New York Nuclear Plant Received Inadequate Security Test, Group Charges

The Project on Government Oversight has charged that a mock terrorist attack conducted this summer at the Indian Point nuclear plant in New York state involved too few mock attackers who were not armed as terrorists could be, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 12).

In a letter to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Nils Diaz, the group complained that the security exercise used only a small number of mock terrorists and did not arm them with easily available weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades, according to the Times.  Two of the exercises were conducted in “broad daylight,” making it easier for the plant’s security force to detect and observe the attackers, the letter said.

The commission defended the exercise, but refused to respond to the group’s specific allegations, saying it could not do so for security reasons.  The commission will not talk about “anything that would give a sense of what the security guards at the plant need to protect against,” Roy Zimmerman, director of the NRC Nuclear Safety and Incident Response Office, said (Matthew Wald, New York Times, Sept. 16).

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United States Sanctions Russian Entity for Conventional Transfers to Iran

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The United States has imposed sanctions against a Russian state-owned entity for selling conventional military equipment to Iran, which has been designated by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism, according to a notice published in the Federal Register today (see GSN, July 22).

In August, the United States determined that the Tula Design Bureau of Instrument Building (Tula KBP) had provided “lethal military equipment” to Iran, according to the notice.  A U.S. State Department spokesman told Global Security Newswire today that the Russian company had transferred laser-guided artillery shells to Iran.  Under the sanctions, which go into effect today, Tula KBP will be prohibited from conducting business with the U.S. government and from receiving approval for defense-related imports and exports for one year.

Under U.S law, countries found to have sold lethal military equipment to designated state-sponsors of terrorism are to have U.S. assistance blocked.  The law contains a waiver of the assistance ban, however, for national interests, the State spokesman said.  He added that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had decided that there was a “national interest” in continuing U.S. assistance to Russia, enacting the waiver. 

The Washington Times reported today that today’s notice is the first time the recipient in such a transfer had been made public.  The decision was made to publicly name Iran because such a move would not reveal information sources and methods, the State spokesman said.

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U.S. Homeland Security Department Revises Terrorism Alert System

The U.S. Homeland Security Department has created new, tougher guidelines for raising the color-coded terrorism alert level, the New York Times reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 19).

The alert level, which currently stands at yellow or “elevated” risk, will now only be raised if there is credible and detailed intelligence of an imminent terrorist attack within the United States, officials said.  The new guidelines represent a belief that the United States is now better prepared to respond to terrorism threats, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Friday.

“The fact is that our level of security at yellow today is better than it was a year ago, and our level of security at yellow will be better a year from now.  So the threshold to go from yellow to orange will be higher.  That does make a difference,” Ridge said.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who has often criticized the terrorism alert system, welcomed the new guidelines, according to the Times.

“Any changes DHS makes to its Crayola-colored threat system should be an improvement over the current one,” Lautenberg said.  “The system has caused financial hardships, fear, panic and confusion among Americans,” he said (Philip Shenon, New York Times, Sept. 13).

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U.S State Department Warns of Possible WMD-Related Attacks

The U.S. State Department issued a “worldwide caution” bulletin Wednesday to warn of possible al-Qaeda attacks in coming weeks that might involve biological or chemical agents, according to the Washington Post (see GSN, Sept. 11).

“We are seeing increasing indications that al-Qaeda is preparing to strike U.S. interests abroad,” the bulletin said.  “We expect al-Qaeda will strive for new attacks that will be more devastating than the Sept. 11 attack, possibly involving nonconventional weapons such as chemical or biological agents,” it said.

The alert was based on new intelligence that suggests terrorists might conduct an attack, possibly with chemical weapons, in western Europe, U.S. officials said.  The intelligence was received through the interrogation of a captured al-Qaeda operative or from intercepted al-Qaeda communications, they said (John Mintz, Washington Post, Sept. 12).

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Congress Considering Ways to Replace Members After Possible Catastrophe

By Paul Olend and Mark Wegner

Congress Daily

WASHINGTON — On the steps of a U.S. House office building facing the Capitol, members of a working group on congressional continuity announced plans yesterday to introduce a proposed constitutional amendment that would outline policy on how the government would function in the wake of a terrorist attack (see GSN, June 4).

