International Response: Reaction to U.S. Military in Afghanistan

The United States and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban should take greater care to reduce civilian casualties in the escalating Afghan conflict, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday.

Expressing regret over the "tragic loss of life" caused by the conflict, Annan noted reports of civilians killed by U.S. strikes, including four Afghans who worked for a U.N.-affiliated demining program in Kabul.  "Such reports remind us that, in times of military action, every effort must be made to protect the lives and integrity of the civilian population within Afghanistan, as well as of those Afghan and other humanitarian workers still operating in the country," he said.

The secretary general went on to express dismay at reports that the Taliban is harassing and beating Afghan U.N. staff and at the burning of a UNICEF office in Quetta, Pakistan.

"I exhort all parties to take all possible precautions to minimize civilian casualties.  As the world unites in the fight against international terrorism, we must, at the same time, do everything possible to protect innocent civilian populations," Annan said (U.N. release, Oct. 15).

Annan's special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, and his personal representative in the country, Francesc Vendrell, are in New York for meetings at U.N. headquarters.  Brahimi was to meet with Annan yesterday afternoon (U.N. release/ReliefWeb, Oct. 15).

The United Nations can help combat international terrorism by encouraging dialogue among civilizations, Undersecretary General Marcel Boisard said in an interview published today by La Liberte.  Boisard, the executive director of the U.N. Institute for Training and Research and "the highest-ranking Swiss in the U.N. system," according to the Swiss daily, linked anti-terror efforts with the designation of this year as the U.N. Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations.

"Why don't we start talking about the dialogue of civilizations at the worldwide level?" he asked.  "In any case, it would allow us to gain a little critical distance.  Let's stop shutting off problems in a religious perspective; let's open ourselves up to the great spiritualities of the Far East and let's put ourselves in a civilizational perspective.  Maybe now is not the time, but there could be something to do there and the U.N. could play a role" (Juan Pekmez, La Liberte, Oct. 16, UN Wire translation).

Speaking at UNESCO's general conference, which began yesterday in Paris, French President Jacques Chirac echoed Boisard's call.  "The dialogue of cultures, guarantee of peace," is the appropriate answer to "fanatical discourses," Chirac said (Le Figaro, Oct. 15, UN Wire translation).

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf today in Islamabad promised U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell unflinching support for U.S. action in Afghanistan despite strong Pakistani opposition to the strikes.  Islamabad will support Washington "as long as it [takes] to achieve the desired result," Musharraf said (CNN.com, Oct. 16).

The two leaders said they have agreed on a vision for the future of Afghanistan if the Taliban falls.  They called for a multiethnic and democratic government and opposed a direct accession to power of the opposition Northern Alliance.  Musharraf said a "broad-based, multiethnic government freely chosen by Afghans without outside interference" could include "former King Zahir Shah, political leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the Northern Alliance, tribal elders, Afghans living outside their country" (Sarah Left, London Guardian, Oct. 16).

Powell said yesterday that he has chosen Richard Haass as his personal envoy to the United Nations in the context of discussions on a post-Taliban Afghanistan (Sipress/Constable, Washington Post, Oct. 16).  The secretary of state is slated to meet with Indian officials today and tomorrow (CNN.com).

The "unjust and unethical" bombing of civilians in Afghanistan will cause "hatred and anger" against the United States and sympathy for the Taliban, according to Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan's Movement for Justice party.  For a BBC interview with Khan, click here.

U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice yesterday told Qatari television network al-Jazeera, which has exclusive access to statements by suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, that Washington will maintain support of U.N. sanctions against Iraq and is working for peace in Israel.  U.S. policy in both countries has been cited by bin Laden, who is harbored by the Taliban, as justification for terrorism against the United States.

Rice defended Bush administration calls for U.S. television stations not to air unedited bin Laden messages provided by al-Jazeera.  "What we do not need is to have a kind of a free rein (for bin Laden) to sit and use the airwaves to incite attacks on innocent people," Rice said (CNN.com, Oct. 15).

George McGovern, U.S. envoy to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.N. World Food Program, said yesterday that global poverty is partly behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States.

"None of this justifies the kind of killing we saw in this country on Sept. 11," McGovern said at the University of Montana's Experience of War conference. "But it is possible that dangerous upstarts who strike out at the symbols of power, that those people are heroes in the eyes of the downtrodden."

"It is possible," he went on, "that desperate young men saw in the collapse of those twin towers the first evidence that they are not necessarily powerless" (Associated Press, Oct. 16).

