International Response: War Continues in Afghanistan

U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday singled out the United Nations as having an important role to play in the rebuilding of Afghanistan after all military action against the ruling Taliban there has ended.  At a news conference held one month after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush sent a clear message that no one group should expect to replace the Taliban regime.

"One of the things that we've got to make sure of is that all parties -- all interested parties -- have an opportunity to be a part of a new government, that we shouldn't play favorites between one group or another within Afghanistan," he said, adding, "We've got to work for a stable Afghanistan so that her neighbors don't fear terrorist activity again coming out of that country."

Bush said he believes the United Nations has the authority and expertise to take on the massive job of reconstructing postwar Afghanistan.  "I believe the United Nations could provide the framework necessary to help meet those conditions," he said.  "It would be a useful function for the United Nations to take over the so-called nation-building -- I would call it the stabilization of a future government -- after our military mission is complete."

The statements ignited speculation that the United Nations may be called upon to not only take on peacekeeping responsibilities, but to oversee election processes as well, Reuters reports (Brian Williams, Reuters/ABCNews.com, Oct. 12).

Bush also said "it may take a year or two" to hunt down suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden, the prime U.S. suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as the terrorist network al-Qaeda, but added that "we've got them on the run."

"I want him brought to justice," Bush said, adding he did not know whether bin Laden is dead or alive (Associated Press/South China Morning Post, Oct. 12).  Bush also told Taliban leaders they still have a chance to adhere to U.S. demands.  "I will say it again, if you cough him up and his people today, we'll reconsider what we're doing to your country," Bush said.  "You still have a second chance.  Just bring him in, and bring his leaders and lieutenants and other thugs and criminals with him" (Deans/Heath, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 12).

Bush also told reporters the United States has accomplished "a great deal" in its war against terrorism so far through military strikes against Afghanistan.  "All missions are being executed as planned on the military front," he said, adding that Americans should continue to "go about their business" despite the potential threat of more terrorist attacks (CNN.com, Oct. 11).  Earlier yesterday, the FBI issued a statement saying "certain information, while not specific as to target, gives the government reason to believe that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the United States and against U.S. interests overseas over the next several days" (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 12).

To read excerpts of the White House press conference click here.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher yesterday said the United States is using the promise of foreign aid to pull together a broad coalition to rule Afghanistan once the Taliban regime collapses.  "Were there to be a broad-based government in Afghanistan, we would intend to help that government with reconstruction, with developing the country," Boucher said.  U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is scheduled to depart this weekend for South Asia, where he will meet with Pakistani leaders to discuss the future of Afghanistan, according to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

"We've had discussions with some of our coalition partners about the eventual shape of Afghanistan," Armitage said.  "We don't want a Pashtun-totally dominated or a Tajik-Uzbek-totally dominated government.  It has to be one that's more broad-based and representative" (Ben Barber, Washington Times, Oct. 12).

Diplomats say that one key figure in any reconstruction of Afghanistan is likely to be veteran mediator and recently reappointed U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi.  Brahimi has been holding meetings in Paris and London in the past several days and is scheduled to arrive in the United States next week (Serge Schmemann, New York Times, Oct. 12).

The United Kingdom, the key U.S. ally, and in particular Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been urging the Bush administration to support a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan brokered by the United Nations, senior British officials say.  Blair has been hoping to convince the United States of a need to help Afghanistan once the war is over, and on behalf of his own country has been promising significant and long-standing aid to Afghanistan in the hopes of solidifying an international anti-terrorism coalition and keeping regional peace.

The intention is to "develop a clear strategy for post-Taliban stability," a senior official said, adding that the United States "is coming to see the need for a U.N. role, but it's a hard starting point.  But better the U.N. than the U.S. doing it" (Steven Erlanger, New York Times, Oct. 12).

The United States and the United Kingdom said yesterday that they are preparing for a lengthy engagement in Afghanistan, a campaign that could stretch into next summer and could include use of ground forces.  Admiral Michael Boyce, chief of the British defense staff, said the allies "must expect to go through the winter and into next summer at the very least."  U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not offer specifics from the Pentagon yesterday when asked about the possible use of significant ground troops inside Afghanistan, though he indicated preparations are in progress for using such troops (Myers/Cowell, New York Times, Oct. 12).

