U.S. Response I:  Emergency Workers Need $100 Billion Over Five Years, Report Says

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

U.S. emergency responders need almost $100 billion over the next five years to adequately prepare for a terrorist attack, according to a report released yesterday by the Council on Foreign Relations (see GSN, June 16).

“Nearly two years after 9/11, the United States is drastically underfunding local emergency responders and remains dangerously unprepared to handle a catastrophic attack on American soil, particularly one involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-impact conventional weapons,” the council said in a statement.

After a nationwide survey, the council’s task force concluded that the United States will fall $98.4 billion short on funding for emergency services.

The report says federal, state and local governments will have to triple spending on emergency services to meet the funding shortfall.  If budget crises prevent state and local governments from boosting their spending, Washington will have to foot the entire bill.  If lawmakers follow the report’s recommendations, the federal government would need to increase its emergency services funding from $5.4 billion to more than $25 billion annually.

The report says the most drastic deficit is in the nation’s fire services, which are projected to fall $36.8 billion short over the next five years.  Most firefighters are now operating without vital equipment, such as radios or breathing apparatus, according to the report.

The task forces identified almost $30 billion in hospital upgrades, including protective equipment, decontamination services, training and improved communications.  Public health departments, including the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, need another $6.7 billion, according to the report.

The task force also said $300 million is needed for annual regional exercises to prepare for a terrorist attack.  The report called on the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments to develop a plan to meet national preparedness goals by the end of fiscal 2007.

“If we knew that there was going to be a terrorist attack sometime in the next five years but did not know what type of attack it would be, who would carry it out, or where in the United States it would occur, what actions would we take to prepare and how would we allocate our human and financial resources to do so?  The American people must assume that this is the situation we currently face,” the report says.

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U.S. Response II:  First Responders In New York Need More Training, Equipment, Union Officials Say

Despite additional antiterrorism training of New York police officers and beefed-up patrols around the city, more needs to be done to instruct first responders in the event of another terrorist attack on the city, local union officials said yesterday (see GSN, May 15).

“The state and the federal government need to send more aid to New York City,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch told the New York Post.

“Our members are no better trained or equipped than they were on Sept. 10, 2001,” he said.

Lynch said more police officers should be given gas masks, as well as biohazard and chemical protective suits, according to the Post.

New York Fire Department spokesman Frank Gribbon said firefighters have received additional equipment and training.  The Uniformed Firefighters Association recently said it wants better training on chemical and biological detection devices (Gaskell/Celona, New York Post, June 30).

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German Response:  Berlin Unprepared for Biological Attack

Germany is not prepared to respond to a biological or chemical weapons terrorist attack, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported today (see GSN, Jan. 15).

A Saturday report in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper says that German authorities have not responded quickly to the potential threat of a biological or chemical weapons attack.

“We should be engaged in long-term research such as is being carried out in America, but the German government simply isn’t paying any attention to our appeals,” said Bernd Appel, head of biological security at Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, June 28).

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Iraq:  U.S. Forces Say Castor Bean Find May Show WMD Development

U.S. forces in Iraq last week discovered several bags of castor beans, which can be used to produce the deadly poison ricin, as well as commercial products such as brake fluid and castor oil (see GSN, June 27)

The United States has been searching for evidence of a weapons of mass destruction program to justify its invasion of Iraq earlier this year.  However, no evidence has been found to date (Reuters, June 26).

The bags were discovered at a former brake fluid plant, CNN.com reported.  U.S. officials said they are investigating the bags and their contents. (CNN.com, June 26).

According to a U.S. defense official, the beans were found in “a place where they could easily have been used for some other purpose than what we’re looking for (biological weapons).  It’s a find from the aspect that it can be also used for the bad stuff which is kind of a growing trend.  A lot of multiple-use things are being found” (Reuters, June 26).

Greenpeace Offers Clean Containers

Environmental activist group Greenpeace is offering clean water containers in exchange for contaminated barrels that were looted from an Iraqi nuclear complex following the U.S. invasion.

The U.S. military is offering $3 for the contaminated barrels, but Greenpeace said their offer is more practical.  To replace the contaminated containers, Iraqis would need to pay about $15, according to the group.

“This morning we collected four barrels.  It is a good start,” a Greenpeace spokesman said (Reuters/Planet Ark, June 30).

Blair Faces Criticism

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is under fire from Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, which is about to release a report that says the British leadership prevented a full investigation into claims that intelligence on Iraq was misused.

