Jan 2001 [B] During this month, the Review Conference
for the BWC takes place and the deadline for
completion of negotiations towards a verification protocol is reached.
Jan 3 2001 [N] The Washington Times reports,
with reference to U.S. intelligence sources, that over the past six months,
Russia had moved tactical
nuclear weapons into Kaliningrad Oblast in Western Russia as a response
to NATO enlargement.
Russia denies the allegation.
Jan 17 2001 [M] India successfully test-fires
its Agni intermediate-range ballistic
missile. The test is the second of the upgraded version of the Agni missile,
which has a range of 1,250 miles.
Jan 19 2001 [O] George W. Bush is sworn
in as President of the United States.
Jan 23 2001 [B] The U.S. Department of Defense
announces that Iraq has rebuilt facilities that allegedly had been connected
with its biological
and chemical weapons
program at Fallujah, outside of Baghdad.
Jan 26 2001 [M] A U.S. Navy test of a missile
designed to intercept incoming missiles is described as successful. The test,
conducted at Barking Sands, Hawaii, was not intended to hit a target, but
rather to test the computerized tracking aboard the U.S.S Lake Erie and
assess the stability and control of the missiles. The Navy has scheduled nine
tests of the system, all of which will be conducted at the Pacific Missile
Range on Kauai.
Jan 26 2001 [M] The Bush administration expresses
willingness to engage with North Korea if Pyongyang fulfilled expectations
on its long-range missiles and conventional forces.
Feb 16 2001 [N] Russia test-fires two Topol-M
ICBMs from the Plesetsk
missile site, and an SLBM
from an SSBN of the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea.
Feb 20 2001 [M] Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev
presents Russian plans to build an all-European missile defense system to
NATO Secretary-General
George Robertson. The proposed Russian system would be based on using existing
short-range weapons
that can destroy ballistic
missiles in their boost phase. According to NATO officials, the Russian
system under consideration would probably be permissible under the ABM
Treaty because the system is a theater system and not a nation-wide system.
Feb 22 2001 [M] North Korea threatens to discard
a moratorium on long-range missile tests after the Bush administration announces
it would take a "hard-line" policy toward Pyongyang. Reports indicate that
North Korea is continuing to build up its military forces and is not reciprocating
diplomatic and military overtures offered by South Korea and the United States.
The Pentagon states that it will not reduce the 37,000 U.S. troops based in
South Korea until it sees clear signs that the North Korean military is reducing
its troop numbers.
Feb 23 2001 [M] The CIA's Unclassified
Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of
Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions reports continued
Chinese technical assistance on serial production of solid-propellant motors
to Pakistan. Pakistan's Shaheen-II missile will continue to require
assistance from China, including help with these motors.
Feb 24 2001 [N, M] German intelligence reports
that Iraq will have nuclear weapons capability within three years and will
be able to deploy missiles capable of hitting targets in Europe by 2005. U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was visiting the Middle East when the
German statements were released, reiterates to neighboring countries the need
for continued UN sanctions on Iraq.
Feb 27 2001 [N] In an attempt to win approval
for U.S. plans to deploy its controversial NMD
system, President Bush calls for a review to assess how deeply the U.S. nuclear
arsenal could be reduced.
March 1 2001 [M] The U.S. Airborne Laser (ABL) test
facility begins operations in Sunnyvale, California. The high-energy laser
is designed to locate and track ballistic
missiles in the boost phase and then accurately point and fire the laser
to destroy the missiles over hostile territory. The technology could be used
in an ABM system.
March 2 2001 [M] In a marked shift on missile
defense policy, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder proposes that Germany
should take part in the technology and funding of a NATO
missile defense system. France continues to oppose NMD
as a destabilizing venture in military technology that would jeopardize current
nonproliferation agreements. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine has promoted
the idea of Russia, China, and Europe collectively urging the United States
to halt its NMD plans.
March 9 2001 [N] Russian Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov says that tactical
nuclear weapons should be included in START III talks.
March 12 2001 [M] Russia announces that it would
not immediately abandon the ABM Treaty
if the United States begins deploying an NMD
system. According to Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, head of the Russian Defense
Ministry's International Cooperation Department, "Russia will not precipitate
the collapse of the ABM Treaty. We will consult with European and other states
and try to stop the process even after the United States clearly begins to
deploy the system."
