U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) has proposed sweeping new intelligence reform measures that would transfer sections of the U.S. intelligence community to the control of a new national intelligence director (Roberts photo). Senate Intelligence Chairman Unveils Reform Proposal By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) yesterday unveiled a sweeping new intelligence reform proposal that would transfer sections of the CIA and intelligence agencies controlled by the Defense Department to the direct control of a new national intelligence director (see GSN, Aug. 18)...Full Story

Iran Would Not Operate Bushehr Reactor Until 2006, Says “Pre-emption” Remarks Were Misrepresented The Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran is not expected to begin operations until 2006, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Aug. 20)...Full Story

North Korea Rejects Nuclear Talks North Korea today rejected a new round of negotiations on its nuclear weapons programs, calling U.S. President George W. Bush a “bad guy” and “a tyrant that puts Hitler into the shade,” Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 20)...Full Story

	Monday, August 23, 2004

Senate Intelligence Chairman Unveils Reform Proposal By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) yesterday unveiled a sweeping new intelligence reform proposal that would transfer sections of the CIA and intelligence agencies controlled by the Defense Department to the direct control of a new national intelligence director (see GSN, Aug. 18). As described by the senator yesterday on CBS’s Face the Nation and in media reports today, Roberts’ proposal envisions a national intelligence director that would oversee all 15 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. The new director would have full budgetary and personnel authority for the agencies, including the ability to reprogram and transfer funding and line item budget authority. Roberts has also proposed that the director lead a new National Intelligence Service, which would be made up of existing sections of the CIA and several intelligence agencies controlled by the Pentagon. Four deputy directors would be directly in charge of collection, analysis, military support and research and technology branches, according to reports. The three main directorates of the CIA — Operations, which is responsible for information collection and covert operations; Intelligence, which handles analysis; and Science and Technology — would be converted into separate agencies and placed into their respective branches of the new intelligence service. From the Pentagon, the National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency’s human intelligence program would be placed under the military support deputy director, according to reports. Roberts’ proposal, contained in the 9/11 National Security Protection Act, would go far beyond the national intelligence director recommended by the Sept. 11 commission and supported, in part, by the White House. Much of the debate between the commission and the White House and the discussions in Congress over the new national intelligence director have mainly focused on what levels of budgetary and personnel authority to provide to the position. In addition, Pentagon officials have expressed concern in recent congressional hearings that a national intelligence director could hinder the ability of battlefield commanders to receive necessary information.  “We just sort of stepped back from the trees, and instead of worrying about boxes and agencies and turf, just said, what would you put together now that really represents an answer to what the 9/11 commission has recommended, and what our Senate report has indicated, what is right for our national security, what is real reform?” Roberts said on Face the Nation. Roberts said yesterday that his bill has the support of the other Republican members of the Senate intelligence panel and that reactions from several members of the Sept. 11 committee have been “positive.” He added that he planned to share his proposal today with the White House and the National Security Council and that he expected the Sept. 11 commission to decide as a whole whether to endorse the plan by the end of the week. “I’m trying to build a consensus around something that is very different. It’s very major.  It’s very bold. But let’s get it out on the table and let's talk about it,” Roberts said. He also yesterday anticipated criticism.  “It’s not a tablet written in stone. If anybody wants to make changes, or if anybody wants to lob a brickbat or two, we're perfectly ready,” Roberts said. In response, a senior intelligence official today said Roberts’ proposal is “reckless” and “makes no sense.” “Rather than bringing disciplines together,” the official said, “it smashes them apart.” “Having brick bats lobbed at it is not an adequate response to this proposal. It deserves a wrecking ball,” the official told Global Security Newswire. The proposal also came under fire from the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel, Senator Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.). “It evidently would do away with the Central Intelligence Agency as we know it at a time when the agency is leading a global fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.  Having not seen the details of the Roberts proposal, my reaction is that disbanding and scattering the Central Intelligence Agency at such a crucial time would be a severe mistake,” Rockefeller said yesterday in a press statement. Rockefeller and other Democratic members of the Senate intelligence panel also complained of having little input in the proposal. “It’s much, much better that we proceed on a bipartisan basis,” Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said yesterday on Face the Nation. Rand Beers, national security adviser for Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry (Mass.), said in a statement yesterday that Roberts’ proposal was “very similar” to the intelligence reform measures supported by Kerry. The proposal, though, “needs to become bipartisan to be fully successful,” Beers said. He also called on the Bush administration to fully define its own vision for the new national intelligence director. “Nothing will happen until President [George W.] Bush steps up to show leadership in this effort. So far, this has been severely lacking,” Beers said. Back to top       U.S. Issues Middle East, N. Africa Travel Advisory The U.S. State Department on Saturday warned that U.S. citizens in the Middle East and North Africa could face terrorist attacks, including those using chemical or biological agents, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 24). “Anti-American violence could include possible terrorist actions against aviation, ground transportation and maritime interests, specifically in the Middle East, including the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, the Arabian peninsula and North Africa,” the travel advisory said. “Suicide operations, bombings, hijackings, kidnappings and targeted attacks resulting in death” are possible, according to the warning. “Chemical or biological agents must be considered a possible threat” (Associated Press/USA Today, Aug. 22). Back to top       U.S., U.K., Canada to Conduct One-Week Counterterrorism Exercise Next Year The United States, the United Kingdom and Canada plan to conduct one of the world’s largest counterterrorism exercises next year, with potential scenarios to include a chemical, biological or radiological attack, the London Times reported (see GSN, Aug. 6). Thousands of soldiers, law enforcement officers, rescue personnel and officials are expected to take part in the one-week exercise. The scenario is set to begin with a mock attack on the United States, which would then spread to Canada and the United Kingdom, according to officials. Code-named Atlantic Blue, the transatlantic operation is scheduled for late spring, according to the Times (Stewart Tendler, London Times, Aug. 23). Back to top

