ismail had been helping bury the victims of the gas attacks on Halabja when he himself was poisoned by the chemicals.  He died on Friday,” said Luqman Mohammed, a founder of the Halabja Victims’ Society (Shwan Mohammed, Agence France-Presse/Google News, March 16). Back to top

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