March 12 2001 [N] Senator Jessie Helms urges President Bush to withdraw the
U.S. signature from the CTBT, articulate
a new policy on nuclear testing, and terminate funding to the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty Organization.
March 15 2001 [N] Pakistan announces that it has
developed a three-point "nuclear doctrine." Reportedly, the doctrine includes
a moratorium on further tests, a commitment by the country to keep its nuclear
program to a "middle level," and a ban on the export of weapons or technology.
March 16 2001 [M] Pentagon officials announce
that the Bush Administration let a deadline pass without notifying Congress
of any intent to begin constructing a radar on Shemya Island, Alaska. Proceeding
with construction of the radar site would mark the beginning of the proposed
National Missile Defense system. Pentagon officials said that the Bush administration
is still examining its options.
March 20 2001 [N] In an interview with the London
Sunday Telegraph, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calls Russia
"an active proliferator," sparking uproar in Moscow. Rumsfeld accuses Russia
of transferring sensitive technology to North Korea, Iran, and Iraq, countries
that the U.S. has branded "states of concern."
March 27 2001 [N] Former U.S. Senator Howard Baker,
co-chair of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Task Force, testifies in a Senate
Foreign Relations Committee hearing that Russia's nuclear weapons storage
facilities are in poor shape and proposes that the United States help secure
them for its own security. The task force's report concludes that U.S. budget
levels for nonproliferation programs are inadequate and proposes funding up
to $3 billion a year for the next 10 years to secure nuclear weapons and materials
in Russia.
March 31 2001 [M] The U.S. Army successfully conducts
a test flight of a Patriot Advanced Capability missile at White Sands Missile
Range in New Mexico. The intercept of a tactical
ballistic missile
target is the seventh consecutive successful intercept for the Patriot.
April 17 2001 [N] Russia announces that it is
committed to nuclear cooperation with India. Russia offers to supply four
more nuclear reactors for the Koodankulam power station in addition to the
two negotiated between the former Soviet Union and India in 1988. NSG
guidelines prohibit sales of reactors to states such as India that have not
placed their nuclear activities under IAEA
full-scope safeguards.
However, Russian claims that NSG guidelines allow such sales to improve the
safety of nuclear power plants.
April 17 2001 [N] Russia announces that it will
not deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.
April 21 2001 [M] A Pentagon panel headed by Retired
Air Force Gen. James McCarthy issues a report recommending that the Bush administration
expand its missile defense plans to include sea- and space-based weapons.
The panel also urges a "robust sea-based boost phase system" and the development
of systems with the ability to destroy enemy missiles at three stages of flight.
April 22 2001 [N] Pakistan announces that it is
ready to sign a regional nuclear test ban treaty with India, but it is not
yet ready to sign the CTBT.
May 1 2001 [M, N] U.S. President Bush outlines
U.S. missile defense plans in a speech at the National Defense University in
Washington, DC. He calls for "a new framework that allows [the United States]
to build missile defense to counter the different threats of today's world."
Bush states that the United States must "move beyond the constraints of the
30-year-old ABM Treaty." Bush also
states that he is prepared to move quickly to unilaterally reduce the U.S. nuclear
arsenal to a "credible deterrence with the lowest possible number of nuclear
weapons consistent with our national security needs, including our obligations
to our allies." However, Bush emphasizes that nuclear weapons continue to
play a vital role in the security of the U.S. and its allies.
May 2 2001 [M] In response to Bush's May 1 speech,
a UN statement warns that U.S. plans for missile defenses will inevitably impact
global security and strategic stability. The statement welcomes the willingness
of the Bush administration to consult with other members of the international
community. The statement continues, "there is a need to consolidate and build
upon existing disarmament and non-proliferation agreements, specifically to
prevent a new arms race and to maintain the non-weaponized status of outer
space." It appeals to all states to "engage in negotiations towards legally
binding disarmament agreements that are both verifiable and irreversible."
May 8 2001 [M] A Japanese foreign ministry official
states that TMD is
vital for Japan's defense policy.
May 8-15 2001 [M] Senior U.S. officials visit
a number of states for consultations on the U.S. NMD
plan, including Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, France,
the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Italy, Ukraine, and Canada. The Pentagon
spokesman characterizes the reaction from the governments of the countries
visited by the U.S. envoys as "mixed."
