U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday said he would support a decision by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and other top Iraqi “henchmen” to peacefully step down and go into exile (see GSN, Jan. 30).
“Hopefully the pressure of the Free World will convince Mr. Saddam Hussein to relinquish power,” Bush said. “Should he choose to leave the country, along with a lot of the other henchmen who have tortured the Iranian, Iraqi people, we would welcome that, of course,” he added.
There are only “weeks, not months,” to find a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis, Bush said. Hussein must leave power soon, either peacefully or through force, he said (Bob Deans, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 31).
Blix Challenges U.S. Claims
Meanwhile, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix Wednesday challenged a number of U.S. claims of Iraq’s noncompliance with inspections, according to the New York Times.
Blix disagreed with claims by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that Iraqi officials were moving prohibited materials both within and outside of the country. Inspectors reported no such actions, Blix said in an interview.
Blix also said teams found no evidence that Iraq sent key scientists and technicians to other countries to prevent interviews or that Iraqi agents have posed as scientists, as Bush claimed in his State of the Union address (see GSN, Jan. 29).
“There were some occasions where people didn’t seem very knowledgeable,” Blix said. “But if it has happened, it’s not from the top” and “it’s certainly not anything that is common.”
There was also no persuasive evidence linking Iraq and al-Qaeda, Blix said, referring to another Bush claim.
“There are other states where there appear to be stronger links" such as Afghanistan, Blix said. “It’s bad enough that Iraq may have weapons of mass destruction,” he added.
Blix said he still supported a peaceful disarming of Iraq.
“I think it would be terrible if this comes to an end by armed force, and I wish for this process of disarmament through the peaceful avenue of inspections,” Blix said. “But I also know that diplomacy needs to be backed by force sometimes, and inspections need to be backed by pressure” (Miller/Preston, New York Times, Jan. 31).
Back to Baghdad?
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said today he and Blix would accept a recent invitation to travel to Baghdad if Iraq complied with unresolved inspectors’ requests (see GSN, Jan. 21).
Iraq must first allow inspectors to conduct private interviews with scientists and to use high-altitude surveillance aircraft, ElBaradei said. “We need to make sure before we go that they are ready to move forward ... on these issues. We will have first to see what they are offering before we decide on the visit,” he said.
If the top inspectors accept the invitation, they would want to meet with high-ranking Iraqi officials, perhaps even Hussein, ElBaradei said.
“It’s very important that ... we meet at the highest level of the leadership, and hear from them a clear commitment that they are ready to be fully transparent,” he said (Vanessa Gera, Associated Press, Jan. 31).
Iraqi presidential adviser Amer al-Saadi invited Blix and ElBaradei to visit Baghdad prior to a Feb. 14 U.N. Security Council session. In his invitation, al-Saadi indicated the visit could focus on improving cooperation and on “methods of disarmament verification,” the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said yesterday (Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press, Jan. 31).
Iraqi Missile Tests
Blix might convene a meeting of international experts as soon as next week to examine whether Iraqi medium-range ballistic missiles, which have been flight tested beyond the U.N.-mandated range of 150 kilometers, might violate U.N. resolutions, according to the Financial Times.
The al-Samoud 2 al-Fatah missiles “might very well represent prima facie cases of proscribed systems,” Blix said Monday during his briefing on the progress of inspections to the Security Council. Even though Iraq disclosed the tests last year, the missiles still might represent a “smoking gun” that Iraq failed to comply with U.N. resolutions, according to analysts. Some diplomats, however, have said it would be excessive to call for military action on the basis of missiles that exceed the U.N-mandated range by a small amount, the Times reported.
Iraq has said the missiles would fall within the permitted range once they were equipped with warheads and guidance systems (Turner/Ghattas, Financial Times, Jan. 30).
“Supergun”
Meanwhile, two German businessmen were convicted today of violating German export control laws for aiding Iraq’s efforts to develop a “supergun” that would have been able to fire WMD shells, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Jan. 15).
