U.S. Response I:  National Guard Wants to Convert Units to WMD Duty

The U.S. National Guard announced plans Friday to convert medical and engineering units into terrorism-response teams trained to decontaminate victims of chemical or biological attacks, Newhouse News Service reported (see GSN, April 22).

Officials intend to have at least one medical and one engineering team converted to terrorism-response duties for each state.  The units may also be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or South Korea.

“Governors will want this added capability and I think (overseas) combatant commanders will too,” said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, the new chief of the National Guard.

Guard officials estimated it would cost $65,000 to train and equip one medical company to perform emergency triage and mass decontamination, and $15,000 to $20,000 to enable an engineering company to do urban search-and-rescue operations, according to Newhouse News Service.

Blum said the moves “are part of our effort to keep the Guard ready, relevant and reliable” (David Wood, Newhouse News Service, May 20).

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U.S. Response II:  Port Security Funds Might Be Diverted

The U.S. Homeland Security Department might redirect millions in port security funds to other efforts, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 3).

Operation Safe Commerce, approved by Congress almost a year ago, was intended to give $58 million to New York, Los Angeles and Seattle to track shipping containers.  Those cities are the largest of 361 U.S. seaports and take in 75 percent of cargo containers entering the country each year, according to the Associated Press.

James Loy, head of the Transportation Security Administration, said the program may be cut because of a “structural shortfall” that has resulted in “a billion-dollar hole.”

Last week, during a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) criticized Loy.

“If you are delaying the release of this money simply so that you can divert it to other causes, that is unacceptable,” Murray told Loy.  “I do not want to see any of that money diverted.  This is what Congress said it was to be spent for,” she added.

Murray also wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

“I have no intention of watching your agency divert funds that are critically needed to ensure the security of our trade lanes in order to make up for the administration’s irresponsible actions in this area,” she wrote (Matthew Daly, Associated Press/Newsday, May 19).

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U.S. Response III:  Foreign Visitors to be Fingerprinted, Photographed

Beginning next year, millions of visitors to the United States will be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter U.S. airports and seaports in an effort to crack down on terrorism, Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson announced yesterday (see GSN, March 28).

The plan, part of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, is scheduled to begin Jan. 1 and will apply to visitors who are already required to obtain a visa to enter the United States.  About 23 million visitors a year are expected to go through the new entry process.

The United States plans to expand the program later to include land border crossings, according to the Wall Street Journal.  The Homeland Security Department also plans to create an office to review information on suspected visa violations, Hutchinson said.

“Through this virtual border, we will know who violates our entry requirements, who overstays or violates the terms of their stay and who should be welcome again,” Hutchinson said during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Critics, however, said the plan would create long lines and delays at airports and seaports, the Journal reported.  “For countries where visas are required, you’re already looking at an average of four-month delays in getting a visa acted upon by the U.S. government,” said Edmund Rice, president of the Coalition for Employment Through Exports.  “You’re looking at exacerbating an already difficult situation,” he added (Nicholas Kulish, Wall Street Journal, May 20).

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Iraq:  United States, United Kingdom Table Revised U.N. Sanctions Resolution

The United States, the United Kingdom and Spain yesterday offered a revised U.N. resolution to lift sanctions against Iraq, which includes provisions suggesting a future role for U.N. weapons inspectors in the country, according to the London Times (see GSN, May 20).

The revised resolution does not explicitly say that inspectors would return to Iraq.  It does, however, reaffirm “the importance of … the eventual confirmation of the disarmament of Iraq.”  The revised resolution also says the U.N. Security Council would “revisit the mandates” of the two main inspection bodies — the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (James Bone, London Times, May 20).

French President Jacques Chirac yesterday indicated that his country would abstain in a Security Council vote on the revised resolution if the United Nations was not given more authority in Iraq.

“The president said he was convinced the text can be markedly improved so everyone can look upon it favorably,” said Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna.  “As it stands, the role envisaged for the United Nations is unsatisfactory,” she said.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, whose country has often said that U.N. inspectors must first return to Iraq to verify it no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction before sanctions can be lifted, said progress had been made on the resolution.

“All sides are in active talks,” Ivanov said.  “On some issues we managed to make good progress, but there are disagreements,” he added (Gary Younge, London Guardian, May 20).

The Security Council is expected to hold consultations later this afternoon to discuss the revised resolution, according to a U.N. press release.

“It is an important resolution and therefore I expect that there will be important discussions after all Council members’ governments have had an opportunity to study the text,” Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram said in a statement (U.N. release, May 20).

ElBaradei Reiterates Need for IAEA in Iraq

Meanwhile, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday reiterated concerns of possible radioactive contamination in Iraq due to looting of nuclear sites and the need for agency personnel to return to the country.

ElBaradei said he was concerned that “nuclear and radioactive materials may no longer be under control” in Iraq.  An IAEA safety and security team should be allowed to travel to the country to help prevent “a potentially serious humanitarian situation,” ElBaradei said in a statement (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, May 20).

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that a decision on whether IAEA inspectors would be allowed to return to Iraq alone or as part of a new U.N. mission would not be made for some time.  Neither U.N. inspectors nor IAEA inspectors have the authority and resources to work in postwar Iraq, he said.

“Coalition forces are best positioned to do this work and we will continue to do the work,” Boucher said (Agence France-Presse/Bangkok Post, May 20).

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U.S.-Russia I:  Moscow Treaty Might Enter Into Force in Two Weeks

Russia would like to see the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty take effect soon, possibly at a U.S.-Russian summit in St. Petersburg scheduled for the end of this month or at a Group of Eight summit two days later, according to Russian Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov (see GSN, May 14).

Russia’s domestic treaty approval process remains incomplete, however, Mamedov said last week.  Before Russia can exchange the instruments of ratification with the United States, Russia’s Federation Council — the upper house of Parliament — must approve it, Mamedov said. 