Rumsfeld also said yesterday that U.S. airstrikes are zeroing in on leaders of the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban leaders that are harboring its members.  "They represent a significant part" of the military command and control facilities that U.S. bombs and missiles are striking, he said (Matt Kelley, AP/Nando Times, Oct. 11).  Meanwhile, U.S. personnel have arrived in Pakistan and have been granted the use of several air bases there, including Jacobabad and Pasani, Pakistani government officials said yesterday (Munir Ahmed, AP/Nando Times, Oct. 11).

Washington is currently considering NATO allies' offers to take a greater role in the U.S.-led war against terrorism.  Italy and Spain have come forward offering assistance, while France said yesterday it is considering an "air contribution."  A senior administration official said yesterday that compared to the 1999 Kosovo campaign, allies are giving unflinching support to the United States, adding that there has been no second-guessing of Washington at NATO's Brussels headquarters (Barry Schweid, AP/Nando Times, Oct. 11).

Meanwhile, the United States said yesterday Saudi Arabia is moving to freeze al-Qaeda's assets and is offering full cooperation to help the United States combat terrorism.  Bush announced yesterday after a Cabinet meeting that the United States has frozen $40 million of al-Qaeda's assets, a figure aides quickly corrected to $24 million (AP/CNN.com, Oct. 11).

Africa and European nations forged a united front yesterday in condemning international terrorism and expressing solidarity with the United States.  In a joint statement, 73 nations said they "consider terrorism as a common threat to all nations and express their strong determination to jointly combat this scourge in all its forms."  At a European Union-organized meeting, ministers from the countries also called for a U.N. conference on combating terrorism and promised cooperation among themselves to devise a plan "that will ensure the elimination of terrorism" (AP/CNN.com II, Oct. 11).

Russia, meanwhile, is denying reports it has dispatched forces to Afghanistan in support of U.S. military strikes and to aid rebel fighters, saying they were based on false information.  "The information about the moving of units of Russian armed forces into Afghanistan does not correspond to reality," the Defense Ministry said, despite London Times reports that Russian troops and technical officers were near Kabul with Northern Alliance forces (Sergei Shargorodsky, AP/Nando Times, Oct. 11).

Pakistan has said it will not endorse any U.S.-led military campaign against other Muslim countries beyond Afghanistan and has demanded that current operations be limited to the implementation of U.N. resolutions on the Taliban that were adopted immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks (Press Trust of India/Times of India, Oct. 12).  Violent protests against the U.S. military campaign broke out today in Karachi, while protests have also been reported elsewhere.  Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said the government will not tolerate extremist activity and pledged to take action against protestors (CNN.com, Oct. 12).

Meanwhile, a poll taken just before the attacks against Afghanistan began found that only 7 percent of Palestinians in the occupied territories feel the United States is justified in striking against Afghanistan, while one in four thought the terrorist attacks against civilians on Sept. 11 were consistent with Islam (James Bennett, New York Times, Oct. 12).  A panel of prominent Muslim scholars in the Middle East, however, has issued a fatwa, or religious opinion, denouncing the terrorist attacks against the United States and saying it is the "duty" of Muslims to participate in the mission to apprehend terrorists (Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, Oct. 12).

The Taliban said today that at least 200 civilians were killed two days ago in an airstrike near the eastern city of Jalalabad, the largest casualty claim to date by the Taliban, although the claim could not be independently verified.  The village is close to an area where bin Laden is believed to be training fighters for his terrorist network (Gannon/Shah, AP/Nando Times, Oct. 12).

The White House said it regrets any loss of innocent lives and blamed the Taliban for spreading "nasty rumors" that the United States first "drops food and then bombs people" or that the food aid was poisoned (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, Oct. 12).

Meanwhile, according to U.N. confidential reports made available to Newsday, fighters and commanders of the Taliban militia committed systematic killings in recent years while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan.  U.N. personnel said in the documents that mass killings were ordered or approved by Taliban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar.