May 9 2001 [N] Pakistani Chief Executive, General
Pervez Musharraf, states that Pakistan would maintain a minimum credible nuclear
deterrent capability.
May 10 2001 [N, M] Russia loses contact with
four military satellites for part of the day after a fire ravaged a ground
relay station southwest of Moscow. According to the Russian Defense Ministry,
a short circuit triggered the fire in the complex located underground. The
fire adds to concerns about failures in Russia's aging early-warning satellite
system.
May 11 2001 [N] The Russian Duma fully ratified
an agreement with the United States to dispose of plutonium
from dismantled nuclear weapons by converting it into mixed-oxide nuclear
fuel for use in civilian nuclear reactors. However, the government states
that without international funding from the United States and other Western
partners, the program will not become a reality.
May 11 2001 [N] In a letter to UN Secretary-General
Koffi Annan, Iraq's Ambassador to the UN Mohammed Aldouri states that his
country initially conceived the idea of a radiological bomb in 1987 at a time
when Iraq was engaged in a war with Iran. The bomb was intended to cause casualties
through radiation, but Iraq never successfully developed the device because
Iraqi specialists determined that it was not feasible.
May 12 2001 [M] During an official visit by
Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf criticizes
U.S. ballistic missile defense
plans. Musharraf states, "We are against any action that re-initiates a nuclear
and missile race." Pakistan's criticism of the U.S. NMD
plans immediately follows India's announcement during a visit by U.S. Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage on 11 May that it supports U.S. missile
defense plans.
May 29 2001 [M] Unable to reach an agreement
on the future of the ABM Treaty, a
NATO ministerial
meeting in Budapest, Hungary drops all references to the Treaty in its final
communiqué.
June 6 2001 [N, M] U.S. President Bush announces
a "comprehensive approach" to North Korea, including discussions about missiles
and missile technology, missile sales, nuclear power, conventional forces,
and humanitarian issues.
June 26 2001 [N] Pakistan announces that it
had created an adequate nuclear deterrent
by 1989, and it did not need more than 20-30 nuclear weapons to ensure deterrence.
June 27 2001 [M] Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces
successfully test-fire an RS-18 ICBM.
The RS-18 is launched from a test silo at Kazakhstan's Baykonur Space Center.
The mock-combat warhead travels more than 7,000 kilometers and hits a target
at Kamchatka's Kura Test Range.
July 6 2001 [N] U.S. intelligence claims that
China has recently conducted a subcritical nuclear test at Lop Nor.
July 9 2001 [N] India makes a formal proposal
to Pakistan to begin official dialogue on nuclear issues.
July 15 2001 [M] The United States successfully
tests an interceptor missile for the proposed NMD
system. The kill vehicle destroyed its target 224 kilometers above the Earth's
surface.
July 22 2001 [N, M] At the Group of Eight (G8)
Summit, in Genoa, Italy, Presidents Putin and Bush announce that talks on
missile defense will be linked to talks on cutting strategic nuclear weapons.
The G8 summits bring together the heads of state from the United States, Great
Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, France, Germany, and Russia, who meet to discuss
global political and economic issues.
July 25 2001 [B] The U.S. delegation to the Conference
on Disarmament rejects the draft protocol to ensure compliance with the
BWC.
The United States maintains that it continues to support the global ban as
outlined in the BWC. However, it asserts that the draft protocol does not
provide any deterrent to states manufacturing illicit BW.
The protocol would open U.S. laboratories to inspections, which U.S. officials
say would reveal information that could be used to counter the U.S. BW defense
program and would undermine U.S. export
controls.
Aug 31 2001
[M] The Pentagon executes its first flight-test of the booster
intended to launch its ballistic missile kill vehicles. The test
was declared a success as the booster stayed on course, though the BMDO
and the manufacturer, Boeing, acknowledged a problem with the
booster’s roll control, which helped stabilize the booster during
flight.
Sept 11 2001 [O] Two hijacked planes bring down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. A third plane crashes into the Pentagon in Washington, and a fourth plane, allegedly headed for the White House, crashes in a field in Pennsylvania.
Sept 12 2001 [O] U.S. President George W. Bush calls on America's allies around the world to join a war on terrorism. NATO invokes Article 5 of its charter, which provides that an act of war against one member state shall be considered an attack against them all.
