U.S. Response I:  Ten States to Get Additional Funds for First Responders

By Katherine McIntire Peters

Government Executive

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department on Friday awarded nearly $400 million in grants to 10 states to help improve the emergency response capabilities of firefighters, police, emergency medical personnel and state and local governments.  The department has been under increasing pressure from Congress to more quickly move appropriated funds to state and local jurisdictions where the money is needed to shore up gaps in security.

Since March 1, the department has released more than $4.4 billion in grants to state and local governments and private sector organizations to enhance terrorism preparedness.  Grants have been made to fund equipment, training, planning and preparedness exercises for first responders; to enhance the physical security of critical infrastructure and urban mass-transit systems; to offset the costs of security during heightened threat periods; and to help states and cities develop regional responses to potential terrorist attacks.

The most recent grants were awarded to Texas ($78 million), Florida ($63 million), Illinois ($50 million), Washington ($30 million), Wisconsin ($28 million), Minnesota ($27 million), Louisiana ($25 million), Arkansas ($20 million), New Mexico ($17 million) and Maine ($15 million).

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U.S. Response II:  Homeland Spending Bill Approved in Closed Session

By Molly Peterson

CongressDaily

WASHINGTON — The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Thursday approved a $29.4 billion fiscal 2004 appropriations bill during a closed session, despite Democrats’ pleas to keep the meeting open to the public.

After a 9-7 party-line vote to close the meeting, the panel approved the spending bill by voice vote, according to a committee spokesman who declined to provide any other information about what occurred during the closed session.

The spokesman said the decision to close the meeting to the public was based on a “longstanding practice” of excluding the public from subcommittee sessions that deal with “sensitive” information, mainly in the areas of defense, energy and water.

But Democrats argued that the homeland security spending provisions did not include any classified or sensitive information.

“The only thing we do when we close a meeting is deny the public [information] that I think they have a right to,” said David Obey (D-Wis.), the Appropriations Committee’s senior Democrat.

Democrats also charged that the Homeland Security Department has not been forthcoming with information about its activities.  Representative Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn.) said he was “very concerned” about the department's “lack of structure” in providing Congress with “even the most basic information.”

Obey said he detected “some kind of arrogance” among Homeland Security officials with regard to sharing information with Congress.  “I think they have an obligation to respect the fact that Congress has the power of the purse,” Obey said.

The $29.4 billion package approved Thursday would be an increase of more than $1 billion over President George W. Bush’s 2004 budget request and $535 million over 2003 levels, according to Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.).

Programs for first responders would be funded at $4.4 billion under the bill, which is $888 million more than Bush requested.  The legislation also provides nearly $5.2 billion for the Transportation Security Administration, which is a $360 million increase over Bush’s request.  Another provision would fund border security programs at $9 billion, which is a $400 million increase over 2003 levels.

But Obey said the Coast Guard and many other agencies need more money to protect the nation from terrorist threats.  Obey said Democrats had originally planned to offer an amendment adding $500 million to the spending package, including $100 million for Coast Guard activities.

Obey said “substantial incompetence” among Homeland Security Department personnel had prompted him to think twice about offering the amendment.  “There is such a legitimate concern about the ability of the agency to use its money effectively ... that I’m hesitant to appropriate one dime,” Obey said.

He also complained during the open portion of the meeting that Democrats have been “systematically shut down” in their attempts to offer alternatives to GOP-favored legislation to include more low-income families in the child tax credit.  “We’ve seen this time and time again,” Obey said.

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Iraq:  Senator Previews U.S. Iraqi Intelligence Hearings

U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said yesterday that while his committee would hold closed hearings to review U.S. prewar intelligence on Iraq, the committee might release both a classified and a public report on the committee’s findings (see GSN, June 13).

Intelligence agencies have provided the committee with “voluminous” amounts of material, Roberts said, adding that he has encouraged committee members to read the information before questioning officials or analysts.  The committee will conduct closed hearings, but may conclude its investigation with a public hearing if committee members believe one is needed, he said on CBS’s Face the Nation.