"These are the same types of war crimes as were committed in Bosnia" and  should be prosecuted in international courts, a U.N. official said (Edward Gargan, Newsday/Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12).

In a Financial Times commentary, Anne-Marie Slaughter, a Harvard University professor of international, foreign and comparative law, writes that "if the U.S. is serious about bringing terrorists to justice, it should be thinking about courts," adding, "Even assuming that Osama bin Laden is more likely to be captured dead than alive, many others will be apprehended over the coming months and years.  Where will they be tried?"

Slaughter suggests that rather than trials in U.S. courts, "a preferable course would be to convene as ad hoc international tribunal with jurisdiction over all terrorist acts on or after Sept. 11, wherever committed" (Anne-Marie Slaughter, Financial Times, Oct. 12).

Dennis Ross, Clinton administration Middle East envoy, denounces the so-called motives of bin Laden in a New York Times commentary today, saying, "Much like Saddam Hussein, he is trying to gain legitimacy by implying that his attack on America was about the plight of the Palestinians." 

Ross writes, "He is no more credible than Mr. Hussein was.  His al-Qaeda network did not attack America because of the absence of peace in the Middle East.  It had obviously begun planning its terrorist attack last year -- even as peace talks were progressing.  Had we succeeded in 2000, when I thought a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was possible, the plans for the attack would undoubtedly have been accelerated, not stopped" (Dennis Ross, New York Times, Oct. 12).

The U.S. Senate passed a bill late yesterday that would broaden the authority of domestic law enforcement to pursue terrorists following the Sept. 11 attacks.  The vote on the bipartisan legislation was 96-1 and was the result of weeks of discussions between Senate Democrats, Republicans and Justice Department officials (CNN.com, Oct. 12).

Meanwhile, New York City officials yesterday rejected a $10 million donation toward aid efforts given by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talai after he suggested that U.S. policies in the Middle East are partly to blame for the attacks on New York and Washington.  The prince's statement said, "At times like this one, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack.  I believe the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause."

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani criticized the statement and an announcement followed saying the check was being rejected.  "There is no moral equivalent for this attack," Giuliani said.  "The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification when they slaughtered 5,000, 6,000 innocent people. ... Not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem" (Katherine Roth, AP/Nando Times, Oct. 11).

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U.S. Response: Senate Passes Antiterrorism Bill

The U.S. Senate yesterday passed an antiterrorism bill to expand law enforcement powers, including new authority to wiretap terrorists, share intelligence information about them, track suspected terrorists’ Internet use and prosecute people who knowingly harbor them.  The Bush administration supported the legislation (Reuters/South China Morning Post, Oct. 12).

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote today on an antiterrorism bill with expanded law enforcement authority that would expire in five years.  The House bill is the result of intense negotiations between the Bush administration and House members who were concerned about civil liberties.  The bill is expected to be a compromise between the version that passed the House Judiciary Committee 63-0 and the Senate’s bill, which more closely resembles the original White House request (Audrey Hudson, Washington Times, Oct. 12).

The House yesterday approved a budget increase of $407 million for education, health and labor programs that included up to $100 million to fight bioterrorism (EFE News Service, Oct. 12).

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European Response: E.U. Agrees on Bioterrorism Emergency Plan

The European Union last night agreed on an emergency plan to respond to mass terrorist attacks by creating a team of biological, chemical and nuclear warfare experts based in Brussels and an EU-wide network of scientists on standby.  The teams are expected to be established by next week.  The EU also agreed to systematically exchange information on possible terrorist threats (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Daily Telegraph, Oct. 12).

Meanwhile, the British Medical Journal reported today that Europe is poorly prepared for a low-level biological terrorist attack, such as poisoning food with ordinary diseases like the flu or salmonella.  The authors said Europe lacks the necessary medical surveillance to detect widespread infection with common diseases in the early stages.  The report also found that half of European countries had no sufficient plans to deal with a large influenza outbreak, and the EU had no overall plan.  However, report co-author Julius Weinberg said that thousands of people dying from an unusual virulent disease was not a realistic scenario (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Oct. 12).