In other U.S. news, a Legal Times report yesterday suggested that Washington's embrace of the United Nations after Sept. 11 may be short-lived.  "The U.S. is hardly going to make the U.N. a serious partner," Cato Institute foreign policy expert Ted Carpenter told the Washington weekly.  U.N. Association of the United States of America Vice President Steven Dimoff cited a "shift in the U.S. government's public attitudes toward the U.N.," but added, "It's too early to say if it's a long shift" (Siobhan Roth, Legal Times/law.com, Oct. 15).

In a letter circulated yesterday at the U.N. Security Council, Shah asked Annan to bring the dangerous potential for a post-Taliban power vacuum in Afghanistan to the council's attention and to consider a U.N. peacekeeping operation in the country if the Taliban falls.  "A peacekeeping force, under the authority of the United Nations, could be rapidly deployed with the cooperation of the international community," wrote the deposed monarch (Lynch/Kaufman, Washington Post, Oct. 16).  Shah met yesterday in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero and French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine (CNN.com, Oct. 16).

The Afghan opposition is receiving military aid at a very slow rate owing to the difficulty of transporting materials into the region north of Kabul, Agence France-Presse reports.  Only one mountainous land route links Tajikistan with opposition-controlled areas of Afghanistan (AFP/Liberation, Oct. 16, UN Wire translation).

Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials and aides to Shah have confirmed the defection of Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil.  Muttawakil left Afghanistan last week in a small plane, passing through Dubai on his way to join the former king in Rome, according to Knight Ridder.  U.S. intelligence officials said they have reports that Pakistani intelligence engineered the defection.  The Pakistani Foreign Office and the Taliban Embassy in Pakistan have denied that Muttawakil has defected (Juan Tamayo, Knight Ridder/Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 16).

Iran agreed Oct. 8 to rescue U.S. soldiers in distress on its territory, U.S. and Iranian officials told the New York Times yesterday.  The Iranian pledge came in response to a Bush administration promise Oct. 7 to respect Iran's territorial integrity (Sciolino/Lewis, New York Times, Oct. 16).

Citing Iranian officials, the Financial Times reports Tehran is concerned Washington may not "finish the job" in Afghanistan, instead leaving behind an intact Taliban regime or a puppet government.  Iranian officials, who compare the situation to that of Iraq in 1991, are concerned about the possibility of prolonged civil war, regional instability and increased refugee flows, the Financial Times reports (Guy Dinmore, Financial Times, Oct. 16).

Lebanese and Jordanian security forces several days ago foiled planned attacks on Arab, U.S. and British embassies in Beirut, AFP reports.  The Arab countries targeted "are part of the international coalition that is fighting against terrorism," a senior Jordanian official said, adding that the attacks were ordered by the Lebanon-based Palestinian group Osbat al-Ansar (AFP II/Liberation, Oct. 16, UN Wire translation).

German television station Das Erste's Report Mainz investigative program has obtained a Taliban "hit list," signed in July by Supreme Leader Mohamed Omar, that names opponents of the regime as marked for death, Das Erste parent ARD said yesterday.  Shah figures on the list, but a Report Mainz journalist said it does not include any names of Western leaders.  ARD said some names are followed by the word "killed" in English, while the rest of the document is in Pashto (Reuters/Yahoo! News, Oct. 15).

European Union foreign affairs, security, aid and economy ministers are meeting today and tomorrow in Luxembourg to review EU counterterrorism measures agreed on since Sept. 11.  The union will "build on these measures," the European Commission said before the talks (CNN.com II, Oct. 16).

The Bahamas has frozen two bank accounts worth $32 million belonging to people on the U.N. list of alleged terrorists, Bahamian authorities announced yesterday (AP/Cyberpresse.ca, Oct. 16, UN Wire translation).

Speaking to Spanish radio station Onda Cero during a visit to Madrid, Mexican President Vicente Fox said yesterday that those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks should be judged by an international court in order to be "punished with the full force of the law," adding that he will make the suggestion at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting this weekend in Shanghai.  Fox said the International Court of Justice would be an ideal venue for trying the terrorists (AFP/Cyberpresse.ca, Oct. 15, UN Wire translation).

Thirty African countries and 20 heads of state are expected in Dakar, Senegal, tomorrow for a conference on an African "pact against terrorism" (AFP II/Cyberpresse.ca, Oct. 15, UN Wire translation).

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EU Response: EU Discusses New Antiterrorism Measures

European Union governments met in Luxembourg today to discuss EU antiterrorism measures (see GSN, Oct. 12) and prepare for an EU summit in Ghent, Belgium, Oct. 19.  Delegates will consider new measures including a definition of terrorism and a European arrest warrant.  Officials were expected to discuss stricter security guidelines for airlines, such as increased controls on access to sensitive areas and more checks on luggage and cargo (European Internet Network, Oct. 16).