The committee “will probably have a classified report and a public report,” Roberts said, noting that he plans to interview Bush administration officials as part of the inquiry.  He issued an “open invitation” to any intelligence official “who thinks that their analytical product was skewed in any way, or if they were intimidated, or if they were coerced.”  One person wanting to share such concerns has already contacted the committee, Roberts said (Susan Schmidt, Washington Post, June 16).

Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) yesterday criticized Senate Republicans’ approach to the intelligence hearings. 

“We need a thorough, bipartisan investigation,” Levin said on Face the Nation.

The House intelligence committee is set to begin its own hearings on the issue this week with two closed meetings, committee members said, adding that open hearings may be conducted if appropriate (Jennifer Kerr, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 16).

U.S. WMD Hunt

Meanwhile, U.S. military teams in Iraq searching for evidence of WMD efforts have visited all of the priority suspect sites identified by U.S. intelligence prior to the war and have found nothing, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Most of the priority sites were either so badly damaged by coalition airstrikes or so heavily looted that any potential evidence was gone, the Times reported.  In addition, U.S. teams have visited the same sites that U.N. inspectors had previously searched without finding anything.  It has been made difficult to compare the results of the U.S. search with that of U.N. inspectors because the names of some long-identified U.N. sites have been changed, according to the Times.

The U.S. Defense Department has begun transferring responsibility for the WMD hunt from the U.S. Army’s 75th Exploitation Task Force to the larger Iraq Survey Group.  The transition is not expected to be completed, however, before mid-July, according to the Times.

Several “sensitive site teams” completed their last mission June 2 and have been told to not expect further missions until at least June 25.  In the meantime, team members spend their time washing laundry or watching DVDs, the Times reported.

“We’re here to answer the big question,” said Lt. Cody Strong, a tactical intelligence officer.  “You’d think if this was really a priority, we’d have nonstop missions,” Strong said.

One veteran intelligence official said he is angry at inaccurate intelligence reports that have dispatched weapons teams to search empty sites.

“I’m sitting here, and frustrated isn’t the word anymore,” the official said.  “I feel almost duped,” the official added (Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times, June 15).

The United States has begun increasing radio appeals to Iraqis who may have been involved in WMD programs to come forth and surrender, according to the Associated Press.

Yesterday, a Baghdad radio station operated by U.S. Army’s Psychological Operations personnel issued an appeal to Iraqi former WMD scientists to surrender, promising leniency for those who do so.

“It’s time to leave your hideouts,” a station announcer said in Arabic.  “If you come voluntarily and give information about weapons of mass destruction and their launch vehicles, the United States will do its best to give you a just trial in accordance with the law,” the announcer said (Jim Krane, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 15).

British Investigation Counters U.S. Claims Over Suspect Iraqi Trailers

A British investigation into two suspect Iraqi trailers has determined that they were meant to produce hydrogen to fill artillery balloons, as Iraq claimed, according to the London Observer (see GSN, June 9).  The United States has argued that the trailers were mobile biological weapons facilities.

“'They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories.  You could not use them for making biological weapons.  They do not even look like them,” said a British scientist who has examined the trailers.  “They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were — facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons,” the scientist said (London Observer, June 15).

A senior British official in the Iraq administration has told British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s communication director that a “backlash” is likely if Iraqi weapons of mass destruction are not found.

“The Americans don’t care because (President George W.) Bush knows he can get away with it, but it is a real problem for us,” the official said (Christina Lamb, London Sunday Times, June 15).

Some Americans Believe WMD Has Already Been Found

A recent poll of Americans found that a third of those surveyed believed the United States has already found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The poll, conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes, also found that 22 percent of those surveyed believed Iraq had used biological or chemical weapons during the war.  The poll of 1,256 adults had an error margin of 3.5 percent, the Inquirer reported.