Bernd Schompeter was sentenced to five years and three months in prison and Willi Heinz Ribbeck was sentenced to two years’ probation. The two men were charged with helping Iraq obtain large drills needed to create the al-Fao cannon, AP reported. German prosecutors argued that Schompeter’s trading company, Alriwo, bought the drills from the German machine company Burgsmueller, where Ribbeck worked. The drills were then delivered to Sahib Abd al-Amir al-Haddad, an Iraqi-born U.S. businessman, in Jordan. Germany is seeking al-Haddad’s extradition from Bulgaria, where he was arrested last year (Geir Moulson, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Jan. 31).
Inspections
U.N. inspectors visited at least three suspect Iraqi sites today, according to Iraqi officials. Experts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission visited the al-Yarmouk State Company. UNMOVIC missile inspectors visited the 7 Nissan Company in Nahrawan, about 20 miles east of Baghdad; and UNMOVIC biological inspectors visited an agricultural equipment company in the Waziriya area of Baghdad (Reuters, Jan. 31).
Yesterday, inspectors visited at least seven sites, according to an IAEA press release. UNMOVIC chemical inspectors traveled via helicopter to the State Company for Petrochemicals Industry in the southern city of Basra. IAEA inspectors visited the 17th April Facility in Baghdad and conducted a motorized radiation survey in areas southeast of the Iraqi capital (International Atomic Energy Agency release, Jan. 30).
For further information, see:
UNMOVIC
IAEA Iraq Action Team
U.N. Resolution 1441
Experts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency have conducted hundreds of inspections in Iraq since resuming the post-Gulf War inspection regime Nov. 27. More than 100 inspectors are now based in the country at two facilities in Baghdad and Mosul. The following chart summarizes some of the inspectors’ reported activities.
| Date | Site | Activity | | Jan. 31 | Al-Yarmouk State Company | See GSN, Jan. 31. | | 7 Nissan Company in Nahrawan, about 20 miles east of Baghdad | | Agricultural equipment company in Waziriya in Baghdad | | Jan. 30 | State Company for Petrochemicals Industry in the southern city of Basra | See GSN, Jan. 31. | | 17th April Facility in Baghdad | | Areas southeast of Baghdad | IAEA inspectors conducted a motorized radiation survey (see GSN, Jan. 31). | | Central public health laboratory in Baghdad | See GSN, Jan. 30. | | Al-Thirthar private brewery in Khan Bani Saad, about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad | | Al-Awali private brewery in Khan Bani Saad, about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad | | April 7 factory, a few miles northeast of Baghdad | | Jan. 29 | Al-Fallujah Ammunition Depot | See GSN, Jan. 30. | | University of Technology in central Baghdad | | Two agricultural field stations northwest of Baghdad | | Sites belonging to the State Company for Drug Marketing Appliances | | Al-Mamoun | UNMOVIC missile inspectors obtained a sample of propellant used in the al-Fatah missile (see GSN, Jan. 30). | | Headquarters of the Geological Survey of Iraq in Baghdad | See GSN, Jan. 30. | | Fallujah industrial area and other areas west of Baghdad | IAEA inspectors conducted a motorized radiation survey (see GSN, Jan. 30). | | College of Science at Kufa University | See GSN, Jan. 30. | | College of Education at Kufa University | | College of Engineering at Kufa University | | Jan. 28 | Ukhaider Ammunition and Missile Storage area | Inspectors recovered a sample from an empty chemical warhead previously discovered at the site for further analysis (see GSN, Jan. 29). | | Saddam Center for Biotechnology Research at Baghdad University | See GSN, Jan. 29. | | 7 Nissan stores | | Grain Board of Iraq’s main depot at Taji | | Furat State Company | | Al-Harith Missile Maintenance Workshop