The first U.S. missile interceptor of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system was lowered into its Alaska silo on July 22 (Department of Defense Photo). The Bush administration plans to deploy up to 40 interceptors in the United States and possibly Europe in coming years. U.S. Officials Applaud Missile Defense, Caution Against Expecting Too Much By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Bush administration and U.S. military officials this week softly applauded components of a new national missile defense network President George W. Bush has ordered into operation this year, praising the planned deployment for providing some defensive capability but conceding limitations to that capability (see GSN, Aug. 19). The deployment would soon provide the United States with some ability, where none exists today, to intercept long-range ballistic missiles from potential adversaries, the officials said, speaking before hundreds of defense contractors, military officials, and others at an annual missile defense conference in Huntsville, Ala...Full Story

WMD Response Would Benefit From Homeland Security-Army Collaboration, U.S. Researchers Say By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Civilian emergency workers would improve WMD attack response by adopting the U.S. Army’s “network-centric” approach to fighting wars, government researchers said yesterday...Full Story

Final U.S. Report on Iraqi WMD Capabilities Could Speculate on What Might Have Been The final report of the Iraq Survey Group, which is searching for evidence of Iraq’s alleged prewar WMD efforts, is set to contain speculation as to what the country’s unconventional weapons programs might have looked like had the United States not invaded, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 12)...Full Story

	Friday, August 20, 2004

WMD Response Would Benefit From Homeland Security-Army Collaboration, U.S. Researchers Say By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Civilian emergency workers would improve WMD attack response by adopting the U.S. Army’s “network-centric” approach to fighting wars, government researchers said yesterday. Responders would also benefit from Army-Homeland Security Department (DHS) collaboration on WMD sensors and methods to predict the spread of biological or chemical agents in an attack, the researchers said. The findings are part of a National Research Council study recommending the Defense Department (DOD), in particular the Army, cooperate with Homeland Security on a variety of activities, including research, development, testing, training and exercises. The specialized committee that prepared the report recommended civilian emergency responders in various roles be linked through an Army-style “system of systems” of C4ISR — command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — technologies, a step the panel said would be especially useful in a multiple-WMD attack. “The military’s network-centric approach to operations could serve emergency responders equally well,” the panel wrote. “Network-centric systems could be particularly valuable for responding to large-scale attacks or those involving multiple weapons of mass destruction. In such situations, responders would have to surge capacity quickly, adapt to difficult and chaotic conditions and respond to unforeseen requirements.” The committee defined network-centric systems as those that make users more effective “by networking sensors, decision-makers and emergency responders to accurately see, understand and act on the situations facing them.” Network-centric emergency response, it said, “could produce significant efficiencies in terms of shared skills, knowledge and scarce, high-value assets. Such an approach would build capacity and redundancy in the national emergency-response system, as well as gaining the synergy of providing a common operating picture to all responders and allowing them to share information readily.” The report’s main recommendations to the Defense Department and Army are to set up a framework for Army-Homeland Security collaboration; help Homeland Security set up a research, development, testing and evaluation infrastructure for emergency response; find areas for Defense-Homeland Security science and technology collaboration; and establish joint Army-Homeland Security training, exercises, standards and systems. No coherent plan for military-civilian cooperation on emergency response yet exists, the panel said, and an existing national strategy for emergency response is not broad enough. The report identifies a “substantial overlap in the capabilities required by civilian emergency responders and by the Army” that “confirms the potential for collaborative efforts by the DOD and the DHS and the resultant establishment of a conduit for transferring technologies to state and local emergency responders.” Among potential areas for such collaboration, the panel mentioned physiological monitoring systems, interoperable communications between Defense personnel and emergency responders, jointly developed WMD sensors, “smart sensor networks” and unmanned aerial vehicles for cities and chemical- and biological-hazard environment forecasting. “The requirement for C4ISR is ubiquitous, whether for the Army’s future force or for the future emergency responder,” the panel wrote. “The committee is convinced that quick action on the part of the Army can provide beneficial C4ISR solutions to the Department of Homeland Security that will ensure a high level of interoperability between emergency responders and the Army should our nation be forced again to respond to a catastrophic event on U.S. soil.” Back to top       Final U.S. Report on Iraqi WMD Capabilities Could Speculate on What Might Have Been The final report of the Iraq Survey Group, which is searching for evidence of Iraq’s alleged prewar WMD efforts, is set to contain speculation as to what the country’s unconventional weapons programs might have looked like had the United States not invaded, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 12). Congressional and intelligence officials have said the report, set to be released next month by the CIA, is expected to project what WMD capabilities Iraq might have attained up to 2008, according to the Times. The officials said the plans for the ISG report were disclosed during a classified briefing last month by the unit’s former military commander, Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton. In a letter last week to acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, Representative Jane Harman (D-Calif.) called the reported focus of the ISG report “inconsistent with the original mission” of the unit. In addition, former chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay said that speculation on Iraq’s future WMD capabilities was never part of the unit’s mission (see GSN, Aug. 19). “We were to search for Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. No one ever suggested to me in any of the discussions before I took the job, afterward, or even when I left, that (assessing Iraq’s future capabilities) was a thing that should have been done,” Kay, who led the survey group until January, told the Times yesterday. The CIA refused to confirm or deny whether speculation on Iraq’s future WMD efforts would be part of the final ISG report. “[Unit chief] Charles Duelfer’s mission is to search for the truth, and he made clear when he took the job that he was absolutely committed to following the evidence wherever it takes us,” agency spokesman Mark Mansfield said. “That is what he’s doing, and that is what will be reflected in his report.” A U.S. intelligence official also said that Iraq’s future capabilities were “not the focus at all” of the report and that the document “will not be speculative” (Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 20). Back to top