Final Iraq Survey Group Report Will Not Speculate on WMD Program, U.S. Chief Inspector Says The final report of the Iraq Survey Group will not speculate on what Iraq’s alleged WMD programs might have looked like by 2008 if the United States had not invaded, U.S. chief inspector in Iraq Charles Duelfer said Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 20). The group, which is searching for evidence of prewar Iraq’s alleged WMD efforts, had discussed speculating on Iraq’s possible banned weapons programs, but chose not to do so, Duelfer said. “We are looking at the evolution and the decision process of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs in Iraq, but it ends in 2003,” he said. “There is no intent to speculate beyond the data that we can collect.” Duelfer said that the search team is set to submit its final report to the CIA by the end of next month, adding that the report is intended to be publicly released (Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 22). Back to top

Iran Would Not Operate Bushehr Reactor Until 2006, Says “Pre-emption” Remarks Were Misrepresented The Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran is not expected to begin operations until 2006, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Aug. 20). Russia is building the reactor, and is expected to turn it over to Iran in 2006, said Assadollah Sabouri, deputy chief of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. He said the reactor could start seven months later, by October 2006.   Iran had hoped at one point that the reactor would start operating by the end of 2003, according to the Times. The new schedule calls for Iran to receive nuclear fuel from Russia by late 2005. The Islamic republic has agreed to return the spent fuel to Russia, Sabouri said, though cost issues are still being discussed. Sabouri also said additional nuclear power plants are to be built with Russian assistance. “We have contracts with Russia to build more nuclear reactors,” he said. “No number has been specified, but definitely our contract with Russia is to build more than one nuclear power plant.” Two other European countries also expressed interest in the projects, according to Sabouri; he declined to identify them. “My message to Europeans is that we have to pass the paperwork stage and go for binding contracts as soon as possible,” he said (Nazila Fathi, New York Times, Aug. 23). Meanwhile, Iranian officials on Saturday disputed reports that Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani had threatened pre-emptive strikes against U.S. troops in Iraq, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 19) “The statements of the defense minister have not been reported accurately — to some extent they have been altered,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told the IRNA state news agency. Asefi said there had been “misinterpretations,” and that “Mr. Shamkhani said that we would defend our territory and national interests and would allow no one to attack the Islamic republic.” “If anyone attacks our country, we will respond with determination,” Asefi said (Agence France-Presse/Persian Journal, Aug 21). Elsewhere, New Zealand today urged Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, ahead of a meeting on the island nation between Prime Minister Helen Clark and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, the Associated Press reported. “We’ll be using … the visit to stress that it’s absolutely critical that they comply in full as soon as possible with the request being made of them,” Clark said. “Our assessment is that the jury is out (on what Iran is doing) because the IAEA is still trying to get to the bottom of whether or not there is an enrichment program,” she said (Ray Lilley, Associated Press, Aug. 23). Back to top       North Korea Rejects Nuclear Talks North Korea today rejected a new round of negotiations on its nuclear weapons programs, calling U.S. President George W. Bush a “bad guy” and “a tyrant that puts Hitler into the shade,” Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 20). “He is a political imbecile bereft of even elementary morality as a human being and a bad guy,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, according to the official KCNA news agency. The verbal barrage was seen as retaliation for Bush’s characterization last Wednesday of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as a tyrant, according to AFP. North Korea would not attend working-level discussions, which had been expected to begin this month, due to Bush’s comments, the spokesman said. “This made it quite impossible for the D.P.R.K. to go to the talks and deprived it of any elementary justification to sit at the negotiating table with the U.S.,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 23). Back to top       Pantex Sealant Could Be Flawed Sealant used in repairs at the U.S. Energy Department’s Pantex nuclear plant in Texas to limit plutonium releases in case of an accidental explosion may be flawed, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 29). “Pantex is conducting studies of the sealant to determine its effectiveness,” said Joe Papp, system engineering section manager for contractor BWXT Pantex. The plant near Amarillo handles nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly work for the U.S. atomic stockpile. After plant officials found in September that a 6-year-old work order to repair faulty cell door welds had never been completed, weapons operations in assembly cells were halted. Work resumed after workers sealed the welds. The sealant was later found to be peeling near assembly cell doors, according to a July 21 report. Fixing the sealant could cost $15-20 million, according to government estimates (Associated Press/San Angelo Standard-Times, Aug. 23). Back to top