in Taji | UNMOVIC missile inspectors retagged some SA-2 surface-to-air missiles at the site and removed the tags from others for maintenance purposes (see GSN, Jan. 29). | | Nassr industrial machining and foundry facility, north of Baghdad | See GSN, Jan. 29. | | Baghdad | IAEA inspectors conducted a motorized radiation survey (see GSN, Jan. 29). | | University of Babylon‘s College of Science | See GSN, Jan. 29. | | University of Babylon’s College of Education | | University of Babylon’s College of Engineering | | Jan. 27 | Az Zubayr Naval Complex | See GSN, Jan. 28. | | Al-Rafah Liquid Engine Test Facility | UNMOVIC missile inspectors observed a static test of an al-Samoud missile engine (see GSN, Jan. 28). | | Al-Majd Center in Amiriyah | UNMOVIC chemical inspectors used a metal analyzer to examine sheets of alloy (see GSN, Jan. 28). | | Taji area | IAEA inspectors conducted a motorized radiation survey (see GSN, Jan. 28). | | Al-Kindi Research and Development Company, near the northern city of Mosul | See GSN, Jan. 28. | | North Refinery Company, near the city of Baji | | Al-Amiriya medicine stores | See GSN, Jan. 27. | | Al-Samoud missile factory in Taji | | Baghdad area | IAEA inspectors conducted a nuclear survey (see GSN, Jan. 27). | | Jan. 26 | National Project to Control and Combat the Cattle Plague in Baghdad | IAEA release, Jan. 26. | | Chest and Respiratory Diseases Institute in Baghdad | | Al-Basil Center, Nahrawan, in Baghdad | | Karama State Company’s Khadhimiya Plant | UNMOVIC missile inspectors held technical discussions with the leaders of the al-Samoud missile project (IAEA release, Jan. 26). | | Hittin State Establishment | IAEA release, Jan. 26. | | Al-Kut Military Hospital | | Baiji underground refinery located between Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul | | Um al-Maarik industrial machining and foundry facility, south of Baghdad | | Salman Pak area | IAEA inspectors conducted a motorized radiation survey (IAEA release, Jan. 26). | | College of Science at the University of Mosul | IAEA release, Jan. 26 | | College of Education at the University of Mosul | | College of Engineering at the University of Mosul | | Jan. 25 | Al-Mamoun | UNMOVIC missile inspectors met with officials of the al-Rasheed State Company at the site (IAEA release, Jan. 25). | | Sumaykah surface-to-surface missile support facility | IAEA release, Jan. 25. | | College of Veterinary Medicine at Quadisiyah University | | College of Education at Quadisiyah University | | Al-Qa Qaa | UNMOVIC chemical inspectors conducted a rebaseline inspection at the site (IAEA release, Jan. 25). | | Storage area of the North Oil Company | IAEA release, Jan. 25. | | College of Education at Tikrit University in Tikrit | | College of Engineering at Tikrit University in Tikrit | | Vicinity of Baghdad | IAEA inspectors conducted a motorized radiation survey (IAEA release, Jan. 25). | | Jan. 24 | Mamoun Factory | IAEA release, Jan. 24. | | Al-Basil Center in the Jadriyah complex in Baghdad | UNMOVIC chemical Inspectors assessed the site’s current activities (IAEA release, Jan. 24). | | Al-Qa Qaa | See GSN, Jan. 24. | | Jan. 17-23 | See GSN, Jan. 24. | |
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North Korea is apparently moving spent nuclear fuel rods from a storage facility where they had been secured under international seal since 1994, the New York Times reported today. The 8,000 rods contain enough plutonium to produce a half dozen nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials (see GSN, Jan. 30).
Satellite imagery has shown trucks at the storage facility, but intelligence analysts have not determined precisely what was loaded onto the trucks. The analysts have informally concluded that North Korea is moving the fuel rods to another storage sight or to a reprocessing plant to remove the plutonium, according to the Times.