Pyongyang Increases Diplomatic Contact; U.S. Continues to Press on Nuclear, Human Rights Issues North Korea has been working to establish greater diplomatic contact throughout the world, even as the United States seeks to force the Pyongyang regime to renounce its nuclear weapons programs, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 19). Since its first summit meeting with South Korea in 2000, the North has established diplomatic ties with 19 new countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and some members of the European Union, according to the Times. “We support the engagement of North Korea,” said Tadeusz Chomicki, Poland’s ambassador to South Korea. “We think the isolation of North Korea would not produce goals that are desirable. It is through engagement that we can present to them democracy and democratic institutions.” Germany opened the first Western cultural center in Pyongyang in June.  “We can call this a breakthrough,” said Uwe Schmelter, who is director of Seoul’s Goethe Institute and negotiated the opening of the center containing popular media and scientific material. “For a country that has been labeled as isolated, reclusive and unchanging, a change is a change.” This increased engagement with the Stalinist regime led to pressure on the Bush administration from Democrats and countries involved in the ongoing multilateral nuclear talks to make an offer to Pyongyang at the negotiating table in June, the Times reported (see GSN, June 24). “They were drifting away from the U.S.’s line, and the U.S. was becoming isolated,” said Chung In-moon, a foreign affairs professor at Yonsei University in Seoul and an adviser to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. “They were fed up with America’s failure to come up with a concrete plan, and the Americans realized that.” Opponents of engagement say North Korea’s diplomatic efforts are aimed only at staving off economic collapse and dividing the United States and other countries, according to the Times. A Western diplomat in Seoul played down European and Asian diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang, saying that those countries tended to make few difficult demands of the North Koreans.  South Korea and Japan have been engaging in bilateral talks with North Korea, according to the Times. In May, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan said his country could normalize relations with Pyongyang within a year. South Korea also recently began holding high-level talks with North Korea on military issues. “The scope and frequency of our talks have been increasing,” said Kim Yeon-chul, policy adviser to the minister at the South Korean Ministry of Unification. Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives last month passed the North Korean Human Rights Act, which seeks to support North Korean refugees in China and promote human rights in North Korea. “We hope the bill won’t have any bad effect on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim said (Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, Aug. 20). Back to top       U.S. Troops in Iraq No Threat to Iran, U.S. Says U.S. troops in Iraq are not meant as a threat against neighboring Iran amid diplomatic efforts to shut down Tehran’s nuclear program, a State Department spokesman said yesterday. The comments followed Iranian statements this week expressing concern that U.S. forces might strike Iranian nuclear facilities (see GSN, Aug. 19). “The United States forces are there as part of a multinational force, at the invitation of the interim sovereign authority of Iraq, the interim Iraqi government, pursuant to U.N. Security Council resolutions, to help support the stability and security of Iraq,” said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli. “So there’s no cause for seeing them as threatening.” Citing Iranian officials’ “rhetoric concerning strikes and counterstrikes over Iran’s nuclear program,” Ereli said: “This is a program that is of serious concern and it is something that we are committed to pursuing through diplomatic means, as evidenced by our … active diplomacy through the International Atomic Energy Agency” (U.S. State Department release, Aug. 19). Back to top       Los Alamos Nuclear Material Stabilization Effort Behind Schedule, Energy Department Audit Finds A U.S. Energy Department Inspector General’s Office audit has found that a program to secure nuclear material at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is years behind schedule, increasing the risk that workers could be exposed to radiation, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, April 27). The program, intended to process and repackage fissionable material at Los Alamos, was supposed to be completed two years ago. The program now is set to finish in 2010 with costs potentially rising 75 percent to $183 million, according to AP. The program’s delays have increased “the possibility that containers (of vulnerable radioactive materials) could leak and workers could be exposed to radiation resulting in serious health consequences,” the audit report says. National Nuclear Security Administration Associate Administrator Michael Kane said he “generally agrees” with the audit’s findings. “While the auditors are correct the laboratory is behind schedule in some areas, they have exceeded scheduled expectations in other areas,” Kane wrote in a formal reply (H. Josef Herbert, Associated Press/USA Today, Aug. 19). Back to top       Classified Computer Disk Copies Missing from Energy Department Office in New Mexico An inventory conducted at a U.S. Energy Department regional office in Albuquerque, N.M., has found an “accounting discrepancy” involving three copies of an electronic media device containing nuclear weapons information, the Energy Department said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 19). The inventory found that three copies of one controlled removable electronic media device were unaccounted for, said National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman Bryan Wilkes. All classified work involving the media devices has been halted pending findings of an investigation, NNSA chief Linton Brooks said. “I am disappointed that we have found another case of lax procedures in protecting classified information,” Brooks said in a statement. The inventory was ordered last month following the reported disappearance of two classified computer disks at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Those disks have yet to be accounted for (Associated Press/USA Today, Aug. 19). Back to top

