Global Security Newswire: By National Journal

    Issue for Thursday, August 5, 2004

    Week in Review

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  terrorism  
Intelligence Officials Deny Imagination Charges Full Story
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Will No Longer Release Nuclear Plant Security Violation Information Full Story
Washington Subway Seeks More WMD Sensors Full Story
U.S. Coast Guard to Increase Port Security Full Story
Recent Stories

  wmd  
Duelfer Rejected British Tips for ISG Report Full Story
Recent Stories

  nuclear  
U.S. Gains Support for Confrontation on Iranian Nuclear Program Full Story
IAEA, Romania Discuss Plans for Transferring Russian-Origin Spent Nuclear Reactor Fuel Full Story
Riyadh May Have Backed Pakistani Nuclear Plan Full Story
Los Alamos Suspends Four More Employees Full Story
Recent Stories

  biological  
BWC Experts Stress Disease Surveillance Measures Full Story
U.S. Military Ricin Vaccine Protects Mice Full Story
Recent Stories

  chemical  
Army Finds Mustard Leaks at Utah Storage Site Full Story
Recent Stories

  missile1  
Russia Denies Missile Assistance to North Korea Full Story
Recent Stories

  missile2  
Bush Praises Missile Defense in Signing Funding Bill Full Story
Arrow Missile Needs Upgrade, Israeli General Says Full Story
End U.S.-U.K. Missile Defense Deal, U.S. Reps Say Full Story
Recent Stories

  other  
Canada to Help Fund Russian Submarine Dismantlement Full Story
Recent Stories

 

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These so-called nuggets that the British had brought to my attention for my consideration were lifted out of previous [Iraq Survey Group] work. … Whatever the British offered up it didn’t fit into what I was trying to do.
—Chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq Charles Duelfer, on suggestions for his final report offered in March by the new head of British intelligence.


Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi (shown in a July photo) said yesterday that Iran has a right to enrich uranium (AFP photo/Fethi Belaid).
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi (shown in a July photo) said yesterday that Iran has a right to enrich uranium (AFP photo/Fethi Belaid).
U.S. Gains Support for Confrontation on Iranian Nuclear Program

France, Germany and the United Kingdom are showing increased willingness to join the United States in confronting Iran over its nuclear work, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 3).

Following a meeting between officials from the Islamic republic and the three European countries in Paris last week, momentum has been building for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to refer the situation to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. officials and European diplomats said. The board is scheduled to begin its next meeting Sept. 13.
..Full Story

Intelligence Officials Deny Imagination Charges

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. intelligence officials said yesterday that statements in the Sept. 11 commission report regarding the government’s lack of “imagination” in anticipating potential terrorist attacks fail to account for changes made in the aftermath of the 2001 strikes in New York and Washington (see GSN, Aug. 4)...Full Story

Bush Praises Missile Defense in Signing Funding Bill

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Flanked by senior military officials and appointees, U.S. President George W. Bush on the campaign trail today signed the largest military spending bill in U.S. history and for the first time in 2004 publicly praised his plan to activate “components” of a national missile system this year (see GSN, July 22)...Full Story

Current Issue Thursday, August 5, 2004
terrorism

Intelligence Officials Deny Imagination Charges

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. intelligence officials said yesterday that statements in the Sept. 11 commission report regarding the government’s lack of “imagination” in anticipating potential terrorist attacks fail to account for changes made in the aftermath of the 2001 strikes in New York and Washington (see GSN, Aug. 4).

In its report released last month, the commission said that a lack of imagination in understanding the threat posed by al-Qaeda had been “the most important failure” in preventing the attacks.

“Though top officials all told us that they understood the danger, we believe there was uncertainty among them as to whether this was just a new and especially venomous version of the ordinary terrorist threat the United States had lived with for decades, or it was indeed radically new, posing a threat beyond any yet experienced,” the commission said.

In testimony before lawmakers yesterday, though, senior intelligence officials from the CIA, FBI and State Department stressed the changes that had been made in their respective departments since the attacks to improve analysis of terrorism-related information.

“The intelligence community that exists today is far removed from the one that existed on Sept. 11. That older community, however, seems to be preserved in amber in a series of reports that do not reflect the changes we have made,” CIA Assistant Director for Analysis and Production Mark Lowenthal told the House intelligence committee.