Officials were also expected to check for loopholes in antiterrorism measures agreed to since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, provide more support for law enforcement and judicial agencies and discuss ways to increase information exchanges between law enforcement authorities.  EU finance ministers were expected to discuss efforts to block terrorist funding, including a freeze on the assets of organizations and individuals suspected of having links with the Sept. 11 attack suspects and tighter laws against money laundering.  Current EU money laundering rules apply only to drug-related crimes, and officials are working to draft new rules to crack down on the proceeds of any crime, including terrorism.

The meetings are expected to last through tomorrow (Geoff Meade, Press Association News, Oct. 16).

Meanwhile, Belgium has called for a European conference on terrorism on Oct. 20 including representatives from the EU, EU candidate states, plus Russia, Switzerland, Moldova and Ukraine (European Internet Network, Oct. 16).

The EU also agreed to form a network of experts to respond to nuclear, biological and chemical attacks (see GSN, Oct. 12).  EU officials are increasing interagency cooperation and working on a computerized data exchange system on accidents and terrorist attacks, said European Commission Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem (AFX News Limited, Oct. 15).

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Canadian Response: Administration Proposes Antiterrorism Law

Canadian Justice Minister Anne McLellan introduced new antiterrorism legislation Monday that would make significant changes in Canadian criminal law.  The bill would create several new offenses under the criminal code.

The bill would allow police to make a “preventive arrest” without a warrant if they had reasonable grounds to believe a person was about to commit a terrorist attack.  The suspect would appear before a judge within 24 hours of arrest and could be held for 72 hours without charge.  In addition, police could obtain permission to wiretap a terrorism suspect without having to prove it was a “last resort,” as current Canadian law requires.  Police could use the wiretaps for up to a year, rather than the current limit of 60 days.

The legislation would also allow the Defense Department’s Communications Security Establishment to monitor communication between Canadians and foreign groups or individuals, a major change from current law. 

The bill would also allow a life sentence for terrorist leaders and a maximum 10-year sentence for people convicted of participating in or fundraising for terrorist groups, although the bill would allow for consecutive sentencing for terrorist offenses.

Other provisions in the bill include seizure of terrorist assets and the establishment of a list of terrorist organizations and individuals.  Parliament would review the law in three years.

McLellan said the law would strike the right balance between protecting civil liberties and increasing security.  “People who live in daily fear for their personal security and safety cannot live in a free and democratic society,” she said.  Some critics, however, expressed concern that the bill would infringe on civil liberties.  Other critics said the bill was not tough enough on terrorism, partly because it would only ban participation in terrorist groups rather than outlawing membership in terrorist organizations (Nahlah Ayed, Miami Herald, Oct. 15).

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U.S. Response: U.S. Plans to Provide Terrorism Insurance

The United States is developing a plan to back up insurance companies in the case of a terrorist attack. The Bush administration said it is working with Congress to create an insurance plan because many companies will stop providing insurance against terrorist attacks when current insurance policies expire at the end of this year and clients may be forced to pay “exceptionally high rates,” a senior White House official said yesterday in a press briefing.

The government would initially absorb the majority of the insurance costs after a terrorist attack under the plan, but its role would diminish over three years until terrorism insurance would be under the private sector.  During the first year of the plan, the government would pay 80 percent of insured losses under $20 billion and 90 percent of losses over $20 billion.  In the second year, the ratios would change so that the government would pay 50 percent of losses over $10 billion and 90 percent of losses over $20 billion.  The private sector would cover 100 percent for losses under $10 billion.  In the third year, the government would pay 50 percent of losses over $20 billion and 90 percent of losses over $40 billion.  The private sector would pay for all losses under $20 billion.  There would be a $100 billion overall liability cap.  The legislation would sunset after three years. 

Insurance-holders would file their claims resulting from terrorist attacks with insurance companies that would pay the claimant and receive reimbursement from the government (Federal News Service Transcript, Oct. 15). 

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U.S. Response: Bush Asks for $1.5 Billion More to Fight Bioterrorism

The White House announced a plan Sunday to buy antibiotics that could quickly treat up to 12 million people, six times the number that could be treated with currently available drugs.  Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced the Bush administration would ask Congress for $1.5 billion for antibiotics and other programs to prevent and respond to biological attacks. 

Of the $1.5 billion proposal, $643 million would buy antibiotics and other drugs.  The new request follows a previous request by Thompson for $800 million for programs including increasing antibiotics to treat anthrax (see GSN, Oct. 4). 

The United States currently has enough antibiotics to treat 2 million people for anthrax for 60 days, and the new proposal would allow the government to quickly purchase 10 million more doses, so that 12 million Americans could be treated in the event of an attack, Thompson said.  Thompson said a purchase of 10 million doses would provide adequate resources to respond to an attack, so people do not need to individually buy antibiotics.  “I’m telling people you don’t need to hoard Cipro,” Thompson said.  Cipro, or ciprofloxacin, is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved drug to specifically treat anthrax.  Bayer, the German company that produces Cipro, announced it would increase Cipro production by 25 percent (see GSN, Oct. 15). 