Members of the group, including Representives Brian Baird (D-Wash.), Martin Frost (D-Texas), Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), spoke somberly about the possibility of congressional incapacitation and called on Congress to move discussions forward on the subject.     

The amendment, which will follow a yet-to-be-drafted resolution to open the floor to debate on the topic, would provide guidelines for congressional succession.  Baird, who plans to introduce the proposed amendment by the end of the year, said it would provide for interim congressional appointments, which would remain in place until special elections could take place.  The appointments would be predetermined from a slate of congressional nominees.     

The group cited evidence from a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this week, in which officials said it could take up to two months to re-elect lawmakers and replenish the three branches of government following a terrorist attack — a problem Baird said could be resolved by legislation allowing preappointed leadership.      

Although two years have passed since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Baird said Congress still refuses to acknowledge the importance of updating government continuity legislation, and communication gaps and poor emergency measures following the attacks are evidence that “worst-case-scenario” policies should be revised.

Baird said if the resolution to formally discuss the amendment is rejected by House leadership, the group will pursue a discharge petition.

A spokesman for House Speaker Hastert said yesterday that Hastert favors an approach taken in legislation by Rules Chairman Dreier and Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner that would call on states to hold expedited special elections in case of a catastrophe.  He opposes a proposal that would suspend the direct election of any House member seated in Congress.

“The speaker doesn’t like the idea of getting away from the direct election of members,” Hastert’s spokesman said.

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Two Years After Sept. 11, War on Terrorism Sees Progress and Frustration

Marking the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the White House yesterday released a report outlining U.S. progress in its war on terrorism.  The report’s release, however, coincided with the broadcast of videotape showing a man believed to be terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden (see GSN, Sept. 10).

Since the attacks against New York and Washington, the United States and its allies have “dismantled the repressive Taliban, denied al-Qaeda a safe haven in Afghanistan and defeated Saddam Hussein’s regime,” according to the Progress Report on the War on Terrorism.

In addition, about two-thirds of al-Qaeda’s senior operatives have either been killed or captured, and within the United States the Justice Department has charged 260 people in terrorism investigations, including 140 who have either pleaded guilty or have been convicted, the report says.  It also says the United States has disrupted several domestic terrorism cells and has blocked terrorists’ access to about $200 million in funding (Sammon/Seper, Washington Times, Sept. 11).

Yesterday, U.S. President George W. Bush called on Congress to provide new judicial powers to help in the war on terrorism, according to the New York Times (see related GSN story, today). 

Some Congressional Democrats have criticized Bush’s request, which was made in a speech yesterday at the FBI Academy.  White House officials, however, have said that the growing focus on the USA PATRIOT Act — a set of counterterrorism judicial measures passed soon after the Sept. 11 attacks — may help in the White House’s attempt to obtain even stronger counterterrorism laws.

“If you have a lively debate, that’s when you have the best chance to persuade the public and the Congress,” said Viet Dinh, a former senior aide to Attorney General John Ashcroft who helped to draft the PATRIOT act (Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, Sept. 11).

Bush has recently faced increasing criticism for citing the Sept. 11 attacks while promoting aspects of domestic policy unrelated to terrorism, according to the Washington Post.

Aides to Bush have said that his persistent references to the attacks reflect his personal feelings about them.  Bush “talks frequently about 9/11, but more importantly about our nation’s response to 9/11, which required a significant policy change in order to prevent future 9/11’s,” White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said.

Some analysts have said, however, that Bush sometimes appears to rely on the mention of the attacks when facing tough questioning, according to the Post.  Some Democrats have criticized Bush for his constant references to Sept. 11, saying he uses them as justification for most of his policies and as a reason to re-elect him.

“A lot of Americans have been apprehensive, and through this constant talk, the Bush administration has been shameless in using 9/11 for partisan political gain,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence McAuliffe said (Mike Allen, Washington Post, Sept. 11).