One such change is the creation within the CIA of National Intelligence Collection Boards, which bring together senior managers of all national intelligence collection agencies, CIA Assistant Director for Collection Charles Allen told the committee. Such boards are used to help organize intelligence collection efforts against “specific” threats, he said.

The CIA is also examining ways to improve the training of analysts, such as the creation of a national intelligence university similar to the various war colleges in the U.S. military, Lowenthal said. 

In addition, the agency is pursuing more “imaginative” measures, such as by having analysts meet with science fiction writers and Hollywood directors and screenwriters — “people who are known for developing the summer blockbusters or hit TV shows that often have a terrorism theme,” CIA Deputy Director for Intelligence Jami Miscik said.

“It was an attempt to see beyond the intelligence report and into a world of plot development,” Miscik said.

The intelligence officials also told the committee of the need to foster an environment conducive to analytic risk-tasking within the various intelligence agencies.

“To truly nurture creativity, you have to cherish your contrarians, and you have to give them the opportunities to run free. Leaders in the analytic community must avoid trying to make everyone meet a preconceived notion of the intelligence community’s equivalent of the man in the gray flannel suit,” Miscik said.

Brookings Institution analyst Michael O’Hanlon testified yesterday that improved “red teaming” exercises were needed to help analysts determine the shape and scope of possible future terrorist attacks. Such an improved capability, he said, would help prevent too much of a focus on either conventional attacks or “the next incredibly outlandish attack,” he said.

Intelligence Reform Debate

Yesterday’s House intelligence committee hearing was the latest in a series of sessions by both House and Senate committees this month to examine the intelligence reform measures included in the Sept. 11 commission’s report with the aim of producing legislation by the end of the year. President George W. Bush has publicly come out in favor of the two key intelligence-reform measures put forth by the commission — the creation of a national director of intelligence and the creation of a national counterterrorism center.   

During yesterday’s hearing, Representative Jane Harman (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, complained that the panel was moving too slow in implementing reform. She noted that there were already two intelligence reform bills before the committee — one sponsored by Democrats and one by Republicans — and called for markup hearings and votes to be held on the existing legislation.

“We’ve had 62 hearings just this year on topics that are relevant to marking up legislation. So why isn’t our committee moving faster?” Harman said.  “This committee is behind the curve, and we owe it to the 9/11 families and the country to catch up,” she added.

Committee Chairman Porter Goss (R-Fla.) suggested that the existing intelligence reform bills may undergo markup hearings before the end of the month.

In an internal message sent yesterday to CIA employees, acting agency Director John McLaughlin said that it would take time to finalize the details on the new intelligence director, according to the Associated Press.

“As always in our business, the devil is in the details and the truth is that many of these have yet to be worked out,” McLaughlin was quoted by AP as having written.

Some committee Republicans yesterday warned against acting too quickly to implement the commission’s recommendations.

“Now, we’re all applauding the outstanding work of the 9/11 commission … but we've got to be thoughtful as we go forward, and in the meantime we’ve got to continue the action already under way to significantly improve intelligence,” Representative Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.) said.

James Carafano, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, also agreed on the need to move slowly, in part, to ward off criticism once reforms are in place.

“If we rush and do this before the election, we will have poisoned the baby, because the criticism will always be that we rushed to do this, whether it’s a fair criticism or not. And we will have a hard time getting this off the ground because people will be saying we threw this together even if it’s to true,” he said.

Representative Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) rejected the idea that the committee would be “rushing” to act, noting that proposals to create a national intelligence director have been debated since the mid-1970s.

“So the notion that this is rushing to consider and do something about that, I think, would not be reflecting what recommendations and debates have gone on on Capitol Hill and other places for the last 30 years. So I don’t think that can be constituted as rushing,” Reyes said.


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Nuclear Regulatory Commission Will No Longer Release Nuclear Plant Security Violation Information


The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced yesterday that it would stop releasing information on security gaps found at U.S. nuclear power plants and the enforcement actions imposed on facility operators, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, July 22).