The report suggested more international cooperation, such as common databases, increased funding and quicker public health response. 

France has developed a $57 million response plan called “Biotox” that includes using a military decontamination center for civilians.

Germany is establishing a biological warfare center to collect information and prevent attacks.

Belgium has begun an awareness campaign among health institutions (Guardian, Oct. 12).

Italy approved an emergency plan yesterday that would provide more information to doctors, increase funding for testing centers, train specialized medical teams and increase production of vaccines and drugs (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Oct. 11).

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U.S. Response: Nuclear Waste Shipments Halted

The U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday that all nuclear waste shipments had been halted again (see GSN, Sept. 28).  The suspension was taken as a precautionary measure after the start of airstrikes against Afghanistan, DOE officals said.  This is the second time nuclear waste shipments have been halted, with the first coming after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

All transuranic waste shipments from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory were halted, said INEEL officials Wednesday.  Shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant were suspended after it was discovered that workers had failed to conduct a required check on one shipment.  INEEL officials said they were conducting an investigation (Energy Daily, Oct. 11).

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Pakistan: U.S. Ex-Im Bank Discusses Financing Exports to Pakistan

U.S. Export-Import Bank Chairman John Robson met with Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz in Washington yesterday to discuss financing commercial exports to Pakistan.  The meeting was the first time senior officials have publicly discussed such a move since the United States lifted nuclear-related sanctions on Sept. 22 (see GSN, Sept. 24) (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 11).

Robson and Aziz discussed possible Ex-Im Bank financing for U.S. commercial aircraft exports to Pakistan.  They also agreed to establish a task force involving representatives from the bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Trade Development Agency.  The Ex-Im Bank said it would explore ways to help Pakistan privatize its health, education, oil and gas sectors and general infrastructure. 

“Ex-Im Bank is optimistic that there are opportunities for U.S. exporters to do good, solid business in Pakistan,” Robson said (Ex-Im Bank release, Oct. 10). 

The Glenn Amendment sanctions imposed on Pakistan from 1998 until Sept. 22 prohibited Ex-Im Bank financing assistance, according to Leonard Spector of the Monterey Institute for International Studies (see GSN, Sept. 21) (Kerry Boyd, GSN, Sept. 20).  

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Kazakh Fuel Cycle:  Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Mine Uranium

Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to set up a joint venture to mine and process uranium, Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov said Monday. 

The venture is a “logical move,” said Akhmetov, since Kazakhstan possesses one-forth of all geological uranium reserves while Russia is already starting to rely on its weapons stockpiles for uranium (see GSN, Sept. 27).  The uranium will be mined at the Zarechnoye field in Kazakhstan, which contains a proven 14,500 metric tons of uranium.  It then will be shipped to the Kara-Balta  Mining Combine in Kyrgyzstan, one of the former Soviet Union’s leading uranium processing plants, which will produce the concentrate for Russia (BBC Monitoring/Interfax, Oct. 10).

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Anthrax: Fourth Case Reported in New York

A fourth confirmed case of anthrax was reported today in New York.  A female employee of NBC’s Nightly News tested positive for anthrax on the skin, which is generally not fatal, according to experts.  A suspicious package arrived at NBC around Sept. 22 that contained white powder, NBC officials said, but two tests on the powder for anthrax came back negative. 

New York officials said they plan to test the areas of the NBC headquarters where the exposure might have occurred.  Employees that might have been exposed will be tested by the New York City Department of Health and will be given the antibiotic Cipro as a precaution, said New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani today during a press conference.  “People should not overreact to this.  Much of this is being done to allay people’s fears,” Giuliani said (Fox News, Oct. 12).

U.S. investigators yesterday searched the American Media Inc. headquarters a third time as the investigation into three Florida anthrax exposure cases (see GSN, Oct. 11) began to focus on possible mail delivery of the disease.

The FBI searched the three-story building a final time and gathered additional materials for further analysis, according to federal officials.  “We’re going back into the building and looking into every single corner and every small hole,” said one investigator.  It remains unclear how the three workers became exposed to anthrax (Daley/Mishra, Boston Globe, Oct. 12).