Al-Qaeda

Even as the White House praises the progress made in the war on terrorism, there have been recent signs that al-Qaeda remains active, according to reports.

A videotape shown yesterday on the al-Jazeera television network showed a man believed to be bin Laden, as well as his deputy Ayman Zawahiri, according to the Washington Post.

The videotape, which al-Jazeera said was probably filmed in late April or early May, shows the two men walking in an unidentified mountainous area.  In an audio track that U.S. officials said was recorded separately, a voice identified as bin Laden’s praised the Sept. 11 attacks for doing “great damage to the enemy,” the Post reported. 

A voice identified as Zawahiri’s calls on “our brother mujaheddin in Iraq” to continue attacks on U.S. troops there, according to the Post.

“Rely on God, and pounce on the Americans just as lions pounce their prey, and bury them in Iraq’s graveyard,” the voice attributed to Zawahiri said.

U.S. intelligence officials said they believe the two men on the videotape were in fact bin Laden and Zawahiri, adding that it is still unknown when the tape was made (Eggen/Pincus, Washington Post, Sept. 11).

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last night that the videotape was part of an “information operations campaign” conducted by al-Qaeda to spread fear.

“The general feeling in the government is that what they’re doing is trying to pretend that they’re functioning well,” Rumsfeld said (Risen/Johnston, New York Times, Sept. 11).

U.S. intelligence analysts have begun to examine the videotape to determine where bin Laden may be hiding, according to the Associated Press. 

Afghan officials said today that the videotape helps confirm their belief that bin Laden is currently hiding within Pakistan.  They claimed that al-Qaeda and Taliban troops have launched attacks against Afghanistan from bases within Pakistan.

“Our intelligence sources have told us that al-Zawahri is in Pakistan’s tribal areas ... Americans know where he is but Pakistan should help as well,” Afghan Deputy Defense Minister Bismillah Khan said.

Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, however, said there was no proof that bin Laden was operating from Pakistan.

“We do not know where he is.  If somebody knows, he should let us know,” Ahmed said (Sam Ghattas, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 11).

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have said that al-Qaeda still maintains a hidden and extensive presence within the United States that includes recruitment and fundraising activities, according to the Los Angeles Times.

U.S. authorities are investigating “at least several dozen” people suspected of being involved in al-Qaeda operations within the United States, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said.  In addition, authorities are conducting investigations in as many as 40 states, the official said.

U.S. officials have learned that al-Qaeda has begun using new fundraising methods, such as the sale of counterfeit movies and CDs and drug trafficking, as authorities crack down on known methods, according to the official.

“Money is coming in and out of the United States,” the official said.

While U.S. officials have previously been concerned about the presence of al-Qaeda cells inside the United States, there has been increasing concern because of intelligence reports that al-Qaeda operatives are trying to enter the country through Canada, Mexico and U.S. ports and airports, the Times reported.

“I wouldn’t term it as worse” the official said, comparing the current threat posed by al-Qaeda to conditions prior to Sept. 11, 2001.  “But our knowledge base is better, so we see a deeper threat.  We certainly have a deeper appreciation for the sophistication and the capabilities that we are dealing with and the fact that we have to constantly adapt to them,” the official said (Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 11).

There are also signs that al-Qaeda has launched an online recruitment effort, according to the Washington Times.  The terrorist group has published three electronic books on a new Web site, two of which detail tactics within Saudi Arabia and Iraq and one entitled The 39 Steps to Jihad (Neil Doyle, Washington Times, Sept. 11).

The U.S. State Department yesterday warned of potential al-Qaeda attacks against U.S. interests abroad, according to the Associated Press.  The warning said attacks might be conducted to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary.

“We are seeing increasing indications that al-Qaeda is preparing to strike U.S. interests abroad,” the department said (Associated Press/USA Today, Sept. 11).

Meanwhile, the FBI has determined that it will probably be unable to infiltrate al-Qaeda and will have to rely more on recruiting al-Qaeda operatives to serve as informants, according to USA Today.