Sept 15 2001 [O] President Bush names Usama Bin Laden as the prime suspect for the September 11 terror attacks against the United States.
Sept 18 2001 [B] Letters postmarked in Trenton, New Jersey sent to the New York Post and to Tom Brokaw, an NBC news anchor both later test positive for anthrax.
Sept 22 2001 [B] Johanna Huden, an editorial page assistant at the New York Post, who opens letters to the editor, notices a blister on her finger. Huden later tests positive for cutaneous anthrax, the less serious skin form of the disease.
Sept 25 2001 [B] NBC receives a letter postmarked September 20 from St. Petersburg, Florida containing a white powder and notifies the FBI.
Sept 26 2001 [B] A maintenance worker at the Trenton regional post office in Hamilton, New Jersey visits a physician to have an arm lesion treated.
Sept 27 2001 [B] Teresa Heller, a letter carrier at the West Trenton post office, develops a lesion on her arm possibly caused by anthrax.
Sept 30 2001 [B] Robert Stevens, a photo editor at American Media, Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida, begins to develop flu like symptoms.
Oct 1 2001 [B] Ernesto Blanco, a mailroom employee at American Media, Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida, is admitted to the hospital with heart problems. Erin O'Connor, an assistant to NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw who handled the St. Petersburg letter, notices a rash on her body. Her physician contacts the New York City Department of Health, which conducts a test on the letter. The letter tests negative for anthrax. Erin O'Connor begins taking the drug Ciprofloxacin (Cipro), an antibiotic.
Oct 2 2001 [B] Robert Stevens is admitted to the hospital with a high fever and disorientation. Medical tests conducted on Stevens find the presence of anthrax spores.
Oct 3 2001 [B] In New Jersey, Teresa Heller is hospitalized and a biopsy of the lesion on her arm is performed.
Oct 4 2001 [B] Authorities in Boca Raton, Florida announce that Robert Stevens has inhaled anthrax, the most deadly form of the disease. Claire Fletcher, an assistant to CBS news anchor Dan Rather, begins taking penicillin.
Oct 5 2001 [B] Robert Stevens dies as a result of inhaled anthrax. Stevens is the first person in the U.S. to die from inhaled anthrax since 1976.
Oct 7 2001 [B] The American Media, Inc. building is closed after environmental tests find anthrax spores on Steven's keyboard and in the nasal passages of Ernesto Blanco, a mailroom supervisor at the company.
Oct 9 2001 [B] A letter postmarked in Trenton, New Jersey is sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's offices in Washington, D.C. The letter later tests positive for anthrax.
Oct 12 2001 [B] Officials announce that Erin O'Connor, a NBC employee, tests positive for cutaneous anthrax. Authorities suspect O'Connor developed the skin form of the disease after opening a tainted letter. FBI authorities learn that a second letter, postmarked September 18 from Trenton, New Jersey, containing a brown granular substance, was sent to the NBC offices.
Oct 13 2001 [B] American Media, Inc. announces that five more employees may have been exposed to anthrax. A second NBC employee reports anthrax-related symptoms. The September 18 letter, which was sent to the NBC offices in New York, tests positive for anthrax contamination.
Oct 14 2001 [B] Two New York City Health Department Lab technicians and one police officer test positive for exposure to anthrax. All three individuals were involved in the investigation of the anthrax found in the NBC offices. A letter containing anthrax is opened in Senate Majority Leader Daschle's office. Officials quarantine the office.
Oct 15 2001 [B] In New York, officials announce that an infant son of an ABC News producer has tested positive for cutaneous or skin anthrax. The infant is believed to have visited the newsroom on September 28. In Washington, D.C., the letter found in Daschle's office tests positive for anthrax. The letter was postmarked October 9 from Trenton, New Jersey. In Boca Raton, Florida, Ernesto Blanco tests positive for inhaled anthrax.
Oct 16 2001 [B] In Washington, D.C., 12 Senate offices are closed and hundreds of staffers are tested for anthrax exposure.
Oct 17 2001 [B] Officials announce that 31 people at the U.S. Capitol test positive for exposure to anthrax. Further tests indicate that only 28 people were actually exposed to anthrax. The House shuts down for environmental testing.