“There’s still a debate about exactly what we are seeing and how provocative it is,” said a senior official. “The North Koreans made no real effort to hide this from us,” the official added.
The White House has not distributed the satellite information widely and officials may be trying to avoid a crisis on the Korean peninsula, the Times said.
“The North Koreans, may be taking a fateful step,” according to Robert Einhorn, a nonproliferation official under former President Bill Clinton.
During that administration, U.S. officials developed plans to strike Yongbyon if diplomacy failed, according to the Times. U.S. President George W. Bush has said the United States will not invade North Korea, but observers speculate the president might have used the word “invade” intentionally to leave open the option of an attack on specific facilities (Sanger/Schmitt, New York Times, Jan. 31).
Despite repeated confrontational official statements, the North Korean military has not made any aggressive movements recently, according to Pentagon officials.
Pyongyang has not mobilized its military and is even conducting fewer military exercises than usual, the Times reported (Matt Kelley, Associated Press/Kansas City Star, Jan. 31).
U.S. President Bush last year signed a classified document that allows a nuclear response to chemical and biological attacks, the Washington Times reports today (see GSN, Jan. 29, 2003).
“The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force — including potentially nuclear weapons — to the use of (weapons of mass destruction) against the United States, our forces abroad, and friends and allies,” National Security Presidential Directive 17, dated Sept. 14, said.
The public version of the document was released Dec. 11 as the National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction. That document replaces the phrase “including potentially nuclear weapons,” with “including through resort to all of our options,” the Times reports.
The reference to nuclear weapons in the classified document gives military and government officials “a little more of an instruction to prepare all sorts of options for the president,” a senior administration official said.
An ambiguous nuclear stance, however, is still “the heart and soul of our nuclear policy,” the official said.
The directive also indicated that nuclear weapons remain the primary U.S. deterrent, while conventional weapons “complement” the nuclear component.
“Nuclear forces alone … cannot ensure deterrence against (weapons of mass destruction) and missiles,” the classified document says. “Complementing nuclear force with an appropriate mix of conventional response and defense capabilities, coupled with effective intelligence, surveillance, interdiction and domestic law enforcement capabilities, reinforces our overall deterrent posture against (weapons of mass destruction) threats,” it says (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, Jan. 31).
Ukraine is set to eliminate the last of its Soviet-era strategic armaments — Kh-22 cruise missiles and Tu-22 bombers — by July 2004, USA Today reported today (see GSN, Nov 6, 2002).
Ukraine has been dismantling its Soviet-era nuclear missiles and bombers with U.S. funding provided through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program. The United States has spent about $700 million — less than the cost of one B-2 bomber — to aid Ukrainian disarmament, according to USA Today.
“It is only logical for the U.S. to render this assistance instead of giving the chance for these weapons to find their way into the hands of rogue states,” said Lt. Gen. Leonid Fursa, deputy chief of the Ukrainian Air Force. “We have too many weapons, and we don’t have the money to eliminate them. The assistance is in everybody’s best interests,” Fursa said.
While continuing to provide CTR funding, the United States has suspended almost $55 million in foreign aid to Ukraine because of alleged illegal arms sales to Iraq, according to USA Today.
“It’s difficult to have a crystal-clear, long-term strategy for dealing with a country like Ukraine,” said a Western diplomat in Kiev. “Their nonproliferation record in general is pretty good. .... But you’ve got a head of state proactively approving a transfer of arms to Iraq. You just can’t put that information in a box on a shelf and walk away. It has to have a major effect in the way we deal with him. So how do you also continue supporting other elements of society that you want to move forward and thrive?” the diplomat added.
Ukrainian officials and experts have said, however, that the United States has unfairly concentrated on Ukraine when other countries, such as Russia, engage in the same activities.
“The U.S. pays special attention to Ukraine because we have a high level of military and technical expertise, but we have a lower level in political culture,” said Mikhaylo Pogrebinskyy, a Ukrainian political analyst and Kuchma associate. “They need Russia to help them solve their international problems; they don’t need Ukraine,” Pogrebinskyy added.