Thompson said the administration’s request was not in response to recent anthrax cases in the United States (see GSN, Oct. 15) (Philip Shenon, New York Times, Oct. 15).

Congress is also considering legislation to provide $1.65 billion to respond to biochemical attacks, including stockpiling vaccines and drugs (see GSN, Oct. 5) (Reuters/Yahoo! News, Oct. 5).

Pharmaceutical companies did not focus on medicines to treat people in the wake of a biological attack before Sept. 11, so the United States now finds itself short on such drugs, the Baltimore Sun reported.  Tara O’Toole of the Johns Hopkins Civilian Biodefense Studies Center told Congress that the United States had effective vaccines or treatment for only 12 of the 50 most serious pathogens that could be used as a biological weapon (see GSN, Oct. 4).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 12 to 15 million doses of the old smallpox vaccines used until the 1970s to eradicate smallpox.  The amount is “not enough to contain pockets of deliberately started epidemic disease in this country,” said Anthony Fauci of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  Last year, the United States hired a British firm to produce 40 million doses of an improved smallpox vaccine by 2004; the schedule has been moved to 2002.  The CDC has also has begun a study to test the efficacy of the old vaccines.  Most experts have ruled out universal vaccination because it would probably kill around 500 people if all 285 million Americans received the vaccine.

The anthrax vaccine presents more problems than the smallpox vaccine.  It is currently only provided for the military and is in such short supply that is has been given to only a quarter of the soldiers scheduled to take the vaccine.  It also requires six shots over 18 months, plus annual boosters.  The U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Defense Department and private laboratories are working to develop new anthrax vaccines, but licensing of such drugs takes seven to 14 years (Frank Roylance, Baltimore Sun, Oct. 14).

BioPort Corp. is currently the only licensed U.S. company to produce an anthrax vaccine.  The company failed FDA inspections in 1999 and 2000 and had 18 FDA violations.  Robert Kramer, BioPort president, said the vaccine is safe and has been licensed by the FDA since 1970.  The FDA has objected to conditions in the facility, not to the actual project, he said, adding that he expected FDA approval after the company submitted its newest “package,” scheduled for yesterday. 

Kramer said the vaccine would be available for civilian use after BioPort has fulfilled its contract with the Defense Department, which would be several years away.  He said if there were an emergency need for vaccines for civilians, the Defense Department and Health and Human Services Department would coordinate to respond.  “We have a significant amount of vaccine that is in stockpile, which can be used on an emergency basis with the support of the FDA.  So I think we are adequately prepared to respond to a biowarfare attack that would involve anthrax,” he said (20/20 transcript/ABC News, Oct. 10).

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U.S. Response: President Has Authority to Use DOD in Domestic Crisis

The U.S. president has extensive legal power to grant authority and duties to the U.S. Defense Department in times of domestic crisis and attack on the United States, said Paul Schott Stevens in a Center for Strategic and International Studies report released last week.

The report responded to concerns that presidential power to call on the military in times of domestic crisis could infringe on civil liberties and constitutional law.  Stevens’ report said the president has full constitutional and legal authority to use the Defense Department to respond to major terrorist attacks on the United States.

The U.S. Constitution’s authors included Article II in order to grant the president power to respond quickly in time of war or serious emergency, the report said.  The Supreme Court has consistently held that presidents had the right to use military forces to respond to a variety of domestic crises.  The president “therefore may use all means at his disposal, including the armed forces, when a domestic emergency so requires,” the report said, adding that all military activities would remain under civilian control and would not be allowed to intrude on constitutional rights. 

Beyond the Constitution, existing statutes grant the president authority to use the armed forces to respond to a domestic crisis, including an attack using weapons of mass destruction.  No statute limits the president’s ability to use the military to respond to a “catastrophic terrorist attack on the United States,” the report said (CSIS report, Oct. 2001).

Click here to see the CSIS Homeland Defense website.

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U.K. Response: Home Secretary Proposes Antiterrorism Measures

U.K. Home Secretary David Blunkett outlined new antiterrorism legislation to the House of Commons yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 15).  Blunkett’s proposed legislation would increase efforts to prevent the use, production, possession or unauthorized transfer of weapons of mass destruction and their materials. 

The new measures also would include financial controls to stem terrorist financing, measures to increase more effective cooperation with European Union countries, expanded law enforcement powers, increased information sharing between customs and revenue agencies and law enforcement, a requirement for transport companies to maintain passenger and freight information records and changes in immigration and asylum law.  Blunkett also said his office would establish a new antiterrorism finance unit in conjunction with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

“I am determined to strike a balance between respecting our fundamental civil liberties and ensuring they are not exploited,” Blunkett said (Home Office release, Oct. 15).