One possible means being examined is by mail, although investigators said they had no specific evidence that the anthrax exposures involved mail or packages.  Such a line of inquiry, however, was only “natural” given that two of the three people exposed worked in the AMI mailroom, said investigators.  The FBI is interviewing U.S. Postal Service workers who handled mail for AMI, as well as testing them for possible anthrax exposure.  Anthrax spores were found in the company’s first-floor mailroom, according to the FBI.  Previously, spores had only been found on the keyboard of the man who had died from the disease. 

A Miami postal workers union this week threatened to sue the government if steps weren’t taken to protect postal workers handling sensitive packages.  The union is calling for a temporary halt on international mailings.  “We have the greatest exposure of any company in the country and we can’t get the Postal Service to do anything about it.  So we’re taking it to the president and the White House,” said Judy Johnson, general president of the Miami local of the American Postal Workers Union (Miami Herald, Oct. 12). 

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said today that he was not prepared to label the Florida cases bioterrorism, however, “obviously anthrax is a very serious matter and its presence would be very unusual in that setting.”  The FBI was “extremely doubtful” that the anthrax cases in South Florida were related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said one former senior federal law enforcement official.  “It’s hard to believe that Osama bin Laden’s organized network chose to drop a few drops of anthrax on Lantana, Florida, -- it’s not the population center he would choose,” the former official said.  “If this was found in some hot dog at Joe Robbie Stadium on a day when 70,000 people were there, then we’d have to worry” (Yardley/Canedy, New York Times, Oct. 12).

Richard Butler, former head of the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq, agreed that the Florida cases were likely to be manmade, but was also unsure as to their origin.  “My belief is that this didn’t occur in nature … that someone synthesized and made this, a person did it,” Butler said.  “Then the question becomes, who is that person?  Was it a terrorist, or just some loony out there, thinking because of the tragedy – I shouldn’t call it a tragedy, because it’s more than that – the outrage of one month ago today that this provides an interesting background to scare people” (CNN, Oct. 11).

State police and National Guard troops will be stationed at locations in Iowa where anthrax is stored or studied, said Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D-Iowa) Wednesday.  The order comes after reports that the Florida strain of anthrax may be traced to one developed in Iowa in the 1950s and shipped to researchers around the country.  “There was no confirmation of any connection between Iowa and the activities in Florida,” said Vilsack (Maggie O’Brien, Des Moines Register, Oct. 11).

The Florida anthrax could have come from a variety of sources, such as the 200 labs worldwide that work with anthrax, or the dozens of germ banks that grow the bacteria from samples found in nature, according to Newsday.  Terrorist laboratories working on developing weapons of mass destruction may also have supplies, said Rance LeFebrve of the University of California, Davis. 

Legitimate access to anthrax bacteria is usually made through scientific colleagues, according to Newsday.  “If I need more of it, I just make a couple of phone calls,” said Martin Hugh-Jones, a consultant for the Centers for Disease Control who doubts that any legitimate anthrax researchers would have standards so lax that anthrax could fall into the wrong hands.  “We’re a very small group … we all know each other,” Hugh-Jones said (Delthia Ricks, Newsday, Oct. 12).

Since 1997, there have been U.S. restrictions on who can possess anthrax or order it from the handful of biological suppliers.  Before the 1997 rules were enacted, laboratories traded anthrax strains freely in order for scientists to confirm findings, standardize methods and test treatments, according to the Associated Press.  U.S. labs now, however, must be certified to handle anthrax and cannot send their holdings out to unauthorized recipients, according to the AP.  “There are really stringent controls now,” said Monterey Institute of International Studies research associate Cheryl Loeb (Matt Crenson, Associated Press, Oct. 11). 

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Feasibility: Former Soviet Scientist Says BW Could Be Simple To Use

Biological weapons are easier to use than some experts claim (see GSN, Sept. 28), said Ken Alibek, a former biochemical warfare scientist for the former Soviet Union, today at a George Mason University briefing in Washington.  Alibek added, however, that people should not panic.