Previously, the commission has released regular updates on the security problems found during nuclear plant inspections. “We need to blacken some of our processes so that our adversaries won’t have that information,” said NRC Office of Nuclear Safety and Incident Response Director Roy Zimmerman. 

While the commission voted in March to change its policy, the move was announced yesterday at the first public NRC hearing on power plant safety held since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (Malia, Rulon, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 5).

U.S. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday criticized the NRC’s move, saying it blocked plant security flaws from “public scrutiny.”

“This misguided NRC policy will further deepen public skepticism of the commission’s performance and calls into question whether the commission is doing what it must do to keep nuclear reactors safe from terrorist attack,” Markey said in a statement (Markey release, Aug. 4).


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Washington Subway Seeks More WMD Sensors


The Metrorail subway system serving Washington and nearby communities is seeking additional federal funding to expand its use of sensors to detect chemical and biological weapons, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 3).

Metro officials also hope to obtain funding from the U.S. Homeland Security Department and other agencies for training personnel on responding to a terrorist attack and for preparations to help the subway system to recover from an attack.

“The new Orange Alert underscores the urgency that these type of requests warrant,” said Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein (S.A. Miller, Washington Times, Aug. 5).


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U.S. Coast Guard to Increase Port Security


The U.S. Coast Guard plans to send inspectors to more than 100 international seaports to monitor their antiterrorism efforts, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, July 1).

“Before Sept. 11, 2001, security when it came to shipping was somewhat a secondary concern, and it was mostly dealing with security from theft,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter, Coast Guard spokesman. “Now we realize that there are vulnerabilities that exist in ports, and we have been very aggressive in working with industry partners to make sure these are adequately addressed,” he added.

U.S. inspectors are expected to examine harbor quays, engine rooms and warehouses to ensure they are equipped with adequate surveillance systems and that sensitive areas have restricted access, Coast Guard officials said yesterday (Suzanne Goldberg, London Guardian, Aug. 5).


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wmd

Duelfer Rejected British Tips for ISG Report


Chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq Charles Duelfer has said that he received and then dismissed suggestions from the new head of the British MI6 intelligence agency about what to include in the final report of Duelfer’s Iraq Survey Group, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, Aug. 2).

John Scarlett reportedly sent an e-mail to Duelfer in March with a list of possible claims to include in the final ISG report, including that prewar Iraq was working to weaponize smallpox and that it possessed mobile biological weapons facilities. 

“These so-called nuggets that the British had brought to my attention for my consideration were lifted out of previous ISG work. ... Whatever the British offered up it didn’t fit into what I was trying to do,” Duelfer told the Guardian.

Scarlett, who took over this week as MI6 chief, was the intelligence official who oversaw the British assessment of prewar Iraq’s WMD capabilities.

The Iraq Survey Group is set to release its final report on its search for evidence of Iraq’s alleged WMD efforts next month, Duelfer said. He said it would be “a big production” that would “no doubt leave some unanswered questions” (Julian Borger, London Guardian, Aug. 5).


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nuclear

U.S. Gains Support for Confrontation on Iranian Nuclear Program


France, Germany and the United Kingdom are showing increased willingness to join the United States in confronting Iran over its nuclear work, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 3).

Following a meeting between officials from the Islamic republic and the three European countries in Paris last week, momentum has been building for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to refer the situation to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. officials and European diplomats said. The board is scheduled to begin its next meeting Sept. 13.

Iran has sought to exacerbate policy differences between the United States and the European nations, and loss of European support could pose serious difficulties for Tehran, according to the Times

France and the United Kingdom support the U.S. position on Iran, while Germany is close, officials said (Dinmore/Smyth, Financial Times, Aug. 5).

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday that his country has a “legitimate right” to enrich uranium, Agence France-Presse reported. Iran “will not allow the Iranian file to be referred to the Security Council,” said Kamal Kharazi.

“We will lobby for our rights in the international community to deal with the negative atmosphere our enemies have created against Iran,” Kharazi said. “We will never allow the enemy to trample upon our legitimate rights enshrined in the international conventions,” he added (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 4).


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IAEA, Romania Discuss Plans for Transferring Russian-Origin Spent Nuclear Reactor Fuel


Romania and the International Atomic Energy Agency are developing plans for transporting spent fuel from a Romanian research reactor to Russia, the Romanian Rompres news agency reported yesterday (see GSN, July 21).