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Pakistan: U.S. Should Prepare to Secure Nukes, Expert Says

The United States should be prepared to seize Pakistan’s nuclear materials and move them to a secure location, said Carnegie Endowment for International Peace nuclear proliferation specialist Jon Wolfsthal in a Los Angeles Times opinion column today.  Although such a move would be extreme, it could become necessary if Pakistan were to lose control of its nuclear arsenal, said Wolfsthal.

“When faced with the real possibility of losing control of nuclear weapons to the types of organizations capable of the destruction seen Sept. 11,” such extreme measures would be prudent, Wolfsthal said.

While Pakistan has aligned itself with the United States since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a recent Newsweek poll indicated that 83 percent of Pakistanis sympathize with Afghanistan’s Taliban in the current conflict.  It is therefore possible, Wolfsthal argued, that Pakistan’s nuclear security forces could be compromised.

The United States and international nuclear institutions, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, should provide Islamabad with assistance to protect its nuclear materials, Wolfsthal said, without helping Pakistan to modernize or deploy its weapons.  Pakistan could also receive equipment such as alarm systems and polygraph equipment for personnel screening.

If security were to fail, the United States should have contingency plans, Wolfsthal said.  First the Pentagon should be able to rapidly deploy forces to find and regain control over lost nuclear material.  Failing that, the United States should be prepared to remove nuclear material from Pakistan (Jon Wolfsthal, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 16).

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Smuggling: Plutonium Recovered in Georgia

Three Tbilisi residents were arrested in Georgia yesterday for possessing 23 boxes of plutonium worth $65,000 on the black market, according to local authorities.  The suspects reportedly tried to conceal the plutonium by packaging it with instant coffee.  An investigation was initiated to determine the source of the plutonium (Agence France-Presse/Cyberpresse.ca, Oct. 15).

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Anthrax: Children and Congress Exposed

New anthrax exposure cases appeared in New York (see GSN, Oct. 15) and in the halls of the U.S. Congress in Washington yesterday.  The new cases have led to U.S. postal workers being placed on high alert, while investigators examine increasing connections between the cases and suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.

The 7-month-old son of an ABC freelance producer tested positive for the skin version of anthrax yesterday, said ABC News President David Westin.  The baby was being treated with antibiotics and was expected to recover, Westin said.  The baby had been in the ABC News office for a short time Sept. 28, but "it's possible the child was exposed somewhere else," Westin said.  It's unknown if other ABC News employees have been exposed or are at risk.  "If someone had been exposed on the 28th when the child was here, we already would have seen symptoms," Westin said.  "We're assuming the worst and proceeding on that basis to protect the health and well-being of our colleagues" (Stolberg/Mitchell, New York Times, Oct. 16).

Two suspicious letters received at the United Nations last week tested negative for anthrax, said U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard yesterday.  One incident involved a package found in a mail screening room in the U.N headquarters last Thursday.  The other involved a U.N. Development Program staff member who was tested for exposure after opening an envelope Wednesday with suspicious material inside.  The U.N. staff had received guidelines on how to deal with suspicious mail, Eckhard said (U.N. News Service release, Oct. 15).

A letter that contained a powdery substance that tested positive for anthrax was received yesterday at the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), said U.S. Capitol Police spokesman Lt. Dan Nichols.  A preliminary test, conducted by the Capitol police, came back positive, said Nichols.  A second test was then administered, which also came back positive.  Capitol police examined about 40 staff members who were in Daschle's office at the time, who were tested with nasal and clothing swabs and put on antibiotic treatments as a precaution. 

Mail delivery was halted at all U.S. House of Representative and Senate offices, said Nichols, and mail delivery procedures were being reestablished.  Asked when delivery would begin again, Nichols responded, "the best answer I can give you is 'as quickly as possible.'  But I'm not going to put a date on it.  Public safety is what comes first.”  Tours of the Capitol were also suspended indefinitely.  There had been a number of calls regarding suspicious packages at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, but Daschle's office was the only one where any positive test results were found, said Nichols (Federal News Service transcript, Oct. 15).

New security measures were being prepared last week by Congress in the event of an incident such as yesterday's in Daschle's office, the Washington Post reported.  On Friday, a memo sent to Senate offices by Sergeant-At-Arms Alfonso Lenhardt said, "as a result of the ongoing efforts to enhance security, effective immediately mail will undergo additional screening for potentially harmful agents."  Current procedures have Senate mail going to the Capitol police who screen it by X-ray before sending it to the Senate post office where it is screened again visually, according to the memo.  The new regulations will add about another day to delivery, according to Lenhardt.  Members of Congress agreed with the new security measures, which will help protect the staffers who usually open the mail.  "It's not members who open the mail.  It's a bunch of kids," said U.S. Representative Jane Harman (D-Calif.).  "This isn't about members safety.  It's about the safety of young people who didn't sign on to exposure to biohazards" (Lancaster/Eilperin, Washington Post, Oct. 16).