Al-Qaeda’s radical Islamic culture and its strict recruitment process have made it almost impossible for U.S. agents to get inside.  Religious and cultural differences have made al-Qaeda harder for the FBI to infiltrate than the U.S. mafia, which took the bureau decades to do, FBI officials said.

“The risks are too great,” a former senior FBI official said (Johnson/Locy, USA Today, Sept. 11).

United States Losing Sept. 11 Sympathy

The New York Times reported today that interviews with people throughout the world indicate that the United States has lost most of the international sympathy it received in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“A lot of people had sympathy for Americans around the time of 9/11, but that’s changed,” said Cathy Hearn, 31, a flight attendant from South Africa.  “They act like the big guy riding roughshod over everyone else,” Hearn said. 

Some foreign policy experts have said the U.S. push for war in Iraq helped to shift world opinion away from Washington.

“I think the turnaround was last summer, when American policy moved ever more decisively toward war against Iraq,” said Josef Joffe, co-editor of the German weekly Die Zeit.  “That’s what triggered the counteralliance of France and Germany and the enormous wave of hatred against the United States,” he said.

Other experts, however, have said that the Iraq war merely demonstrated the existing divide between the United States and the rest of the world.

“There were deep structural forces before 9/11 that were pushing us apart,” said John Mearsheimer, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.  “In the absence of the Soviet threat or of an equivalent threat, there was no way that ties between us and Europe wouldn’t be loosened,” he said.

Some people have expressed not so much dissatisfaction with the United States, but instead with the Bush administration, which they portray as arrogant, according to the Times.

“The point I would make is that with the best will in the world, President Bush is a very poor salesman for the United States, and I say that as someone who has no animus against him or the United States,” said Philip Gawaith, a financial communications consultant in London.  “Whether it’s al-Qaeda or Afghanistan, people have just felt that he’s a silly man, and therefore they are not obliged to think any harder about his position,” Gawaith said (Richard Bernstein, New York Times, Sept. 11).

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Bush Praises Progress Made in Homeland Security Since Sept. 11, 2001; Calls for New Judicial Powers

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — On the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday praised the progress the United States has since made toward improving homeland security and he called for more judicial powers to use in the war on terrorism (see GSN, Aug. 21).

During a speech at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., Bush praised the bureau and the Homeland Security Department, the creation of which was prompted by the attacks, for the progress they have made in improving U.S security against terrorism. 

“We’ve undertaken a global campaign against terrorist networks.  We’re going after the terrorists, wherever they hide and wherever they plan.  We will keep them on the run; we’ll bring them to justice.  We have made clear the doctrine which says, if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist you’re just as guilty as the terrorist.  We’re holding regimes accountable for harboring and supporting terror,” Bush said.

He also praised a number of specific measures that have been taken since the attacks to improve homeland security, such as increases in transportation security, port and maritime security and border security (see GSN, Sept. 9). 

The Homeland Security Department is also working with the U.S. Congress on legislation that would establish uniform security standards for chemical facilities, Bush said (see GSN, Aug. 1).  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is currently trying to develop a compromise between two chemical security bills — one introduced in May by committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and a bill reintroduced earlier this year by Senator Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), a committee spokesman told Global Security Newswire.  “A major sticking point” between the two bills is a provision included in Corzine’s bill that would require chemical plant operators to adopt “inherently safer technologies,” which would replace potentially dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives, the spokesman said.  He added that the committee wants to soon move forward on a final piece of legislation.

“Since September the 11th, this nation has been unrelenting in the work of protecting the homeland and we’ll stay that way,” Bush said yesterday.  “That’s our duty.  That’s our job.  We accept the responsibility,” he said.

In addition, the White House is making a “special effort” to prepare for terrorist attacks that could involve the use of biological or chemical weapons, Bush said (see GSN, Sept. 5).  He noted the progress made in improving detection capabilities and in developing a national stockpile of treatments and vaccines against biological warfare agents.  Bush also called on the Senate to pass his House-approved Project Bioshield proposal, which seeks to spur the private development of new treatments and vaccines against biological weapons agents (see GSN, Sept. 5).

“For the sake of national security, the Senate needs to pass Project Bioshield,” Bush said.