The United States and Romania last month signed an agreement under which Washington agreed to assist the repatriation of Russian-origin spent fuel from the Romanian research reactor, located near Bucharest (Rompres/BBC Monitoring, Aug. 4).


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Riyadh May Have Backed Pakistani Nuclear Plan


Saudi Arabia may have eased the way for Pakistan to conduct its first nuclear weapons test in 1998 by promising to reduce the effects of the international sanctions that were expected to follow, the Financial Times reported yesterday (see GSN, July 30).

A week before Pakistan conducted its first nuclear test, a Saudi prince told then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that Saudi Arabia would provide up to 50,000 barrels of oil per day to Pakistan to help offset the impact of the sanctions expected to be imposed after the test (see GSN, Oct. 22, 2003). A former aide to Sharif said the offer was conveyed on behalf of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the kingdom’s de facto leader.

“It is possible that Pakistan may still have conducted its nuclear tests without the Saudi oil. But the tests would have been done with the knowledge that the economic fallout was going to be far more severe,” the former aide said.

Such Saudi assistance to Pakistan has led to concern of nuclear cooperation between the two countries, according to the Times. While that cooperation may not entail Pakistan providing nuclear weapons technology to Saudi Arabia so the kingdom can establish its own weapons program, according to experts, it might give Saudi Arabia the option to in effect borrow Pakistani nuclear weapons.

“The argument that they have options on Pakistan’s arsenal are more likely,” a U.S. official said.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, though, have denied engaging in nuclear weapons cooperation.

“We’ve never given money aimed at nuclear research and development and so we never asked or received privileges to nuclear weapons programs,” former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Feisal said (Financial Times, Aug. 4).


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Los Alamos Suspends Four More Employees


The Los Alamos National Laboratory has suspended four more employees during its investigation into security violations at the research facility, laboratory Director Peter Nanos said yesterday (see GSN, July 29).

Nineteen employees have now been suspended in connection with the security investigation, along with four others suspended following a laser accident in which an intern suffered an eye injury, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Nanos also said that he expected it would take an additional two months before all operations resumed at Los Alamos. The Energy Department ordered a halt to most operations in mid-July following the reported disappearance of two computer disks containing classified information. The investigation into the missing disks is set to wrap up this month, Nanos said, adding that disciplinary action would be taken against any employee found responsible (Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 5).


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biological

BWC Experts Stress Disease Surveillance Measures

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Approximately 450 experts and officials from parties to the Biological Weapons Convention concluded an annual meeting last week in Geneva stressing the importance of strengthening global disease surveillance, investigation and response (see GSN, July 20).

The meeting precedes a high-level session of treaty parties scheduled for Dec. 6-10 in Geneva, part of a three-year program to discuss specific biological weapons-related topics in preparation for the treaty’s sixth review conference in 2006 (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2003).

Many papers submitted at the meeting, according to a press release, emphasized strengthening national infectious disease surveillance systems to improve global capabilities for responding to natural or deliberately caused outbreaks.

“The potential for new, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases to disrupt essential services, trade, and travel underscore the fundamental role of disease surveillance and preparedness in responding to, controlling and mitigating naturally occurring outbreaks of infectious diseases affecting humans, animals and plants,” the press release states.

Other presentations discussed ways of improving disease response, including strong national coordination for disaster planning, electronic reporting and information management, improving rapid laboratory and field detection capabilities, and “various international investigative mechanisms for responding to allegations of deliberate use.”

The focus of the experts and states parties meetings reflects a U.S. emphasis in recent years on national initiatives and international knowledge sharing for discouraging and addressing illicit biological activities, instead of a protocol to the treaty.

The United States at the fifth review conference in 2001 blocked final negotiation of a protocol that would have created an inspection mechanism for the treaty (see GSN, Dec. 10, 2001).

Guy Roberts, the acting head of the U.S. delegation to this year’s meeting, said there that the treaty provides mechanisms for investigating suspicious outbreaks, through a party’s request to the U.N. Security Council, which my initiate an investigation, or though a “formal consultative meeting” of treaty parties. He said the U.N. secretary general also has authority to investigate.