The results of the poll surprised even the pollsters who conducted it, according to the Inquirer.

“It’s a striking finding,” said Steve Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes.  “Given the intensive news coverage and high levels of public attention, this level of misinformation suggests some Americans may be avoiding having an experience of cognitive dissonance,” he added.

The Inquirer defined “cognitive dissonance” as having personal beliefs conflict with facts.

There are number of possible explanations for the gap between beliefs and facts, such as short attention spans for foreign news, conflicting media reports and White House efforts to increase support for the war by oversimplifying the possible threat, according to pollsters and political analysts.

“Most people get little whiffs and fragments of news, not in any organized way,” said Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution.  “And there have been a lot of conflicting reports on the weapons,” he said (Frank Davies, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 14).

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International Response:  EU Foreign Ministers to Agree to Use of Force to Prevent Proliferation

Foreign ministers from 15 European Union members are expected today to endorse a WMD nonproliferation action plan that would include the possible use of force as a last resort, according to the Financial Times (see GSN, June 5).

The plan, which details several stages in which the EU could attempt to pressure a country into meeting its nonproliferation obligations, is expected to be endorsed today during a meeting in Luxembourg.  The plan’s first stage calls for a strengthening of multilateral disarmament and nonproliferation regimes, according to the Times.

“In case political and diplomatic measures have failed, coercive measures, including as a last resort, the use of force in according with the United Nations Charter will be considered,” the ministers said in a statement (Judy Dempsey, Financial Times, June 16).

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Iran:  IAEA Begins Meeting on Iranian Nuclear Program

The International Atomic Energy Agency began its board of governors’ meeting today by reviewing a report on Iran’s nuclear development and urging Tehran to prove that it is not attempting to build a nuclear arsenal, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 12).

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei opened the meeting with an appeal for Iran to “provide credible assurances regarding the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.”

“I also continue to call on Iran to permit us to take environmental samples at the particular location where allegations about enrichment activities exist,” ElBaradei said.  “This is clearly in the interest of both the agency and Iran,” he added.

Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s representative to the IAEA, said the situation would be resolved, but he accused the United States of hampering progress.

“It’s very obvious that this whole issue has been politically motivated and politically charged,” Salehi said (Associated Press/Fox News.com, June 16).

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday that Iran is allowed to develop nuclear power.

“It is our right to benefit from atomic energy,” said Rafsanjani (Agence France-Press/Yahoo!News, June 16).

The IAEA report has raised several questions about Iran’s nuclear program, but ElBaradei will most likely work to keep politics out of the proceedings, according to a diplomat familiar with the IAEA.

“I think he (ElBaradei) wants the member states to realize that there is a technical process under way, inspections, and that he doesn’t want it to become a political issue at this point,” the diplomat said (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, June 16).

Iran Will Not Sign Additional Protocol

Iran said again today that it would not sign the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement that would allow more intrusive monitoring of its nuclear activities.

“First, it is necessary to clarify the obligations to us that other Nonproliferation Treaty signatories must respect, and to know how the international community can help us improve our nuclear science for peaceful purposes.  Then we start talking,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi.  “We are ready to take into account the worries of the agency (IAEA), and if it shows flexibility, we are also ready to do the same and find a solution,” he added (Agence France-Presse, June 16).

The European Union, however, is expected to demand today that Iran accept tougher nuclear monitoring “urgently and unconditionally.”  EU officials are expected to link the inspections to a potential trade agreement.

“The nature of some aspects of this program raises serious concern,” said a draft statement from the union’s foreign ministers (Reuters/Planet Ark, June 16).

U.S. President George W. Bush, meanwhile, has come under fire from liberal and conservative analysts for a slowly developing policy on Iran, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

“Our policy toward Iran is neither fish nor fowl, neither engagement nor regime change,” said Flynt Leverett, a Bush adviser who left the National Security Council in March for the Brookings Institution (Michael Dobbs, Washington Post, June 15).