Alibek said suicide attackers could expose themselves to a disease and then infect others, although he noted that while this method could kill some people, it probably would not result in hundreds or thousands of casualties.  Suicide attackers in Israel once infected themselves with Hepatitis B and infected a few other people, he said.

The Soviet Union conducted a biological warfare test in the Moscow subway and discovered they needed only 300 grams – about two small cups – of biological substance to cause high casualties, Alibek said.  Each gram could contain billions of infectious spores.  He said, however, very few of those spores would actually infect people, so claims that only one gram of biological agent could kill thousands of people are not true.    

Alibek suggested the United States create a centralized agency to protect against biological terrorism and said Soviet programs in the 1980s could provide a good model.  The Soviet Union used to have a program to protect civilians from biological weapons, and the Russian army has a special directorate for biological, chemical and radiological weapon protection.  The Soviet Union also studied the feasibility of biological weapons and protection, but many of those studies remain unfinished due to Russia’s lack of funds.  He added that Israel could also provide a partial model for development of a centralized biological weapons protection agency.

Alibek said the United States must avoid panic but should be aware of the biological threat that exists.  He said the government and experts should truly inform U.S. citizens of the risk, government efforts to protect the population and how people should respond.  He said it is better to provide people with accurate information rather than to force them to seek information from sources that may be erroneous (Kerry Boyd, GSN, Oct. 12). 

Click here to see information on a George Mason University course on biological weapons.   

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U.S. Response: Dilution May Increase Smallpox Vaccine Supply

The United States is conducting a study to see if diluting the current supply of smallpox vaccine might effectively increase the amount available in the event of a biological attack.  “It’s a very quick way to markedly expand the amount of vaccine that we already have, which on face value in the undiluted form would not be a lot,” said Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Health infectious disease institute. 

Researchers at the University of Maryland, St. Louis University, University of Rochester and Baylor College medical schools  will study 684 adults under the age of 32 who have never been vaccinated for a 10-week period.  The study will test the diluted vaccine to see if it prompts the production of antibodies for smallpox.  Researchers will also examine if a scab is formed at the vaccination site, which is an indication that the vaccine is working.

In a St. Louis University study last year, researchers used vaccines diluted 10 times and 100 times.   The one-tenth doses produced scabs a significant number of times, while the one-one hundredth doses had little effect, said University of Maryland researcher Carol Tacket.

Diluting the vaccines is not meant to be an alternative to new does in production, said Sharon Frey, the lead researcher on the planned smallpox study at St. Louis University.  “This is a stopgap measure to make more doses available until the new vaccines is developed,” said Frey.

Smallpox made by the Soviet Union in the 1980s for their biological warfare program might have been obtained by rogue nations and could be used in a bioterrorism attack, according to experts.  There is no treatment for the disease and U.S. public vaccinations were stopped in 1972 because smallpox was no longer seen as a threat (Stephen Manning, Associated Press, Oct. 12).

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Cuba:  Havana Said To Be Aiding Iran

Cuba has sold technology used to make medical products – and also to build biological weapons – to Iran, said Jose de la Fuente, former director of research and development at the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in this month’s Nature Biotechnology.

Between 1995 and 1998, Cuba sold Iran medical technology, including a recombinant hepatitis B vaccine and streptokinase, which is used to treat heart attacks and other thrombolytic disorders, according to de la Fuente.  That technology could be used to produce biological weapons, however, because of similarities in the fermentation processes used to make vaccines and biological warfare agents.  “The fermenters are the same,” said Henry Stimson Center expert Amy Smithson.  

Iran plans to do just that, said de la Fuente.  “No one believes that Iran is interested in these technologies for the purpose of protecting all the children in the Middle East from hepatitis, or treating their people with cheap streptokinase when they suffer sudden cardiac arrest,” de la Fuente said.  “The sale to Iran of the production technology for three of the CIGB’s most significant accomplishments … is profoundly disturbing to many of us who gave so much time and effort to the development of an economically viable but essentially altruistic biotechnology in our country.”  Cuba made the deal to satisfy its “desperate need for hard currency,” de la Fuente said.