New Judicial Powers

In his remarks yesterday, Bush also praised the controversial USA PATRIOT Act, which has been criticized by civil liberties activists and some members of Congress.  Calling the act an “essential law,” Bush praised it for increasing penalties against terrorists and for improving information sharing among U.S. counterterrorism agencies.  Bush’s praise of the act follows a cross-country speaking tour by U.S Attorney General John Ashcroft to bolster support for the act (see GSN, Aug. 20).

While the act has been helpful in the war on terrorism, more judicial powers are still needed, Bush said, adding that prosecutors face certain legal restrictions in terrorism-related cases that they do not in embezzlement or drug trafficking cases.

“For the sake of the American people, Congress should change the law and give law enforcement officials the same tools they have to fight terror that they have to fight other crime,” Bush said.

Bush called on Congress to expand the act by making it easier for law enforcement officials to obtain administrative subpoenas, which are used to obtain certain types of records.  In addition, Congress should enact legislation to make those charged with terrorism-related crimes ineligible for bail and to make the death penalty applicable to some terrorist activities, such as the sabotage of a nuclear facility, he said.

“You need to have every tool at your disposal to be able to do your job on behalf of the American people,” Bush told the FBI audience.  “The House and the Senate have a responsibility to act quickly on these matters [and] untie the hands of our law enforcement officials so they can fight and win the war against terror,” he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, however, lashed out yesterday at the Bush administration for its proposed expansions of the act.

“It is unfortunate that President Bush would use this tragic date to continue to endorse the increasingly unpopular anticivil liberties policies of Attorney General Ashcroft and the Department of Justice,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a press statement.  “Rather than rubber-stamping new powers for the attorney general, the president should respond to the voices of Americans from the right, left and center and disavow the attorney general’s power grabs over the last two years,” Romero said.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned yesterday that the Bush administration could face opposition within Congress for approval of new judicial powers.

“Since the attacks of September 11, Congress has been more than willing to consider giving the government more police powers in the war on terrorism, and Congress has done that,” Leahy said in a press statement.  “But giving the government more power is dangerous when that power is mixed with the kind of unilateralism and arrogance that have characterized this administration’s Justice Department.  Many in Congress this time will be wary of writing any more blank checks for this administration, without more accountability,” he said.

Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, also criticized Bush’s proposal, suggesting it may be intended as a distraction measure.

“It is puzzling for the president to ask Congress at the eleventh hour of this session to pass these proposals quickly.  One has to wonder whether this is an attempt to distract from the administration’s failures in Iraq and the re-emergence of Osama bin Laden,” Conyers said in a statement.

While the PATRIOT Act has been criticized for possibly infringing on U.S. civil liberties, the Associated Press reported today that a new poll has found that most Americans do not believe that their legal rights have been violated by such measures.

The AP-commissioned poll found that almost 60 percent of those surveyed did not think Americans’ legal rights had been violated, according to AP.  About 50 percent of poll respondents said they believed the Bush administration had been about right in using the new laws to counter terrorism, while about 20 percent said the administration had not gone far enough.

The poll also found, however, that about two-thirds of those surveyed were concerned about the possible loss of civil liberties arising from the post Sept. 11-legislation, AP reported.

Specter Introduces Bill Calling for Increased Terrorism Penalties

Meanwhile, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) yesterday introduced a bill, the Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003, that includes some of the provisions Bush called for in his speech.  Specter’s bill would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in any terrorist activity that results in death and would add the death penalty as an available punishment in several scenarios where it is currently not an option, such as the sabotage of a defense or nuclear facility.

In addition, Specter’s bill would go farther than Bush’s request by adding conspiracy and attempt to commit terrorism to the list of terrorism-related offenses that are subject to the death penalty.  Under Specter’s bill, prosecutors could also seek the death penalty for those convicted of helping to raise money for terrorism, not just those involved in the activities themselves.