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North Korea:  Washington Might Push for Security Council Talks

The United States will push for U.N. Security Council discussions on North Korea unless Pyongyang includes regional powers in future talks, the Daily Yomiuri reported today (see GSN, June 13).

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said that too much time had passed since the International Atomic Energy Agency chastised North Korea during a February meeting, according to officials who attended Friday meetings between Washington, South Korea and Japan (see GSN, Feb. 20).

Kelly said the United States would push for Security Council discussions if North Korea refused to join multilateral talks or made further belligerent moves.

China has previously resisted efforts to bring the issue to the Security Council.

“China wouldn’t be in favor of U.N. Security Council talks.  The United States intends to pressure China,” said a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official (Satoshi Ogawa, Daily Yomiuri, June 16).

The three countries “agreed on the necessity of multilateral talks expanded to include other interested parties,” said a joint statement.

South Korea, however, has said that it is more important to get North Korea to the bargaining table and is willing to wait for multilateral talks.  Japan is pushing for immediate inclusion in any negotiations (Kyodo News Agency/Japan Times, June 15).

U.S. Withdrawal Worries North Korea

The recently announced U.S. pullback from the border of North and South Korea has worried Pyongyang, where officials believe the move could be a precursor to a pre-emptive strike.

The presence of 14,000 U.S. troops near the border prevented a North Korean surprise attack because it would immediately draw the United States into a war.  This “tripwire” also served to protect North Korea, however, because the United States could not attack without endangering its border forces, the New York Times reported today.

“The term or concept of tripwire is an antiquated one and doesn’t bear a lot of relevance to current data,” said Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the American Pacific Command (James Brooke, New York Times, June 16).

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Russia:  Moscow to Destroy Six Rail-Mobile SS-24 Missile Systems by End of Year

Russia plans to destroy the mobile launching systems for six rail-mobile SS-24 ICBMs by the end of this year, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2002).  The dismantlement effort is being conducted as part of Russia’s obligations under START.  Since 1989, the Russian Strategic Missile Troops have deployed 36 Scalpel ICBMs (ITAR-Tass/BBC Monitoring, June 16). 

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United States I:  Converted Trident Tubes to Fire More Than Tomahawks

U.S. Navy officials are investigating ways to fire a variety of projectiles from converted Trident missile tubes on Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, a senior Navy official said Thursday (see GSN, Jan. 28).

Missile tubes on four submarines are being converted to fire up to seven Tomahawk missiles from each tube.

“If we had come up with a point design that only supported the Tomahawk, it would have been a failure,” said John Schaefer, technical plans officer in the Navy’s office of the director.

The new tubes, known as multiple all-up round canisters, can fire other platforms, including unmanned aerial vehicles, Aerospace Daily reported Friday.  The canisters are designed “to support a wide variety of payloads and sensors,” Schaefer said (Nick Jonson, Aerospace Daily, June 13).

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United States II:  Energy Department Adds Guards At Weapons Sites

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has boosted the number of guard positions at nuclear weapons sites by 17 percent over the past two years by training 2,319 new officers, Energy Daily reported today (see GSN, March 21).

The NNSA faces difficulties in filling all the new guard positions, however, due to delays in processing security clearances, Energy Department auditors said in a June 3 report to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.  As of December 2002, 22 percent of NNSA guards were unable to fully assume their duties because of security clearance delays.

Energy auditors also found that security clearance delays have also led to increased amounts of mandatory overtime at several sites, resulting in lowered guard force morale and increased fatigue, according to Energy Daily. 

The auditors’ report also expressed concern that the department did not have adequate contingency plans to address a sudden loss of guards at sites, such as due to a strike, Energy Daily reported.  The report recommended that the department develop plans so sites could quickly obtain replacement guards from other locations if necessary (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, June 16).

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Iran:  Tehran Attempting to Recruit Iraqi Weapons Scientists

Iran has begun an effort to recruit Iraqi weapons scientists, especially those involved in ballistic missile efforts, the London Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday (see GSN, June 12).