Addressing the meeting at its start, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Multilateral and Conventional Arms Control Donald Mahley praised the meeting process.

“This process provides an excellent opportunity to move forward as an international community on this very complicated, yet critically important, subject,” he said.

“We believe that this experts meeting will provide an excellent opportunity for your disease surveillance experts to learn about other international efforts being undertaken in this field that may have relevance to your national efforts,” he said.


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U.S. Military Ricin Vaccine Protects Mice


A vaccine developed by U.S. military researchers protects mice against the effects of inhaled ricin, which could be used as a biological weapon, according to an article published in this month’s online issue of Protein Engineering, Design and Selection (see GSN, July 7).

The team at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Maryland used protein engineering and molecular modeling to prepare the vaccine, which they now plan to test in other animals, Reuters reported.

Made from castor beans, ricin is deadly when made into a fine aerosol, according to Reuters. As it is relatively easy to prepare, the poison is considered a prime choice for a biological weapon.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention places ricin on its “B” list of agents — considered a moderate threat — and it has been found in al-Qaeda caves in Afghanistan, according to Reuters (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Aug. 4).


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chemical

Army Finds Mustard Leaks at Utah Storage Site


Four leaking projectiles filled with mustard agent were discovered Tuesday during a routine check of a storage igloo at the U.S. Army’s Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reported (see GSN, June 9).

Workers discovered a fifth leaking projectile yesterday, depot officials said.

The projectiles were packed into airtight containers and are to be stored until they can be destroyed, according to the Tribune.

No agent vapor was detected within the storage area or from the storage perimeter monitoring stations, said depot spokesman Chuck Sprague (Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 5).


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missile1

Russia Denies Missile Assistance to North Korea


Russia played no part in North Korea’s reported development of two missile systems with the suspected potential to reach the continental United States, Russian officials and military experts said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 3).

An article in Jane’s Defense Weekly said North Korean land- and sea-based systems were based on the Russian R-27 submarine-launched ballistic missile.

Soviet submarines, previously armed with R-27 missiles, were sold to North Korea for scrap, but the missiles had been dismantled when withdrawn from service, Eduard Baltin, the former commander of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, told the London Independent.

“Strategic second-generation submarines were armed with the R-27 missiles, but at the beginning of the 1990s they were removed from service, from both the Northern and Pacific fleets,” he said. “They were completely cleaned up at the decommissioning factory and their warheads and military guidance systems removed. All that was left was a solid metal shell which was no good for anything apart from scrap,” he added.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov today also refuted claims of Russian involvement, according to MosNews.com.

“I can say with all responsibility that Russia has never supplied anything illegal or forbidden to other countries, including North Korea,” he said. “If there were such facts, they would have been presented already, creating a great international scandal,” Ivanov added (MosNews.com, Aug. 5).

Vladimir Dvorkin, a former senior weapons specialist at the Russian Defense Ministry, said he thought North Korea only possessed short-range missiles and could only develop long-range missiles using its own technology.

“North Korea doesn’t have any other means,” he said (Andrew Osborne, London Independent, Aug. 5).

Meanwhile, U.S. officials said yesterday that the new North Korean missiles were not capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, the New York Times reported.

“There is no way this can reach the mainland,” one official said (Thom Shanker, New York Times, Aug. 5).

Elsewhere, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is expected to visit North Korea on Aug. 17-18 seeking to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons development, Agence France-Presse reported.

“I was encouraged by the signs of more positive momentum at the six-party meeting,” Downer said. “A set of proposals was put to the D.P.R.K. (North Korea), to assist the process of dismantling its nuclear programs and, potentially, to provide other forms of assistance,” he added.

“I will urge the Pyongyang leadership to grasp this opportunity,” Downer said.

Before heading to North Korea, Downer is expected to travel to Beijing on Aug. 15-16, where he is set to meet with U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 5).


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missile2

Bush Praises Missile Defense in Signing Funding Bill

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Flanked by senior military officials and appointees, U.S. President George W. Bush on the campaign trail today signed the largest military spending bill in U.S. history and for the first time in 2004 publicly praised his plan to activate “components” of a national missile system this year (see GSN, July 22).