For example, Russia has not suffered a reduction in U.S. aid even though it is continuing to build, despite U.S. objections, a nuclear reactor in Iran, Ukrainian officials said (see GSN, Jan. 10). Under U.S. pressure, however, Ukraine abandoned a valuable subcontract to build turbines for the project, they said (see GSN, Sept. 4, 2002).
Ukraine has “lost thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of our decision to abandon this project,” said Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Ukrainian ambassador to the United States. “The impression is that the U.S. nonproliferation policy is very inconsistent, that it focuses on immediate goals without any consistent, long-term commitment,” Gryshchenko said (Peter Eisler, USA Today, Jan. 31).
ICBM Fuel Conversion
Meanwhile, a chemical plant in the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, is preparing to produce 17,000 metric tons of industrial explosives by 2008 through a project to recycle SS-24 ICBM solid fuel, Yevhen Ustymenko, the plant’s technical director, said yesterday (see GSN, July 16, 2002).
More than 400 tests have been conducted since July to prove the process is safe, according to Interfax-Ukraine. Construction on the facilities needed to convert the missile fuel into explosives is scheduled to begin by April and the project is expected to reach full capacity by 2005, according to Ustymenko. The project aims to eliminate about 5,000 metric tons of missile fuel (Interfax-Ukraine/BBC Monitoring, Jan. 31).
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U.S. Senate leaders said yesterday that legislation is needed for health care workers who experience adverse reactions from the smallpox vaccine, States News Service reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 27).
“We haven’t got all of our ducks in a row; that’s obvious,” said Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. A new system should be created to compensate workers who are sickened by the vaccine, Gregg said.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) indicated he would support legislation to address the concerns of health care workers and vaccine producers.
“What kind of risks are we asking of people?” asked Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). “Most private insurers will not compensate health care workers for adverse reactions to vaccination,” he added (Jim Geraghty, States News Service/Boston Globe, Jan. 31).
Meanwhile Washington, D.C., officials said local immunization efforts have drawn to a standstill over liability and compensation concerns, the Washington Afro-American reported today.
Several other local jurisdictions nationwide have halted smallpox vaccination campaigns over the same concerns, according to Briant Coleman, a city public information officer.
Further delaying immunizations in Washington is a lack of vaccine. The city has not yet received its vaccine supply from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Michael Richardson, the city Health Department’s senior deputy director.
Planning is continuing nevertheless, Richardson said.
“The Department of Health is currently conducting smallpox educational briefings and trainings for public health workers and hospital personnel who will participate in phase one of our clinics,” Richardson said. “Unlike some states across the country, we received tremendous support from our hospitals and public health personnel primarily because they understand our unique vulnerabilities as the nation’s capital,” he added (Valencia Mohammed, Washington Afro-American, Feb. 1).
Two U.S. military personnel, meanwhile, have developed “significant adverse effects” to the smallpox vaccine, according to defense officials.
One patient became ill last weekend and the other showed an adverse reaction Tuesday, U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Grabenstein said Wednesday.
The military will not release further information about the cases until a review is complete, Stars and Stripes reported.
“We want the whole story correct the first time,” Grabenstein said.
About 3,000 military medical personnel have received the immunization and 3 percent have missed at least one day of work or have reported side effects, Stars and Stripes reported (Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes, Jan. 30).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday proposed a regulation to require 24-hour notice before food imports reach U.S. shores (see GSN, May 23, 2002).
Under the proposed plan, an importer must electronically notify the FDA by noon the day before the shipment reaches a U.S. port or border crossing.
FDA Officials anticipate about 20,000 notices per day.
“The more we know about the source of the food we eat the better prepared we’ll be to monitor its safety,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. “We are determined to do everything we can to preserve the American public’s confidence in the safety and security of the food supply,” he added.