In New York, Governor George Pataki's Manhattan office is evacuated after environmental tests detect the presence of anthrax. While none of the governor's staff test positive for exposure, all begin taking the antibiotic Cipro.
Oct 18 2001 [B] Claire Fletcher, an assistant to CBS news anchor Dan Rather, tests positive for cutaneous anthrax. Environmental tests find traces of anthrax spores in Rather's offices. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia hold a special
webcast to teach medical doctors in the United States how to recognize anthrax. Teresa Heller, a Trenton, New Jersey mail carrier who noticed a skin lesion on September 27, is diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax.
Oct 19 2001 [B] The New York Post announces that Johanna Huden has tested positive for cutaneous anthrax. Another postal worker, at the Hamilton, New Jersey regional office, tests positive for cutaneous anthrax. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge announces that the anthrax bacteria strains in Florida, New York, and Washington may have been from same batch.
Oct 20 2001 [B] Environmental tests find traces of anthrax in the mail-bundling machine at the House office building in Washington, D.C. Authorities identify 13 "hot spots" at the Trenton, New Jersey mail processing facility. Three workers at this facility test positive for anthrax exposure.
Oct 21 2001 [B] In Washington, D.C., a postal worker from the central Brentwood mail processing facility tests positive for inhalation anthrax. Five other employees are sick. Later that night,
Washinton, D.C. postal worker Thomas L. Morris Jr. dies. Washington, D.C. postal worker Joseph P. Curseen visits a Maryland hospital complaining of flu-like symptoms, but is sent home. Officials close two
Washington, D.C. area postal facilities and begin testing thousands of postal employees. New Jersey health officials announce that work areas at the Hamilton post office tested positive for anthrax spore contamination.
Oct 22 2001
[B] The United States and Uzbekistan sign an agreement to decontaminate
BW
disposal sites on
Vozrozhdeniye Island,
the location of a Soviet-era biological weapons complex located in
the Aral Sea, along the border between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Oct 22 2001 [B] Joseph P. Curseen returns to hospital by ambulance and dies six hours later of the inhaled form of anthrax. Two other
Washington, D.C. postal workers are hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Both the House and Senate buildings reopen for business. However, many office buildings, including Daschle's office, remain closed.
Oct 23 2001 [B] Authorities announce that anthrax spores have been found on machinery at the military base that sorts mail for the White House. Environmental tests of the White House come back negative for anthrax contamination. Officials announce that a New Jersey postal worker at the Hamilton office is hospitalized with a suspected case of inhalation anthrax. In Boca Raton, Florida, Ernesto Blanco is released from the hospital.
Oct 24 2001 [B] The postmaster general urges American citizens to exercise caution when opening their mail. Three new cases of suspected inhaled anthrax are reported by authorities. All three cases are linked to the letter sent to Senator Daschle.
Oct 25 2001 [B] An employee at the State Department's mail facility is hospitalized with cutaneous anthrax and the Postal Service sets up spot checks at facilities nationwide. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge says the anthrax powder found in the Daschle letter was highly refined. Experts state that only a small number of countries are believed to have the capabilities to produce highly refined anthrax. The number of Americans taking antibiotics for possible anthrax exposure reaches 10,000.
Oct 26 2001 [B] Authorities announce that trace amounts of anthrax were discovered in the mailrooms at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in the U.S. Army's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, and at the U.S. State Department. Postal workers demand the closure of anthrax-tainted buildings in New York and Florida. The Supreme Court building is closed for anthrax testing. Some biological weapons experts announce that the anthrax found in Daschle's office was treated with a chemical additive.
Oct 28 2001 [B] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announce that a third postal worker from Trenton, New Jersey has tested positive for inhaled anthrax. In New York, anthrax cultures were found in four different mail-sorting machines inside Manhattan's largest mail-distribution center.
Oct 29 2001 [B] Washington, D.C. health officials begin to prescribe doxcycycline another antibiotic rather than Cipro to combat anthrax infections. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer disputes reports that anthrax from Daschle's office contained the chemical additive bentonite, an additive that prevents the microscopic anthrax spores from sticking together, so they are more likely to become, or remain, airborne and thus more easily inhaled. The presence of this additive also suggests a potential link to Iraq's BW program, which is known to have used the material in its anthrax weaponization efforts. Minor traces of anthrax have been found in the main U.S. State Department building, in the mailroom of the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the building used by the Department of Health and Human Services. Letters sent to the State Department Rewards for Justice Program have tested positive for trace amounts of anthrax.