Because Cuba has suffered from chemical attacks in the past, the country abhors such tactics, said officials at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington.  “If any country has suffered from biological warfare, it is Cuba,” said spokesman Luis Fernandez.  In the past, Cuba has blamed illness and agricultural damage to chemical attacks conducted by exiles in Miami, according to the Miami Herald.

Cuba has sold pharmaceutical products to a number of countries, Fernandez said, but could not confirm if Iran had bought Cuban technology to make medications for illnesses such as hepatitis B.  Fernandez said that no Cuban technology could be used for biological warfare.  “Cuba has never produced anything that is harmful, nor will it ever, nor does it need to,” Fernandez said.  “People are looking for ghosts that don’t exist.”

Cuba “clearly has the capability of producing chemical and biological ingredients that could be come weapons of mass destruction,” said U.S. Senator Bob Graham (R-Fla.).  It is unknown if they are doing so, Graham said, because international inspectors have not been given access to Cuban facilities.  “The Cubans say that’s a matter of national sovereignty and that ‘we are not using them for any inappropriate purpose.’  Nobody, at least nobody that I’m aware of in the United States, feels that we know what Cuba’s doing,” said Graham (Nancy San Martin, Miami Herald, Oct. 11).

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China: U.S. and China Disagree on Missile Technology Transfers

U.S. and Chinese officials failed to resolve a dispute over China’s alleged missile technology to transfers to Pakistan after several days of meetings in Beijing.  It is now unlikely the United States will lift sanctions against China in time for a U.S.-China summit later this month, U.S. officials said. 

The United States will not lift sanctions “without change in China’s behavior,” said one official.

After meeting with Chinese officials, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation Affairs John Wolf said his visit was “successful and productive,” despite the failure to resolve the missile technology issue. 

The United States imposed sanctions on China last August after China allegedly broke a November 2000 agreement with the United States by transferring missile technology to Pakistan (Reuters/South China Morning Post, Oct. 12).

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ABM Treaty: Bush Calls Treaty ‘Antiquated and Useless’

U.S. President George W. Bush last night strongly reaffirmed his intention to move beyond the restrictions of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

“The ABM Treaty is outdated, antiquated and useless,” Bush said during a White House press conference.

Bush said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States have only strengthened the need for the United States to deploy missile defenses.  Bush envisions a world “in which a terrorist thug or a host nation might have the ability to deliver a weapon of mass destruction via rocket.”

“Wouldn’t it be in our nation’s advantage to be able to shoot it down?  At the very least, it should be in our nation’s advantage to determine whether we can shoot it down.  And we’re restricted from doing that because of an ABM Treaty that was signed during a totally different era,” Bush said.

“I can’t wait to visit with my friend, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, in Shanghai, to reiterate once again that the Cold War is over, it’s done with, and that there are new threats that we face,” Bush said, adding “I hope that he will join us in a new strategic relationship” (White House release, Oct. 11).

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U.S. Plans: Contracts Awarded

Two new contracts have been awarded to Aerojet and Vanguard Research Inc. to help develop a U.S. missile defense system.

Aerojet was awarded a 17-month, $13.4 million contract from Orbital Sciences Corp. to develop a liquid-propellant engine for U.S. Army missile defense test vehicles (see GSN, Oct. 5).  The engine will be part of a booster stage being developed by Orbital for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.  Aerojet’s engine will use safer, cleaner burning peroxide and kerosene propellants, instead of the toxic solid propellants used in the old ICBMs the Army is currently using as test vehicles.  The engine will be able to replicate characteristics of an enemy engine, such as its infrared signature.  “This is an exciting opportunity for Aerojet to draw on its decades of liquid propulsion expertise and develop an engine that will provide propulsive power for a new class of target vehicles,” said Aerojet Program Manager Scott Jennings (Aerojet release, Oct. 11).

Vanguard Research Inc. has been awarded an $8 million contract modification from Shriever Air Force Base to provide advisory and assistance services including support of research and development for ballistic missile defense (Space & Missile, Oct. 11).

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