Japan to Fund Chemical Arms Disposal Site in China Japan is reportedly set to provide $2.8 billion to construct a facility in China to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned there at the close of World War II, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 3). The facility will be built in Haerbaling in the northern province of Jilin — where most of the 700,000 chemical munitions estimated by Japan to have been left following World War II are believed to be located. China and Japan are expected to begin construction on the site within a year.  As described by the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the facility would be shielded from the outside environment and would use remote-controlled robots to excavate the buried munitions that are to be moved to a temporary storage site, AFP reported. Japan also plans to build two incinerators nearby to dispose of the munitions. Japanese officials hope to finish work on the facility by March 2007, and to complete the incinerators in March 2008 (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 21). Back to top       Russian Chemical Arms Disposal Site to Resume Work A Russian chemical weapons disposal facility near the city of Gorny is set to resume operations after being shut down last month for maintenance, ITAR-Tass reported Friday (see GSN, July 19). The facility has destroyed 74 metric tons of lewisite (ITAR-Tass, Aug. 20). Back to top

China Allegedly Sending Missile Technology to Iran U.S. intelligence officials said that China has recently provided ballistic missile-related technology to Iran, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, June 18). While refusing to provide details regarding what items and companies were involved, the officials said that the transfers occurred within the past six months. They also said that the alleged transfers were confirmed by U.S. intelligence agencies. A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington refused to comment on the allegations, saying that China has a responsible attitude toward proliferation, the Times reported. “China’s government is firmly opposed to the proliferation of (weapons of mass destruction) and their means of delivery,” spokesman Sun Weide said (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Aug. 23). Back to top       Iran Denies Seeking Missiles That Could Reach U.S. Disputing comments made last week by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Iran yesterday denied that it is developing missiles capable of reaching the United States, IRNA reported (see GSN, Aug. 18). “Acquiring missiles which could have a range up to America is a new issue which we hear,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told the state news agency. “Such a program is not on our agenda and this propaganda of certain American officials is only for media consumption.” Rumsfeld on Wednesday included Iran in a list of countries working to develop and deploy such long-range missiles (Persian Journal, Aug. 22). Back to top

U.S. Researchers Create Model for Estimating Dirty Bomb Attack Costs, Starting With California U.S. researchers have created a mathematical model to help determine the costs of successful radiological attacks at U.S. ports, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 17). The model, developed by professors at the University of Southern California and Texas Southern University, was demonstrated Saturday at two-day conference held by USC’s Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. The model predicted that a successful “dirty bomb” attack on the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the nation’s largest port complex — could cause $34 billion in damages to the U.S. economy, the Times reported. The model could eventually be used on other ports, the researchers said (David Pierson, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 22).   Back to top

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