Oct 30 2001
[N, M] Ukraine completes its compliance obligation under the
START I Treaty
by destroying its last SS-24
ICBM silo.
Oct 31 2001
[B] Kathy T. Nguyen, of New York, New York, dies from inhalation
anthrax.
The hospital at which she works is closed down, but no anthrax
contamination is found. It is not known how she was exposed to the
disease.
Oct 31 2001 [N]
After the
International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA)
warns of increased nuclear terrorism threats, the United States
establishes “no-fly” zones over civilian and military nuclear
installations to prevent a suicide aircraft crash, which could
result in the release
hazardous radiation.
Nov 2 2001
[B] A Pakistani newspaper, the
Daily Jang,
reports that the white powder from a letter received by the
publication in late October tested positive for
anthrax.
The Pakistani Science and Technology Minister, Atta-ur-Rahman,
confirms that two individuals in Pakistan have been exposed to
anthrax and that at least one of three possible anthrax letters has
tested positive.
Nov 2 2001
[N] The
IAEA
holds a Special Session on Nuclear Terrorism to discuss this threat
in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the
United States. The Special Session took place at the conclusion of
a week-long Symposium on International Safeguards.
Nov 8 2001
[B, C]
Japan adopts a five-point plan on ways to address biological and
chemical terrorism, including the increase of vaccine supplies.
Nov 11 2001
[B] Tests revealed trace amounts of
anthrax
in five more Senate offices, all in the contaminated Hart Senate
Office Building. Officials said the traces posed no health risk.
Nov 13 2001
[B]
Anthrax
contamination turns up in test samples taken from a State Department
remote mail facility in Virginia.
Nov 13 2001 [N] Coinciding with claims by Usama bin Laden that
he has acquired
weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
and would be willing to use them as a last resort, the Russian
Ministry of Atomic Energy reports that a major incident involving
the attempted theft of nuclear materials in the previous two years
had occurred.
Nov 13 2001
[N, M] Following his summit in Crawford, Texas with President Putin
of Russia, President Bush announces sharp reductions in the U.S.
strategic nuclear arsenal, which will bring the number of
operationally deployed warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012.
He does not say whether the warheads removed from operational
strategic systems will be destroyed.
Nov 15 2001
[N] Materials are found in Afghanistan in abandoned Taliban/al-Qaida
buildings indicating al-Qaida
pursued efforts to develop
nuclear weapons,
but that it made little progress in this regard. Other materials
indicate al-Qaida
also sought to develop
biological
and
chemical weapons,
but with little success.
Nov 15 2001
[O] The U.S. Department of Defense announces an increase in the
number of National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support
Teams as part of an overall program to provide support to civil
authorities in the event of an incident involving
WMD
in the United States.
Nov 16 2001
[B] The New York
Times reports
that the Bush administration is reversing two decades of American
support for the eradication of smallpox reserves in favor of
retaining the world’s remaining stocks for development of new
vaccines and treatments. The position is a shift from Clinton
administration policy, which supported a limited, three-year
research period to end in 2002, following which a decision would be
made regarding the final destruction of the disease.
Nov 17 2001
[B] U.S. FBI
investigators discover an unopened letter containing
anthrax
addressed to Senator Patrick J. Leahy. They link the letter with
others sent to Senator Thomas Daschle, NBC
News, and The New York Post, because of postmark date and location,
as well as the handwriting. The letter was found among mail halted
following the discovery of the anthrax-laden letter delivered to
Senator Daschle’s
office.
Nov 19 2001
[B] The United States identifies Iraq, North Korea, Libya, Syria,
Iran, and Sudan as states that are developing germ warfare programs.
Nov
19 2001 [B] At
the Fifth
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)
Review Conference, the U.S. delegation proposes that all
parties
to the BWC enact strict national criminal legislation against
prohibited biological weapons activities, establish an effective
United Nations procedure for investigating suspicious outbreaks,
establish procedures for addressing BWC compliance concerns, commit
to improving international disease control, establish sound national
oversight mechanisms, devise a solid framework for bioscientists,
and promote responsible conduct in the use of pathogenic organisms.