While the Moscow Treaty itself lacks verification measures, the United States and Russia have agreed to use the verification system established under START.  That treaty, however, expires in 2009, leaving a three-year gap until the Moscow Treaty itself expires.  Russia is interested in developing new verification measures to go beyond the START system and has already begun discussions on the issue with U.S. officials, Mamedov said.

Mamedov praised the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, for voting 294-134 in favor of the treaty’s ratification last week.  The debate within the Duma over the treaty’s ratification had become a type of “referendum” on the larger issue of overall U.S.-Russian relations, according to Mamedov.

“We consider that as a result of a very frank discussion … the Russian parliamentarians have passed a convincing vote of confidence in the policy being pursued by President Vladimir Putin towards an equal partnership with the U.S.,” Mamedov said.

Mamedov also praised a recent visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for helping to improve U.S.-Russian cooperation.  Powell met with Putin last week in St. Petersburg.

The talks “were successful and have once again borne out that Russian-American relations, despite serious contradictions and difficulties, as in the assessment of the military actions in Iraq, are irrevocably developing along the road of cooperation on key issues,” Mamedov said (see GSN, April 10; Russian Foreign Ministry release, May 19).

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North Korea:  Pyongyang Angry Over U.S.-South Korea Talks

North Korea reacted angrily today to a recent summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun (see GSN, May 19).

“The South side will sustain an unspeakable disaster if it turns to confrontation, talking about ‘nuclear issue’ and ‘additional measures,’” said Pak Chang Ryon, the top North Korean official at inter-Korean economic talks in Pyongyang Tuesday.

Pak said “inter-Korean relations will be put at the lowest ebb” because of the recent talks (Associated Press/Canada.com, May 20).

South Korea, meanwhile, warned Pyongyang not to endanger the economic benefit it receives from cross-border interaction.

“It is our precondition that North Korea’s nuclear problem should not worsen for smooth progress in inter-Korean economic cooperation,” said Vice Finance and Economy Minister Kim Gwang-lim, the top South Korean delegate at the talks (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 20).

Swiss May Hold Talks

Switzerland announced today that it is willing to host talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis, according to ITAR-Tass.  Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey made the announcement after talks with the North Korean leadership on the Korean border site of Panmunjom.

Geneva hosted the 1994 talks that produced the agreement freezing Pyongyang’s nuclear development in exchange for energy assistance (ITAR-Tass, May 20).

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United States:  Democrats Fight Bush Nuclear Weapon Research

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) will attempt to thwart a White House-led move toward researching and developing new nuclear weapons, DefenseNews.com reported yesterday (see GSN, May 19).

U.S. President George W. Bush “is quietly laying the groundwork for a dangerous U-turn” on nuclear policy, Kennedy said during a Senate debate of the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill.

The Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month approved changes in nuclear policy to allow for the research and development of low-yield nuclear weapons and to permit work on “bunker-busting” nuclear weapons.  Kennedy said he will try to eliminate the new rules in the full Senate, DefenseNews.com reported.

Kennedy said the smaller weapons and the bunker-busting weapons would allow easier use of nuclear weapons.

“Nuclear weapons are not just another item in our arsenal, and it is wrong to treat them as if they were,” he added.

Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said that developing new nuclear weapons would discredit U.S. nonproliferation efforts worldwide.

“The United States should not follow policy we do not tolerate in others,” he said.

The defense bill is expected to pass this week, DefenseNews.com reported (William Matthews, DefenseNews.com, May 19).

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U.S.-Russia II:  U.S. Experts Complete Inspection of Russian Missile Base

U.S. experts have completed a three-day inspection of a Russian strategic missile base in the Orenburg region near the city of Dombarovka, ITAR-Tass reported Saturday (see GSN, May 19).

The inspection, conducted under the auspices of START, examined SS-18 ICBMs and Russia’s compliance with the treaty (ITAR-Tass, May 17 in FBIS-SOV, May 19).  The base houses 52 SS-18 missiles, according to a START memorandum of understanding that the United States and Russia exchange twice a year (Mike Nartker, GSN, May 20).

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Anthrax I:  Some Post Offices Need Retesting, Scientists Say

U.S. postal facilities that have been tested for anthrax using dry cotton swabs should be retested because that method is unreliable, scientists told a House subcommittee yesterday (see GSN, April 22). 

The postal facilities that should be retested are “those facilities deemed free of anthrax based on a single dry swab,” said Keith Rhodes, chief technologist for the General Accounting Office’s Center for Technology and Engineering.  Rhodes and other officials testified before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations (Associated Press/New York Times, May 20). 

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Anthrax II:  Genetic Engineering Could Create Improved Weapons, Scientist Says

Genetic engineering could help create biological agents that could evade the human immune system, a biological defense researcher said yesterday (see GSN, May 1).

There have already been several cases where dangerous microbes had been accidentally produced through genetic engineering of viruses and vaccines, said University of Darmstadt professor Kathryn Nixdorff.  For example, Russian researchers were able to create a strain of the anthrax bacterium that could resist the current anthrax vaccine when both were administered to hamsters.

There are several ways microorganisms could be genetically modified to be better weapons, such as by enhancing their resistance to antibiotics or increasing their lethality, according to Nixdorff. 

She discounted claims, however, that the human genome sequence could be used to help develop a biological weapon capable of targeting a specific racial or ethnic group (see GSN, May 21, 2002). 

“At present this seems unlikely for several reasons.  It has been pointed out in several reports that races do not exist from a genetic perspective; there is generally more genetic variation within groups than between groups,” Nixdorff said.  “Indeed, it has been suggested that a re-examination of the race concept is due,” she said (David Hearst, London Guardian, May 20).

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