The regulation will not apply to meat, poultry or egg imports that are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or to food and beverages carried in personal luggage by individual travelers.
The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 requires prior notice of food shipments begin Dec. 12, 2003, even if the FDA regulations have not been finalized by that point. The FDA has opened a 60-day public comment period and officials said a final ruling in expected by Oct. 12 (FDA release, Jan. 30).
Food importers and non-U.S. companies will most likely criticize the rule, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, May 6, 2002).
Importers are concerned that international companies will not be aware of the new regulations and that the one-day notice rule will make compliance difficult for Mexican and Canadian exporters who transport goods by land (Alden/Bowe, Financial Times, Jan. 30).
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By Jay Newton-Small
Global Security Newswire
WASHINGTON — Raytheon won a key missile defense contract in 1998 largely because Boeing admitted to corporate espionage and withdrew from the contract competition, a congressional watchdog found this week (see GSN, Feb. 12, 2002).
In a 12-page letter to U.S. Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the General Accounting Office describes how Raytheon won the contract to develop exoatmospheric kill vehicles — the device mounted on a missile that seeks and destroys incoming warheads — after Boeing admitted to breaking Pentagon rules and its own ethical codes.
The letter says Raytheon’s winning bid was granted by default and was not based on “any formal comparison of the related technical merit or proposed cost of the two EKVs.”
Raytheon told Global Security Newswire today that the company had won the contract legitimately.
“Raytheon believes that our company won by virtue of the superiority of our design and this EKV prototype has proven to be very adept in tests,” Raytheon spokesman David Shea said.
“There have been five successful intercepts in eight attempts. That’s pretty good for early stage testing,” he said (see GSN, Dec. 11, 2002).
The Pentagon launched the missile denfense competition in 1990 and contracted Boeing in April 1998 to supervise overall development of the project. Boeing had to choose between one of its subsidiaries and Raytheon in a smaller competition to build the kill-vehicle component.
In July 1998, Boeing employees found a copy of Raytheon’s software test plan on the floor of a conference room, presumably left by accident by an Army official, the GAO letter says.
Boeing reported the incident, but three months later investigating lawyers discovered that Boeing had waited three days before reporting the document’s discovery and had lied about the lag time. In addition, some Boeing employees had retained a copy of the software for analysis, the letter says.
Initially Boeing wanted to continue with the competition because “either system was sufficiently advanced to permit its selection for further flight testing,” the GAO letter says.
However, Boeing ultimately concluded it could no longer compete in the kill-vehicle competition and withdrew in late 1998. Boeing fired or reprimanded several employees who had been involved in the incident, and three of them were barred by the Air Force from participating government contracts for up to two years.
The GAO letter concludes that Raytheon had, therefore, won the contract not by submitted the best technology or lowest bid, but by default.
The Defense Department considered an attempt to recoup some of the $800 million it had spent on setting up what turned out to be a defunct competition, but later abandoned the idea, the letter says.
The Justice Department chose not to pursue civil or criminal charges.
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Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network have the experience, and possibly the materials, needed for a “dirty bomb,” British officials said yesterday (see related GSN story, today).
British agents infiltrating al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan gathered evidence, including dirty bomb training manuals, that shows the group’s weapons programs were more advanced than previously thought, according to BBC News (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2002). A dirty bomb combines radioactive materials and conventional explosives
By 1999, bin Laden had decided to build a weapon of mass destruction and obtained radioactive materials from Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, British officials said. A nuclear laboratory in the western Afghan city of Herat worked to develop the bomb, they said.
British military and intelligence officials have concluded that al-Qaeda had a small dirty bomb, BBC News reported. The weapon has never been recovered, and at least one al-Qaeda weapons expert from Herat is still on the run, British officials said (Frank Gardner, BBC News, Jan. 31).
Iraq is in line to assume the presidency of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in May, although the United States has expressed discomfort with t | |
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