Nov 20 2001
[B] Ottilie
W. Lundgren, 94, of Oxford, Connecticut, dies of inhalation
anthrax.
It is not known how she was exposed to the disease, but a trace
amount of anthrax is later discovered on the mail of a nearby
family, suggesting that Ms. Lundgren’s mail may have been the source
of her exposure.
Nov 22 2001
[C] A Russian Duma
deputy announces that Russia has started mass-scale destruction of
the 40,000 tons of chemical warfare agents stored at its bases. Aviation Major General Nikolai Bezborodov,
member of the State Commission for Chemical Disarmament and Deputy
Chairman of the State Duma Defence
Committee, tells an
ITAR-TASS reporter
that 10 tons of phosgene had already been extracted from warheads
and scheduled for transport to the Urals region for destruction, which
was in addition to 2.5 tons of chemicals that have already been
destroyed.
Nov
26 2001 [C] In Istanbul, Turkish police detain six suspected terrorists in possession of 15 canisters of mustard gas.
Nov 26 2001
[B] It is reported that plans for a helium-powered balloon filled
with
anthrax
were found in the Islamabad office of a Pakistani NGO, headed by a
Pakistani nuclear scientist who was being questioned for suspected
ties with Usama
Bin Laden and al-Qaida.
Nov 27 2001 [O] The Bush administration calls for a new
partnership between government and U.S. companies to ensure that
incoming shipments of goods are not used to conceal terrorist
weapons.
Nov 27 2001
[B] U.S. health officials confirm that a letter sent to a physician
in Chile from a publishing house in Florida contained traces of
anthrax.
Chile reported the incident on November 19, tested the letter in
Santiago, and then agreed to turn the letter over to the United
States for further testing.
Dec 2001
[M] The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency releases its fourth annual
National Intelligence Estimate on Foreign Missile Developments
and the Ballistic Missile Threat Through 2015. The unclassified executive summary states that the United States
will likely face
ICBM
threats from North Korea and Iran, and possibly from Iraq, by 2015.
Our overseas “interests, military forces, and allies” are already
threatened by short- and medium-range
ballistic missiles.
Dec
2 2001 [B] The FBI
expands its investigation of the deadly
anthrax
attacks to include the U.S. government laboratories and related
contractors as possible sources of the anthrax itself or the
knowledge to make it.
Dec 2 2001
[B] Cleanup of the anthrax-contaminated U.S. Senate Hart Office
Building is completed.
Dec 3 2001
[M] In a test of its missile defense technologies, the Pentagon
successfully intercepted a test warhead with an exoatmospheric
kill vehicle (EKV)
launched from the
Kwajalein Atoll in
the Marshall Islands. The test was the second successful intercept
in a row for the system and the third successful hit in five
attempts since October 1999.
Dec 5 2001
[C] Washington's subway system stages its first-ever chemical
warfare drill, nearly two months after a passenger caused a toxic
scare by spraying liquid around a train.
Dec 5 2001
[N, M] The United States and Russia complete the nuclear strategic
arms reductions required by the
START I treaty,
which entered into force in 1994.
Dec 6 2001
[B] The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announces it is
setting up new programs to research ways to prevent and respond to bioterrorism.
Under the guidance of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, the research programs will be focused on the
agents of
anthrax,
botulism, plague, and smallpox and will provide funding and support
for scientists working to develop vaccines, treatments, and tests.
Dec 7 2001
[B] At the Fifth Review Conference on the implementation of the 1972
Biological Weapons
Conventions (BWC),
the United States makes a surprise proposal to terminate the mandate
of the
Ad Hoc Group,
which had negotiated the draft
BWC Protocol
intended to implement a
verification
regime
for the convention.
Subsequently, with the U.S. proposal preventing consensus on a final
declaration at the review conference, the president of the session
suspends the meeting for one year to provide additional time for
discussions.
Dec 11 2001
[C] Russia’s Security Council approves a new program for the
destruction of Russia's
chemical weapons
stockpile, with an estimated cost of $3 billion. The new plan
extends the destruction timeline by five years, from completion in
2007 to completion in 2012. The program is part of Russia’s
compliance with the
Chemical Weapons Convention,
which it ratified in May 1997.