“I have pressed the Department of Justice to proceed with criminal prosecutions and to seek the death penalty for terrorists and for those that fund terrorists through front organizations,” Specter said in a press statement.  “The contributors to terrorist organizations, knowing what those organizations do, are on notice.  This legislation will clear up any ambiguity and will make such contributors to terrorist organizations liable for the death penalty as accessories before the fact,” he said.

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GAO Faults Northrop Grumman for Flawed Port Security Assessments

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. government auditor this week questioned the “scope and quality” of port security assessments being conducted for the Coast Guard by defense contractor Northrop Grumman (see GSN, Sept. 9).

The General Accounting Office has recommended that the Coast Guard temporarily suspend work on future assessments, which cost U.S. taxpayers at least $1 million for each port, according to Margaret Wrightson, the GAO’s director of homeland security and justice issues.

So far, 13 assessments have been completed, three are underway and preliminary work is being done at 13 other sites.  The Coast Guard planned to complete a total of 55 port security assessments, and that work is on track to be finished by the end of 2004, according to Coast Guard spokeswoman Jolie Shifflet.

As of press time, Northrop Grumman had not responded to questions on the report.

Coast Guard and port security officials who were interviewed by the GAO said that the assessments contained “factual errors” and were sometimes released before they could be reviewed.

At one port, Coast Guard personnel and security officials said they were given a survey that referred to a different facility and were “asked questions they regarded as not pertaining to security,” according to the GAO report.

A leading Republican lawmaker said that he has “serious concerns,” about the findings.

“These concerns raised by the GAO testimony must be resolved to ensure the port assessment program meets the high standards that Congress set forward,” said Representative Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

Wrightson said that the GAO has recommended that the Coast Guard and Northrop Grumman evaluate the lessons from earlier assessment before moving on to new ones, allow port officials a greater role in the assessments, limit inquiries to security issues and allow the interested parties to review the assessments before they are finalized.

“I’m fairly optimistic that we’re going to have action on those” proposals, Wrightson said.

The GAO is also concerned that local officials have already completed some of the security assessment work.

“The contractor doesn’t need to start from ground zero,” Wrightson said.

In a statement today, the Coast Guard said that it would take the GAO report along with lessons from earlier assessments “to revise the methodology before conducting PSAs [port security assessments] in other critical seaports.”

The Coast Guard said that it would also allow participants in future assessments to review the findings before the reports are completed.

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Uranium Smuggling by ABC News Might Incur Criminal Charges

U.S. officials are examining the possibility of bringing criminal charges against ABC News reporters who, for the second consecutive year, smuggled depleted uranium into the United States for a report on ineffective port security that is scheduled to air tonight (see GSN, Sept. 13, 2002).

“We believe ABC News may have broke[n] the law and we are pursuing the appropriate course of action,” said Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy.  “It is a question whether or not journalists should be breaking the law in the pursuit of a news story.  It’s not right for a reporter to rob a bank to prove the bank has lax security,” he added.

ABC investigative correspondent Brian Ross and his producers shipped about 15 pounds of depleted uranium — which cannot be used to develop nuclear weapons — from Jakarta to Los Angeles in a falsely labeled package.  They placed the uranium in a lead-lined, steel pipe for transport.  If properly licensed, depleted uranium may be shipped legally.

The container was not opened in Jakarta or the United States, despite being targeted for screening by U.S. border officials.  The depleted uranium emitted a radiation signature that would be similar to nondepleted uranium packaged with a thicker shielding.

“In our view, we do not believe we are in violation of the law because it was not our intent to defraud the U.S. government, to smuggle in contraband or to avoid duties,” said ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider.  “It was to test the system,” he added.

Republican Senator Charles Grassley (Iowa) wrote to Attorney General John Ashcroft to support the ABC News report.

“When the media are involved, I would urge that significant caution must be used by the federal government to ensure that legitimate reporting is not chilled,” Grassley wrote.  “While embarrassed government bureaucrats may not think so, the country benefits from government mismanagement being exposed,” he added (Associated Press/USA Today, Sept. 11).

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Al-Qaeda Facing Disintegration, But Still Capable of Attacks, CIA Says

The CIA has said that although al-Qaeda has suffered devestating setbacks in the U.S. war on terrorism, it remains capable of conducting effective attacks, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Sept. 5).