Ernesto Blanco, the second man to be exposed to anthrax in Florida earlier this month (see GSN, Oct. 9), was diagnosed with inhalation anthrax yesterday.  Blanco had earlier been diagnosed as only having been exposed to the disease.  The infection was likely hidden by the heavy doses of antibiotics given to Blanco early on, said Frederick Southwick, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Florida in Gainesville.  "Once you initiate an antibiotics therapy, then the blood cultures won't be positive.  This situation would make it difficult to diagnose anthrax," said Southwick.  Health officials said they believe Blanco will recover.  "[Blanco's] condition is improving and the public health officials are encouraged by his progress," said the Florida Health Department (Miami Herald, Oct. 16).

A small amount of anthrax spores were found in the Boca Raton main post office, according to the Florida Health Department.  Spores were found in a sorting area that was restricted to the public and in sorting bins, said Judy Johnson, a local leader of the American Postal Workers Union.  "There's no indication that these spores pose a health risk to workers or visitors.  As an extraordinary precaution, health officials are asking employees to leave this small portion of the building," said the Florida Health Department. 

Investigators are examining the Boca Raton office, which services the American Media Inc. headquarters where the first anthrax exposures occurred and a post office in Trenton, New Jersey, where the letters to Tom Brokaw and Daschle were sent through, according to officials  (Eggen/Thompson, Washington Post, Oct. 16).

The U.S. Postal Service will send out a warning to 135 million U.S. addresses about the threat of biological hazards being sent through the mail, as well as immediately providing gloves and masks to all mail handlers.  The Postal Inspection Service has reassigned most of its 1,900 inspectors and 1,400 postal police officers to the threat and U.S. Postmaster General John Potter announced the formation of a new mail security task force.  The task force will work to secure business mailrooms and post offices, come up with contingency procedures to address biological and chemical hazards and to educate customers and the Postal Service's 800,000 employees on how to handle the threat (Hsu/Nakashima, Washington Post, Oct. 16).  "Make no mistake, we cannot sit back and allow our nation's confidence in the mail to erode," Potter said. 

The Postal Service has also posted guidelines reminding workers to be careful, which comes after mail handling advice issued by the Centers for Disease Control on Friday.  Post office workers are wary of the threat.  "Of course I'm concerned -- why not, with all that's going on," said Jane Niemer, mail services manager at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.  "My concern is because we are a government university and somehow we might be a target," Niemer said.  Before, when powdery substances leaked out of an envelope onto a conveyor belt, people said "what a mess and sent it on the way," said Lori Groen, a postal inspector in Washington, adding, now a few post offices have been evacuated and hazmat teams called.  "We have been asked to turn in everything that looks suspicious," said postal worker Thomas Freeman.  "People are scared to death now" (Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder Newspapers/RealCities.com, Oct. 16).

Officials are increasingly focusing on suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization as the ringleaders behind the anthrax cases.  "There may be some possible link.  We have no hard data yet but it's clear that Mr. bin Laden is an evil man," said President George W. Bush during a meeting yesterday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.  "I wouldn't put it past him, but we don't have hard evidence yet," Bush said (Arshad Mohammed, Reuters/RealCities.com, Oct. 15).  National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice echoed Bush's sentiments.  "There isn't any hard evidence of a link of any kind.  But we don't want to be blind to that link," said Rice.

Federal investigators are looking at connections between suspected hijackers in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and places where letters containing anthrax were mailed.  Two of the letters were postmarked from Trenton and several hijackers had lived in New Jersey before boarding a flight from Newark on Sept. 11.  Another letter was sent from Malaysia where Khalid Almihdhar, a pilot on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, was seen in January 2000.  Almihdhar was seen on a surveillance videotape being accompanied to a meeting of suspected members of al-Qaeda, according to the New York Times  (David Johnston, New York Times, Oct. 16).

Other bioterrorism experts agree that the increasing numbers of anthrax cases point to a biological attack.  As the discovery of cases and new locations multiply, the possibility of a conspiracy is a real one, said experts.  “Common things occur commonly.  Uncommon things don’t.  Therefore, when you hear hoofbeats, you commonly think horses, not zebras.  Right now, I’m thinking zebras,” said C.J. Peters, a leading expert on biological warfare and infectious diseases.