A pro-Iran Iraqi militia group known as the Badr Brigade has been helping Iraqi scientists travel across the border to meet with senior Iranian military and clerical officials in Tehran, according to the Sunday Telegraph.  Iran is especially interested in Iraqi scientists with experience in solid missile propellants, an area where Iraq held an advantage over Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported.  Iran allegedly wants to develop solid propellant technology to improve its long-range Shahab ballistic missiles (see GSN, Jan. 28).

A senior U.S. Defense Department official said Iran tops the list of countries believed to be recruiting Iraqi missile scientists.  The list also includes Libya, Syria, and possibly North Korea, according to the Sunday Telegraph.  Former senior employees of the Iraqi Military Industrialization Commission have also said that foreign countries are attempting to recruit Iraqi scientists.

“Do not be surprised when some of these people start turning up in Tehran,” said Brig. Marouf al-Chalabi, former director general of the commission.  “If the Americans do not find work for MIC’s employees soon, and if they continue to rule out all of the Baathists, then many of our best scientists will leave.  Some want to go to the West, but others will go to Iran,” he said (Philip Sherwell, London Sunday Telegraph, June 15).

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North Korea:  Iran Importing North Korean Missiles By Air

North Korea has begun exporting ballistic missiles to Iran via air — a move triggered by the U.S. interception of a North Korean ship en route to Yemen last year, U.S. and South Korean intelligence sources said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2002).

The United States has detected Iranian IL-76 cargo aircraft leaving Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport at least six times since April, intelligence officials said.  Until last year, Iranian aircraft were detected visiting North Korea only about twice a year, an intelligence source said.

The aircraft are believed to have carried disassembled Nodong ballistic missiles, according to the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Daily (Lee Chul-hee, JoongAng Daily, June 16). 

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U.S. Plans:  Decision on Miniature Kill Vehicles Due This Year

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency will make a decision in a few months on developing Miniature Kill Vehicles that could be fired in groups from a single missile, Defense News reported today (see GSN, Feb. 3).

The agency is scheduled to decide how much money to spend on the systems by the end of summer.  Multiple MKVs, which could weigh between 2 and 10 kilograms, would theoretically allow an interceptor to defeat decoys.

A missile armed with two- or three-dozen MKVs would decrease the need to have “excruciating knowledge of the bad guys’ weapons,” said Gary Payton, the MDA deputy for advanced systems.

“With one interceptor, I can assign multiple kill vehicles to everything I see,” Payton said.  “It improves the probability of kill,” he added.

It is not certain, however, if a small kill vehicle can destroy an incoming missile.

“At the extreme, you have to worry about lethality,” Payton said (Gopal Ratnam, Defense News, June 16).

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Radiological Weapons:  Thai Police Continue Investigation Into Blocked Cesium 137 Sale

Thai authorities today are continuing their investigation into a man who was arrested last week for attempting to sell radioactive materials, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, June 13).

The man, Narong Paenanam, was arrested Friday for attempting to sell a container of cesium 137 to undercover Thai police, AFP reported.  Narong, who is now refusing to cooperate with authorities, has told interrogators that he is not connected to terrorist groups, but was only trying to sell material he said he obtained from a friend who has since died.

Police earlier reported that they had confiscated 30 kilograms of cesium, but the Thai Office of Atomic Energy for Peace said the amount was much less.

“The amount of cesium may be less than 100 grams.  The 30 kilos includes the shielding case,” said OAEP Deputy Secretary General Pathom Yamkate.

U.S. diplomats have said there is no additional evidence to strengthen claims made by U.S. customs officials that the seized cesium 137 might have been meant for terrorist use.  U.S. officials are interested in further questioning of Narong, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said.

“To date they have no evidence of the intended use of the cesium beyond long-passed comments, many months old, about a purported terrorist intent,” the spokesman said (Agence France-Presse, June 16).

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