Haggling Hinders Access to U.S. Anthrax Vaccine The United States has designated only 159 vials of anthrax vaccine for civilian use — sufficient for 530 people — despite an interagency agreement signed last April in which the Defense Department agreed to provide at least 2 million doses of anthrax vaccine to the civilian stockpile by Sept. 30, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, July 21). Legal and bureaucratic disputes among federal agencies have blocked vaccine transfers for civilian use, according to congressional and administration officials. They added that the federal government is also seeking a new vaccine that could prove both less expensive and more efficient, but has yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. “It is a shocking lack of preparedness to have only 159 vials set aside for civilian use when we know that al-Qaeda would not hesitate to launch an anthrax attack against the United States,” said U.S. Representative Jim Turner (D-Texas), the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. The delay is not causing a safety risk for civilians, according to Health and Human Services and Defense Department spokesmen. BioPort, the nation’s sole producer of licensed anthrax vaccine, is storing nearly 1 million doses — enough to vaccinate more than 330,000 people, they said. “The bottom line is, if there is a civilian crisis that would require vaccination of the population, there is enough anthrax vaccine to do that,” said Bill Pierce, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services. “It would just take a phone call to get that vaccine transferred from the Pentagon to the stockpile.” However, the Defense Department announced in June that it was expanding its anthrax and smallpox vaccination programs (see GSN, June 30), and the BioPort doses have been set aside for that purpose, according to Defense Department officials and a spokesman for the company. Months of infighting over such issues as which agency would purchase the BioPort vaccine indicated a lack of attention to biodefense, said Jerome Hauer, a former assistant secretary with the Department of Health and Human Services. “We now have bureaucrats and lawyers running bioterrorism preparedness,” said Hauer, who left the administration to head a biodefense center at George Washington University (Judith Miller, New York Times, Aug. 20). Back to top       Sloppy Safety Habits Caused Anthrax Leaks at Fort Detrick Army Laboratory, Investigators Find Poor enforcement of safety rules allowed an April 2002 anthrax leak to occur at the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., according to a U.S. Army report obtained yesterday by the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, July 21). However, lead investigator Col. David Hoover of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md., was unable definitively to determine the origin of the leaks. The contamination could have come from shipping containers for samples related to the 2001 anthrax attack mailings, the May 2002 report explains. Three different anthrax strains — two infectious and one a harmless vaccine — were detected in an office and changing room outside biosafety laboratories, according to the report. “Multiple episodes of contamination may have occurred,” the report concludes. Institute personnel regularly failed to monitor or decontaminate “hot labs” where work was done on anthrax, and personnel providing safety supervision sometimes lacked adequate training, according to the report. One researcher described a chaotic environment following the 2001 anthrax mailings, as researchers struggled to keep up with the inflow of samples. The researcher compared one secure lab to a “‘rat’s nest.’ The countertops were dirty, the floor was dirty and the area was disorganized,” the scientist said. “At that time, I made a decision not to process any more samples.” The contamination took place just as new security measures were being formed, said Chuck Dasey, an institute spokesman. Some Fort Detrick researchers doubted the facility’s commitment to safety, according to the report. “The safety program may be more about insulating the institute from criticism than from protecting the workers,” one lab supervisor is quoted as saying. “Other workers have mentioned that they might not report (lapses) in the future because of fallout from this episode,” the supervisor said. “I think there’s a serious problem.” A researcher who was conducting tests outside the chain of command detected the leaks, the Times reported. “There was an institute-wide, re-energized emphasis on safety, safety training, safety education, proper laboratory procedures,” he said. No employees were disciplined for safety violations, he added (Charles Piller, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 20). Back to top