Investigators are looking into possible sources where those responsible could have gotten strains of anthrax used in the cases.  One possible source might be Iraq, said Richard Butler, former head of the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq.  Butler told CNN that it was possible that Mohammed Atta, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers, might have received samples of anthrax from Iraqi agents during an April meeting in Prague.  Egyptian sources said “they feel that it’s possible that not many months ago that anthrax – a small quantity of it – was handed over in Prague … to Mohammed Atta,” according to Butler.  U.S. officials said that there was no evidence, however, of Iraqi agents giving samples of anthrax to Atta (Alfonso Chardy, Miami Herald, Oct. 16).

Russia has also been seen as a potential source for biological and chemical warfare agents but investigators ought to focus on labs in Central Asia, Alexei Yablokov, former head of the ecological security committee of Russia’s Security Council, said today.  “It’s more likely that the bacteria [came] from Kazakhstan or one of the other former Soviet republics, where there were military labs,” Yablokov said (Agence France Presse, Oct. 16). Kazakhstan denied yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 15) any connections between “American citizens’ infection with anthrax and the possibility of the anthrax breed from Kazakhstan falling into the hands of extremists” and said it was meeting its commitments to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction (Associated Press/New York Times, Oct. 16).

Russia offered yesterday to send shipments of anthrax vaccine to help prevent further occurrences, according to the Russian Health Ministry.  “We are ready to supply the United States with vaccines against anthrax if the necessity arises,” said Health Ministry spokeswoman Lyubov Voropayeva.  The Russian anthrax vaccine is different from the U.S. version, said Veniamin Cherkassky, a leading anthrax expert.  The Russian vaccine uses live strands of the disease and is effective for a year, while the U.S. version is chemically based and has to be repeated frequently, said Cherkassky.  In 1992, Cherkassky headed a vaccination campaign in the Russian city of Sverdlovsk, where an anthrax outbreak caused by a leak from a bioweapon plant killed about 70 people.  It would not make sense to conduct such a campaign in the United States, Cherkassky said (Sarah Karush, Associated Press/Salon.com, Oct. 15).

Studies conducted after the Sverdlovsk leak may help researchers here decontaminate the American Media Inc. headquarters, which is believed to be the first U.S. building to be intentionally contaminated with anthrax.  Based on the Sverdlovsk studies, experts believe it is unlikely anyone else could be infected from anthrax spores left behind in the AMI building.  “What we’ve learned is it’s the concentration of particles in the first release that makes it deadly,” said Monica Schoch-Spana, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Study.  “That first aerosol puff or cloud that is released is the most concentrated form,” Schoch-Spana said. 

Two problems that will have to be solved with regard to the AMI building are how to clean the building without damaging the contents and how to assure workers it is safe to return.  In 1996, the Energy Department was asked to come up with an agent to be used to decontaminate civilian buildings in the event of an anthrax outbreak.  “With something like anthrax, high concentrations of bleach or hydrogen peroxide will kill the spores, but they will also ruin the contents of the building,” said Mark Tucker, a chemical engineer for the DOE’s Sandia Laboratory.  A liquid foaming agent call Sandia Easy Decon was invented to kill a number of biological agents, including anthrax.  Two companies have been licensed to manufacture and sell the formula.  Representatives from both have been in contact with Florida authorities about the AMI building, however, “so far we’re told no decisions have been made about what they are going to do there,” said one company representative.

Even if the building is cleaned, a harder task might be persuading workers to return.  “One of the difficulties is even if [you’ve] decontaminated the building, you still have to convince the people who work there it is safe,” said Tucker.  “That’s a difficult thing to do without testing every square inch.”  It would be difficult to accurately test a building, according to experts, because systems to do just that don’t exist.  “Regardless of what the risk is assessed at, people are going to have their own opinion and they are not going to want to go back into that building unless something is done,” Schoch-Spana said (Lisa Arthur, Knight Ridder Newspapers/RealCities.com, Oct. 15).

About 36 people in the eastern republic of Tuva in Russia have been tested for anthrax after coming into contacted with infected animals, according to the Russian newspaper Izvestia.  There have been sporadic cases of anthrax registered in Russia, but none had been seen in humans in Tuva since 1987.  More than 200 cattle were vaccinated against the disease in the Erzinski region, on the Mongolian border, and meat and milk transports were temporarily banned after several animals tested positive for anthrax (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 16).

In the first suspected case of bioterroism in Poland, 11 people have been placed under observation for possible anthrax exposure in Gdansk on Monday after handling suspicious mail sent to Polish police and TV stations.  Eight policeman and three TVP Gdansk employees will remain in the hospital for at least five days and are being treated with antibiotics.  On Sunday, one suspicious letter was delivered to the Gdansk police headquarters.  A similar letter arrived at TVP Gdansk on Monday (Central Europe Online, Oct. 15).