The $391 billion Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005 includes about $10 billion for the Bush administration’s missile defense program, including money for operating components of the long-range defense system, which the president in 2002 had ordered to begin later this year.

While not directly praising the anticipated effectiveness of the activated components, which has been the subject of expert skepticism, Bush said the planned activation would fulfill a 2000 campaign pledge to deploy an “effective” national missile defense system “at the earliest possible date.”

“Later this year, the first components of America’s missile defense system will become operational. This will fulfill a pledge I made to the American people more than four years ago,” he said.

“America and our allies face a deadly threat from ballistic missiles armed with the world’s most dangerous weapons. And we will deploy the technologies necessary to protect our people,” Bush said, flanked by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers.

The Bush administration has been accused of rushing for political purposes to activate the system before it is developed enough to be effective, a charge then-Missile Defense Agency director Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish denied at a March congressional hearing (see GSN, March 26). 

Critics have noted that the Oct. 1 date scheduled for activation by Rumsfeld is just one month before the Nov. 2 presidential election (see GSN, July 13). Pentagon spokespeople have refused to comment on the activation date and Kadish in March said his agency had selected a Sept. 30 date have components ready to begin operation for “internal management purposes.”

The Defense Department announced last month that the first interceptor missile was installed, though not activated, at Fort Greely, Alaska (see GSN, July 23).

More Money Expected to be Needed

The appropriations law does not provide for all fiscal 2005 defense spending. Nuclear weapons-related funding for the Energy Department and money for military construction will be appropriated in separate bills.

In addition, analysts anticipate an additional supplemental appropriation will be needed next year to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of fiscal 2005.

“As much as $50 billion, I would say, said Christopher Hellman, budget analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation.

One reason, according to Hellman, is that language in the fiscal 2005 law allows the Bush administration to spend $25 billion appropriated to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan upon enactment, as opposed to at the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.

Another reason, he said, is that the $25 billion should not be enough to cover operations through the end of fiscal 2005.

Hellman said the military probably would spend about $75 billion to $80 billion on Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

Bush said at the signing today, “This bill meets our commitments by making sure that our armed forces have every tool they need to meet and defeat the threats of our time.”

The $25 billion will “buy more armored Humvees, more ammunition, more fuel, more spare parts. It will upgrade our helicopters with the latest equipment,


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Arrow Missile Needs Upgrade, Israeli General Says


Last week’s successful test of the U.S.-Israeli Arrow antimissile system does not mean the interceptor can be considered completely effective against the threat from the Iranian Shihab 3 missile, an Israeli general said Tuesday (see GSN, July 30).

“There is a need to upgrade the Arrow missile in order for it to be fully effective against Iran’s Shihab 3 surface-to-surface missile,” said Brig. Gen. Ya’ir Ramati, the director of Malmam, the company that produces the system (Arik Bender, Maariv International, Aug. 5).


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End U.S.-U.K. Missile Defense Deal, U.S. Reps Say


Two agreements being negotiated by the United States and the United Kingdom, including one on ballistic missile defense, should be stopped as they seem to violate U.S. law, two congressmen wrote in a July 20 letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (see GSN, Oct. 14, 2003).

The arms control agreements would strengthen the United Kingdom’s ability to gain access to U.S. defense technology, according to the Financial Times.

U.S. law forbids transfer of military technologies to foreign countries that do not promise to seek U.S. approval before re-exporting the technology, according to the letter from House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and House International Affairs Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.).

Hyde and Hunter argue that British arms trafficking regulations are not strict enough to keep sensitive weapons systems out of enemy hands, according to the Times. The two chairmen said they might schedule public hearings on the matter (Peter Spiegel, Financial Times, Aug. 5).


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other

Canada to Help Fund Russian Submarine Dismantlement


Canada has agreed to provide Russia with more than $18 million to help dismantle three nuclear submarines, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said yesterday (see GSN, July 21).

Under an agreement reached with Russia, Canada plans to aid in eventually dismantling 12 Victor-class attack submarines — an effort set to cost more than $75 million. Canada’s aid is part of its contribution to the Group of Eight Global Partnership, under which the G-8 nations agreed in 2002 to pledge $20 billion over 10 years to aid nonproliferation efforts, primarily in Russia (Associated Press, Aug. 4).

 


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