The report, which will be published next Monday, accuses Blair of preventing the committee from having full access to intelligence reports and officials.  The committee, however, is also expected to clear Blair’s communications director, Alastair Campbell, of ordering officials to exaggerate evidence of Iraq’s weapons programs (Watt/Wells, London Guardian, June 30).

Blix Retires

Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, meanwhile, retires from his post today.  Greek nuclear expert Demetrius Perricos will assume the post of interim chief weapons inspector (Anne Penketh, London Independent, June 30).

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North Korea I:  Weldon Details Plan to Resolve North Korean Crisis

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

U.S. Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said today the United States should provide North Korea with a nonaggression treaty in exchange for Pyongyang’s nuclear disarmament (see GSN, June 13).

During a speech last week and in a Philadelphia Inquirer commentary today, Weldon detailed his 10-point plan to resolve the nuclear standoff.  Weldon, a senior House of Representatives Armed Services Committee member, initially broached the plan with North Korean officials during a visit to Pyongyang last month.

Weldon said the United States should offer a one-year nonaggression pact if North Korea is willing to renounce its nuclear weapons program and allow unfettered inspections.

“We have two choices,” Weldon wrote, “isolate North Korea and foolishly hope for its eventual economic collapse, or take advantage of the window before us and engage North Korea in meaningful dialogue.”

The plan calls for five initial conciliatory steps from Pyongyang and Washington, including the nonaggression pact and North Korean nuclear renunciation.

U.S. officials have repeatedly balked at the prospect of a nonaggression treaty, and President George W. Bush has refused to rule out a military strike against North Korean nuclear facilities.

Under Weldon’s plan, North Korea would rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the United States would establish a diplomatic presence in Pyongyang and a coalition of regional powers would commit up to $50 billion over the next decade to promote economic growth and humanitarian aid in the North.

The plan has received bipartisan support from U.S. lawmakers and the U.N. envoy to North Korea, Maurice Strong.

Strong previously told Global Security Newswire that the plan is “very promising” and “ambitious but achievable.”

After the initial five steps are met, both sides would engage in another round of more permanent rapprochement.

North Korea would be expected to dismantle its nuclear facilities within two years, ratify the international missile control treaty and join the Helsinki Commission on human rights as an observer.

In return, the United States would make the nonaggression treaty permanent and Congress would establish direct ties to the North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly.

“Clearly, the cornerstone of this plan is the nonaggression pact by the U.S.,” according to Weldon’s commentary.  He said previously that his plan might not survive negotiations intact, but that it is an important starting point.

“Peace is within our grasp; now we must have the courage to reach it,” Weldon wrote today.

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North Korea II:  U.N. May Adopt Statement Pressing Pyongyang to Stop Nuclear Weapons Development, U.S. Says

The United States expects a U.N. Security Council statement soon urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, Asahi Shimbun reported Saturday (see GSN, June 20).

The report quoted a White House official as saying preparations were underway for a statement and calling on the council to tell Pyongyang it must enter talks and give up nuclear weapons (Hiroki Fukuda, Asahi Shimbun, June 28).

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Israel:  Tel Aviv Lashes Out After BBC Program Alleges Nuclear Stockpile

Israel yesterday accused the BBC of anti-Semitism after a television program accused Tel Aviv of possessing nuclear and chemical weapons (see GSN, May 29).

Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons stockpiles, the Associated Press reported.

Israel’s Secret Weapon aired in the United Kingdom in March and in Israel Saturday.  The program alleged that Israel has “the world’s sixth-largest nuclear arsenal with small tactical nuclear weapons … as well as medium-range nuclear missiles launchable from air, land or sea.”

The report also accused Israel of attacking Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in February 2001 with an unidentified gas, which sent 180 people to the hospital suffering from severe convulsions.

“The accusations are very reminiscent of the most horrible anti-Semitism,” said Israeli government spokesman Daniel Seaman.  “This is very reminiscent of Der Stuermer,” he added, referring to an anti-Semitic newspaper published in Nazi Germany.

The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday the government will impose travel sanctions on BBC staff and will not intercede to help BBC personnel if Israeli security or military authorities detain them.

“We stand by the … program and regret any response the Israeli government might make,” said BBC spokeswoman Kate Atkins (Steve Weizman, Associated Press/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 30).

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Iran:  Official Says Tehran Not Ready For Additional Protocol

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said that Tehran is not yet ready to accept the Additional Protocol, which would allow for intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of nuclear activities, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, June 26).