South Korea decided Tuesday to install metal detectors and X-ray machines at post offices to inspect mail amidst bioterrorism fears.  Other measure being taken include stepped-up quarantine and immigration checks at airports and ports, an increase in the antibiotic stockpile, and the placement of an anti-bioterrorism team on around-the-clock alert at the National Institute of Health, said South Korean presidential spokesman Park Joon-Young (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 16).

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BWC: Bush Administration Continues to Oppose Verification Protocol

The United States has not changed its negative views of the verification protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention since the onset of reported anthrax cases and has no plans to sign or support the protocol, U.S. National Security Adviser Condeleeza Rice told a White House press briefing yesterday.

“Anyone who thinks that the biological weapons protocol as it is currently drafted would stop the likes of people that we are worried about right now from getting biological weapons would have to really think twice,” Rice said.

“We don’t think that this protocol will contribute to the fight against biological weapons.  It is an issue that we take very seriously, and we’re working with our allies on measures that might,” she added (Federal News Service transcript, Oct. 15).

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U.S. Response: CDC Deserves Increased Funding, Newspaper says

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta have suffered from underfunding in recent years and deserve to receive a major funding increase, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial today.

In light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the current anthrax scare, the CDC “won’t have the capacity to combat a full-blown bioterrorist attack unless the administration and Congress provide the necessary resources,” the editorial said.

A U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee last week voted to add $100 million to President George W. Bush’s $150 million request for CDC construction projects.  Funding at that level would allow the CDC to complete construction of new headquarters and an infectious disease laboratory in five years.

The U.S. House of Representatives has already approved $175 million for CDC construction, and the editorial urged the House-Senate conference to agree to the Senate appropriation.

Overall CDC spending in fiscal 2002 is expected to reach $4.4 billion, the newspaper said, the highest level in history (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 16).

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U.S. Testing: Greenpeace Protesters Receive Passports Back

A federal judge has ordered the return of passports taken from nine Greenpeace protesters and a journalist arrested in July and charged with conspiring to violate a safety zone and entering military property without permission.  The group allegedly rowed rafts near Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast to protest U.S. missile defense plans. 

With their passports, the foreign protesters may return to their home countries before standing trial in Los Angeles on Nov. 20.  If convicted, they could face 6 « years in jail and a $250,000 fine (Associated Press, Oct. 16).

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Radiological Weapons: National Guard Called Out for Nuclear Plants

National Guard troops deployed Saturday around six nuclear reactors in New York on orders from Governor George Pataki.  No specific threats had been made against any of the plants, but “deploying out Guard troops to augment security … will provide added peace of mind to New Yorkers and an added deterrent,” said Pataki.  The soldiers, from the state’s 27^th Brigade, will relieve state and local police who had been providing extra security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.  They will stay there as long as needed, Pataki said (Ben Dobbin, Associated Press/Nuclear Control Institute, Oct. 13).

California Governor Gray Davis should also call out the National Guard in his state to deploy around nuclear power plants, wrote Daniel Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap (see GSN, Sept. 25), in the Los Angeles Times last week. Hirsch cited a recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission study that a major release at the San Onofre nuclear plant, close to Los Angeles, could result in hundreds of thousands of cancers and genetic defects.  Thirty National Guardsmen on duty at each plant would deter terrorists, according to Hirsch.  “They are trained military units far more capable of homeland defense in wartime than are a handful of private security guards employed by bankrupt or near-bankrupt utilities,” Hirsch wrote (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 11). 

The Coast Guard has established temporary security zones in the waters of the Great Lakes off three nuclear power plants: the Enrico Fermi plant in Monroe, Michigan; the Davis Besse plant in Toledo, Ohio; and the Kewaunee plant in Kewaunee, Wisconsin.  The purpose of the zones is to protect the plants against damage and unauthorized entry.  No ships may enter, pass through, or anchor in the zones unless given permission (Federal Register, Oct. 12).

The 11 active and three inactive nuclear reactors in Illinois had high levels of security in place before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said a spokeswoman for Exelon Corp., which owns the plants. Armed security guards, fences, barriers, video monitors and “multiple levels of surveillance” were standard at Exelon prior to Sept. 11, said Ann Carley.  Employees without unescorted access to plants face background screenings and safety and security training, according to Carley.  Access badges are individually coded and must be matched by a palm print, Carley said. Before an employee can enter “protected” areas, they must first pass through metal, explosive, and weapons detectors, as well as an X-ray machine, Carley said, adding, “I would say we have comprehensive security measures and precautions in place that could withstand some fairly significant events” (Mick Zawislak, Chicago Daily Herald/Nuclear Control Institute, Oct. 15). 

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