Dec 13 2001
[M] The Bush
administration announces its intention to withdraw from the 1972
Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM)
Treaty in 180
days, as permitted by the treaty, arguing that the pact prevents the
United States from protecting itself against terrorist or
rogue-state
missile launches. The
United States sends a required notice of its intention to withdraw
to Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Russian President
Vladimir Putin
responds that the move is “mistaken,” but also says that it does not
threaten Russia.
Dec 13 2001
[M] The Pentagon conducts its second test-flight of the booster
eventually to be used in launching
ballistic missile
kill vehicles; however, the flight is aborted seconds into the test
when the booster flies off course and is subsequently destroyed. The failure came hours after the
administration announced its
intention to withdraw from the
ABM Treaty.
Dec 13 2001
[B] An Army biological and chemical warfare facility in Utah is
reported to have been developing a virulent,
weapons-grade
formulation of
anthrax
spores since at least 1992, with samples of the bacteria shipped
back and forth to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID)
in Fort Detrick,
Maryland. The production was apparently the first by the U.S.
government since President Richard M. Nixon ordered the U.S.
offensive biowarfare
program closed in 1969. Administration sources state that
production of the material was for defensive purposes, to support
the development of vaccines, and is therefore compliant with the
BWC. The Utah spores belonged to the Ames
strain—the same strain used
in the deadly letters sent to media outlets and Congress in
September and October. Army officials said that all the material
they have made had been accounted for.
Dec 14 2001
[M] Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and
Logistics Edward C. “Pete” Alridge
announces the termination of the Navy’s program to develop
sea-based, short- and medium-range missile interceptors. Alridge
cites the facts that the program, known as “Navy Area Wide,” is
behind schedule and over-budget, having already received $2.4
billion in funding, as reasons for the cancellation.
Dec 15 2001
[B] The U.S. Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities
for Terrorism Involving
Weapons of Mass Destruction,
a federal-level U.S. anti-terrorism commission headed by Virginia
Governor James S. Gilmore, III, recommends the creation of a
national facility for the research and production of vaccines to
combat biological terrorism. The recommendation stems from the
commission’s criticism of
the government’s response to the
anthrax attacks, which it felt revealed that
the Centers for Disease Control and federal, state, and local
agencies lack the testing laboratories needed to respond to a bioterrorism
crisis.
Dec 15 2001
[B] It is reported that Greece has ordered 150,000 doses of smallpox
vaccine in response to fears of a biological terror attack.
However, the government gives no indication of who among its
population of 10.5 million people will be first to receive the
vaccination in the event of threat.
Dec 20
2001 [N] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sends letters to
states with or near nuclear power plants, offering to fund the
purchase of potassium iodide tablets for residents living within 10
miles of such a plant, as part of the states’ emergency preparedness
plans. The provision of these tablets is by request of the state
and is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Dec 20
2001 [C] The British Defense Ministry signs an agreement with
the Russian Munitions Agency committing £12 million to help Russia
destroy its 40,000-ton stockpile of
chemical weapons.
Dec 22
2001 [O] A British citizen, Richard Reid, is overpowered on a
flight to Miami after trying to detonate plastic explosives hidden
in his shoes. Reid is later found to have links to the al-Qaida
organization.
Dec 22
2001 [C] Anti-Taliban fighters are reported to have discovered
low-grade uranium, cyanide, and other poisonous chemicals in an
underground al-Qaida storage facility near the Kandahar airport in
Afghanistan.
Dec 27
2001 [C, N] President Bush pledges more money to help Russia
consolidate and destroy
nuclear and
chemical weapons. While calling for cutbacks in a few programs,
such as an effort to dispose of excess
plutonium, he urged additional spending and accelerated efforts
on others, including construction of an incinerator to destroy
Russian nerve agents.
Dec 29 2001
[B, C] Al-Qaida is reported to have tested
biological and
chemical weapons, such as botulin poison, on animals in
Afghanistan.
Dec 29
2001 [B] Traces of
anthrax are found in a mail-sorting machine at a Manhattan
postal facility two months after federal authorities said the device
had been cleaned and was safe to use.
Dec 31
2001 [B, C] The Wall Street
Journal
reports that one of its reporters purchased two al-Qaida
computers found in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The computers contain hundreds of documents and files, including
plans to develop a
chemical
and
biological weapons
program. U.S. officials confirm the authenticity of the computer
contents.
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