CW Incinerator Cited for Safety Violations The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the contractor operating the U.S. Army’s Anniston chemical weapons incinerator for three “serious” incidents in which workers were exposed to sarin, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 10). Washington Group International-Westinghouse did not properly investigate a January incident in which nerve agent spilled onto workers’ protective suits, OSHA stated last month. Similar spills occurred in February (see GSN, Feb. 13) and March (see GSN, March 4), according to documents obtained by the Anniston Star through a Freedom of Information Act request. All violations had been corrected before OSHA inspections in February and June, according to the agency’s July 6 notification. Agency officials offered to reduce the penalty for the citations from $7,500 to $4,781 if the contractor agreed to the settlement within 15 days. The company is contesting the citations. An independent federal review commission is expected to hear the case. The incidents and the citations do not indicate unsafe incinerator operations, said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. In a little over a year of operations, the facility has completed some 5.8 million work hours without the loss of a workday to injury, Abrams said. “Our safety record is better than the average lawyer’s office,” Abrams said. “We know we have a safe program out there.” (Associated Press/Tuscaloosa News, Aug. 19). Back to top

U.S. Officials Applaud Missile Defense, Caution Against Expecting Too Much By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Bush administration and U.S. military officials this week softly applauded components of a new national missile defense network President George W. Bush has ordered into operation this year, praising the planned deployment for providing some defensive capability but conceding limitations to that capability (see GSN, Aug. 19). The deployment would soon provide the United States with some ability, where none exists today, to intercept long-range ballistic missiles from potential adversaries, the officials said, speaking before hundreds of defense contractors, military officials, and others at an annual missile defense conference in Huntsville, Ala. They acknowledged, though, that near-term protection would be limited.  “This is the year that we will have a capability … but it is just the beginning because it will be a limited capability and it will be built into a robust capability,” said Lt. Gen. Larry Dodgen, commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/U.S. Army Forces Strategic Command, a major participant in the conference. “What we need to discuss this week is certainly how to build that capability into something that will defend our nation for decades to come,” he said. “It’s important to note that limited defensive operations are just the first step. This is the first baby step on a journey toward developing this complete layered defensive capability,” said Maj. Gen. William Shelton, director of policy, resources, and requirements for the U.S. Strategic Command, which will be responsible for overall operation of the system. “To say that it’s a mature capability like we would traditionally deploy where we have gone through an extensive test program and have up to four nines in reliability figured out and that sort of thing, that’s just not the system we’re talking about,” he also said. Measured Administration Comments Such comments were aligned with recent remarks by Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who also praised the planned deployment ordered by Bush in December 2002 to begin this year. “By the end of this year, we expect to have a limited operational capability against incoming ballistic missiles,” Rumsfeld said at the conference Wednesday. He acknowledged the components would be deployed before the system is fully developed, but said the “initial set of capabilities” would “evolve over time, as technology advances, and as we are able to make these limited defenses more robust.” Bush in a recent speech on the campaign trail also praised the planned deployment, and the recent emplacement of a first interceptor in Alaska, without trumpeting its potential effectiveness. He called the deployment “the beginning of a missile defense system that was envisioned by Ronald Reagan.” Rush to Deployment Alleged The administration plans to deploy up to 40 interceptors in Alaska and California and possibly in Europe over the next few years, beginning with up to 10 this year and 20 by the end of next, as well as a good deal of other equipment. Critics have argued that deploying the system would be premature, saying the system is not developed sufficiently to be effective, and that the planned deployment has greatly set back development and testing by draining resources.  “The ballistic missile defense system that the United States will deploy later this year will have no demonstrated defensive capability and will be ineffective against a real attack by long-range ballistic missiles,” according to a report published this year by the Union of Concerned Scientists.  “As soon as the president declared his decision to deploy the missile defense system, the bottom fell out of the test schedule,” said Philip Coyle of the Center for Defense Information. “Money that has been needed for development and testing has gone for concrete and rebar instead.” He noted that the administration has canceled nine flight tests of the system over the past two years, after the failure of a December 2002 test (see GSN, May 13, 2003). The Missile Defense Agency disclosed this week that it had delayed the next such test for the fourth time this year, until mid-September (see GSN, Aug. 18). Security Necessity Asserted Shelton argued that deploying the system while it is still under development is necessary because of a potential ICBM threat to the United States. “Our compressed timelines drive us because the threat is here and now. Thus, the timelines drive us to deploy and develop in parallel and that’s where some of the criticism comes of course, is trying to do that in parallel,” he said. “But what else are we to do? If you know that the threat is here, if you have even a nascent and rudimentary capability … wouldn’t you deploy that capability to provide whatever level of protection that you can as we continue to mature the capability?” he said. Rumsfeld said in a prepared text of his speech, “North Korea is working to develop and deploy missiles capable of reaching not just their neighbors, but our country as well. The same can be said of Iran.” Critics have questioned whether the current $10 billion annual investment in missile defense properly prioritizes the missile threat relative to other security concerns, as Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry’s (Mass.) national security adviser did in a statement Tuesday. “John Kerry believes an effective missile defense is crucial to our national security strategy. But John Kerry also understands the importance of facing our most pressing national security threats while continuing to develop and deploy a national missile defense which we know will work,” said adviser Rand Beers.   The system for deployment this year is intended to address a potential North Korean ICBM capability. The U.S. intelligence community generally concluded in 2001, though, that Iran and North Korea could develop missiles capable of striking the United States by 2015.    North Korea is considered the “next most likely country to have an ICBM capability,” and might be ready now for a flight test of such a capability, said Charles Monson, a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst speaking at the conference. A North Korean flight test of a three-stage rocket in 1998 reportedly was unsuccessful. Monson also listed, though, a number of reasons why countries seek ballistic missile capabilities in addition to aggression, including prestige, deterrence, to cover conventional weakness, and to “keep up with the neighbors.” Rumsfeld also suggested research and development would benefit from the planned deployment, saying it “will allow us to gain operational input from combatant commanders.” Rather than a rush to deployment, he said the administration was engaged in a “rush to learning.” Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) told the conference the outcome of the Nov. 2 presidential election could determine the direction of the missile defense program and urged attendees to action. “Your vote in this election has to be like your life depends on it and it does,” he said, noting Kerry favors cutting some funding for the program. “I’m not going to tell you who to vote for,” he added. Back to top       U.S. Medium-Range Missile Defense Can Defend Against Longer-Range Targets Too, Official Says The U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which is intended to shoot down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, has been found to be capable of shooting down ICBMs as well, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report reported today (see GSN, May 27). A recent test of the THAAD radar found that it has a “residual” capability against ICBMs, program manger Army Col. Charles Driessnack said during a missile defense conference held in Huntsville, Ala. The THAAD program is set to begin demonstrating the system’s anti-ICBM capabilities in fiscal 2009, after it has been flight-tested against shorter-range missiles, Driessnack said. Flight tests are sets to begin in early fiscal 2005, according to Aerospace Daily & Defense Report (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, Aug. 20). Back to top       Missile Defense Agency to Conduct Airborne Laser Tests Amid Cost Overruns, Schedule Concerns The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is expected to conduct to two tests this year of its Airborne Laser program, according to Aerospace Daily & Defense Report (see GSN, July 12). The tests are set to include the “first light” of Northrop Grumman’s kill laser and the first flight of Lockheed Martin’s beam control/fire control system, Air Force Col.-select Jerry Rodney Couick said yesterday. Program cost overruns that could reach $2 billion combined with delays have caused concern among lawmakers. Representative Terry Everett (R-Ala.), who supports missile defense, said late last month that he is “deeply concerned that program costs may spiral to unanticipated levels which will place ABL in serious danger of survival” (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, Aug. 20). Back to top

Canada Ripe Target for Terrorists Seeking Radioactive Material, Institute Warns The Radiation Safety Institute of Canada has warned that terrorists could easily obtain radioactive materials from Canadian companies and university laboratories, the Canadian Press reported today (see GSN, Aug. 18). Companies in Ontario are among the world’s largest manufacturers of radioactive materials for medical use, said Institute Chief Executive Fergal Nolan. “People need to worry about the accessibility of nuclear materials to the general population,” he said. Nolan also said that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is conducting safety audits at 40 universities due to security concerns (Canadian Press, Aug. 20). Back to top       Japan to Aid In Dismantlement of Second Russian Sub Japan plans next year to aid in the dismantlement of a Russian Victor 1-class attack nuclear submarine, according to United Press International (see GSN, Aug. 5). The dismantlement effort, Japan’s second with Russia, will take place at a shipyard near the eastern port of Vladivostok, according to UPI. Japan is set to complete the dismantlement of a Victor 3 submarine in October (United Press International/Washington Times, Aug. 20).   Back to top

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