In a brief provided to U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz prior to his appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, the CIA said that more than two-thirds of known senior al-Qaeda operatives, as well as  10 important al-Qaeda financiers, have been killed or captured.

“The central leadership of al-Qaeda is at growing risk of breaking apart as our blows against the group create a level of disarray and confusion throughout the organization that we have not seen since the collapse of the Taliban in late 2001,” the CIA said in its unclassified brief.

The CIA also warned, however, that even with a lack of senior operatives, al-Qaeda still has available “a large bench of middle managers and foot soldiers” capable of conducting attacks.

“It takes only and handful of terrorists with little more than creativity, dedication, and luck to successfully cause mass casualties,” the agency said (Maxim Kniazkov, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 10).

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Survey Finds Low Public Confidence in U.S. Health System’s Ability to Respond; RAND Issues WMD Attack Readiness Guidelines

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Less than half of Americans believe the U.S. public health system could respond effectively to a terrorist WMD attack, according to a study released Monday by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

A telephone poll of 1,373 adults conducted last month found that 46 percent of responders believed the U.S. public health system could effectively respond to a terrorist attack involving biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.  A similar poll conducted last year, however, found that 53 percent of Americans were confident the public health system could respond to a WMD-related attack, according to the study.

Overall, more than 75 percent of Americans are concerned about the possibility of a future terrorist attack in the United States, according to the study.  It also says that 35 percent lack confidence in the federal government’s ability to protect their community in the event of a future terrorist attack.

“This survey reflects an extraordinary lack of public confidence in the nation’s level of preparedness for bioterrorism and major disasters.  And, the fact is that we have not made the kind of progress in these areas that might have been expected two years after 9/11,” Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Mailman School of Public Health, said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, the think-tank RAND today released a new report that provides a number of recommendations for individuals to protect themselves in the event of a WMD attack, warning that the first few minutes following such an attack are the most crucial for survival.

The report, Individual Preparedness and Response to Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear and Biological Terrorist Attacks, outlines immediate goals for those subjected to WMD attacks, as well as specific measures that can be taken to improve safety.  For example, in the event of a chemical weapons attack, the report recommends an immediate emphasis on finding clean air quickly, followed by decontamination and medical treatment. 

In the event of a radiological weapons attack, such as a “dirty bomb,” the report recommends an immediate focus on the avoidance of potentially radioactive dust.  It also recommends that in the event of a full-scale nuclear weapons attack, those affected such evacuate the fallout zone quickly, or if unable to do, find the best available shelter. 

If subjected to a biological weapons attack, the report recommends that the victims seek medical aid and avoid further exposure if possible.  It also warns that in the event of a biological attack involving contagious diseases, such as smallpox, victims should expect to be subjected to surveillance and possible quarantine.

“We found that in most cases, the few minutes immediately following an attack, before professional emergency responders are likely to arrive, are critical to survival,” Tom LaTourrette, an author of the report, said in a press statement.  “Our recommendations are intended to help people act rationally to protect themselves while they are waiting to learn more and for authorities to arrive,” he said.

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Maritime Security Makes Progress but Needs More Work, GAO Says

A top U.S. watchdog yesterday questioned port security assessments being conducted by a Coast Guard contractor (see GSN, Sept. 9).

The General Accounting Office is concerned about the “scope and quality of the assessments,” according to Margaret Wrightson, the General Accounting Office’s director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues.  Wrightson made her statements in a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The GAO report did not identify the contractor, who is charging $1 million or more for each assessment.  Auditors interviewed port officials to gauge their opinion of the assessments.

According to officials at one port, their assessment contained “factual errors” and was issued before it could be reviewed.

At another port, “local Coast Guard personnel and port stakeholders noted that a survey instrument referred to the wrong port, asked questions they regarded as not pertaining to security, and was conducted in ways that raised concerns about credibility,” the GAO report says.

The report did say, however, that the Maritime Transportation Security Act “has already produced major changes in the nation’s approach to maritime security” (General Accounting Office release, Sept. 9).

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