“We have nothing to hide.  We are ready to cooperate, but that must be done within our commitments,” he said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was in Tehran yesterday to pressure Iranian officials to accept the nuclear inspections (Angus McDowall, London Independent, June 30).

Straw said Iran could damage its relationship with Europe if it fails to approve the protocol.

“If they do not sign this additional protocol, confidence will not be improved and the international community will be reluctant to lift sanctions,” he said (Reuters/Planet Ark, June 30).

Iranian Envoy in Moscow

Iranian nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh is scheduled to meet with Russian officials in Moscow during a three-day visit that began today, Agence France-Presse reported.

Moscow is helping Iran build a nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr.  However, the United States has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons rather than attempting to produce a peaceful nuclear energy program, as Tehran maintains.

Aghazadeh is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev and Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo (Dmitry Zaks, Agence France-Presse, June 30).

Iran plans to invite IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to Tehran for talks concerning the nuclear allegations.  A senior Iranian official said that Iran “will soon invite ElBaradei to Iran for talks aimed at removing these technical problems” (Agence France-Presse, June 30).

Washington Pressures Tokyo to Cancel Deal

U.S. officials, meanwhile, are pressuring Japan to back out of a prospective oil deal with Iran.  Representatives of a private, but state-supported Japanese consortium are currently in Tehran for negotiations and, with Tokyo’s approval, they are expected to sign a contract within days (Kyodo News Service, June 27).

Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi recently told Iran’s ambassador to Japan, Ali Majedi, that Tehran should agree to the intrusive inspections.

Motegi said Iran should “fully cooperate with the IAEA and immediately and unconditionally sign and implement an additional protocol,” according to a Foreign Ministry official (Kyodo News Service II, June 27).

Iran Discussing Al-Qaeda Prisoners

Iranian officials are discussing the extradition of several senior al-Qaeda leaders who are being held by Iranian authorities, Agence France-Presse reported.  Tehran is reportedly discussing extraditing the prisoners to their countries of origin, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.

“There is firm reason to believe that Iran is holding some senior al-Qaeda,” a source said.  “But the negotiations to hand them over are very delicate, so for the moment there has been no official word on who they are,” the source added.

The prisoners are rumored to be Egyptian-born Saif al-Adel, the terrorist organization’s military operations chief, Saad bin-Laden, son of Osama bin-Laden, and Sulaiman Abu Gaith, an al-Qaeda spokesman (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 28).

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Smallpox:  CDC Says Smallpox Immunization Program Should Expand

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday the U.S. smallpox immunization program should expand despite an advisory panel recommendation to stop and evaluate the first few months of the effort (see GSN, June 24).

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended this month that U.S. officials delay plans to move past the initial stage of the program, in which emergency health care workers are immunized.  In the second stage, officials plan to expand the effort to include 10 million police officers, firefighters and other emergency workers.

“We respect the ACIP perspective, but we also recognize that we still have work to do, including ongoing immunization,” CDC Director Julie Gerberding said.

Almost 38,000 civilian health care workers have been immunized to date.  President George W. Bush initially laid out a plan to immunize 500,000 civilian health care workers by the end of February (David Wahlberg, Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Good Housekeeping, June 27).

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Anthrax:  Draining of Pond Yields No Additional Clues

The FBI has apparently found no additional clues to aid its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks after draining a Maryland pond, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, June 26).

FBI officials began draining the Frederick, Md., pond earlier this month in the hopes of finding clues in the anthrax investigation.  Agents had earlier recovered laboratory equipment. The items found following the pond’s draining, however, included a bicycle, logs, coins, a street sign, and a handgun, which was given to local authorities, according to the Post (Williamson/Snyder, Washington Post, June 29).

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United States:  Chemical Disposal Plant Does Not Affect Neighbors

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has said that chemical weapons destruction at Utah’s Tooele Army Depot is not a public health risk to civilian residents nearby, the Tooele Transcript Bulletin reported Thursday (see GSN, April 29).

“I think the Army is doing a good job of mitigating environmental contaminants so as to limit their transport off-site to the surrounding community,” said Sue Neurath, an environmental health scientist with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of Health and Human Services.

The agency recently completed a public health assessment.  In its report, the agency said that plumes of smoke from the chemical weapons disposal would not have any effect on drinking water or air quality.

“Like most plumes, as it continues moving, the concentration drops dramatically as it moves away from the source,” she said. “Only a very small concentration is leaving the base,” the report says (Michael Rigert, Tooele Transcript Bulletin, June 26).

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