U.S. Response:  States, Localities Need More Information, Senate Democratic Staff Members Say

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration needs to do more to provide state and local officials with homeland security-related information to better prevent future terrorist attacks, according to a report released yesterday by Democrats on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee (see GSN, Aug. 13).

According to the report, state and local officials have complained of difficulties in exchanging homeland security information with the federal government, including information on possible terrorists and possible threats, the report says.  Officials have also complained of the cumbersome process they have to undergo to be able to receive classified information, it says.

“Many state and local officials — who also all too often lack the funding, training and technology to counter terrorism — are left, if not entirely blind, straining to see the terrorist threat and how to best respond to it,” the report says.

In interviews with committee Democratic staff, state and local officials said they needed “reliable and timely” homeland security information, but currently there is no effective mechanism for providing information to, or receiving information from, Washington, according to the report.  It calls for the creation of national and regional task forces over the next year to improve information-sharing among U.S., state and local officials.  The report also recommends the creation of 24-hour operations centers in each state to help improve information-sharing between local law enforcement officers and U.S. agencies. 

The report calls for improving mechanisms to relay information on possible terrorist threats and suspected terrorist operatives.  Currently, there is no unified national terrorist “watch list.”  USA Today reported earlier this week that while Homeland Security is working to assemble a list from those used by various agencies, the process has been hindered by technical delays (see GSN, Aug. 11).

“The administration is getting closer to the end of its planning process,” Homeland Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe was quoted by USA Today.  “But this is a very complicated issue, and we’re not going to rush something out that isn’t completely effective,” he said.

In a letter sent last week to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) criticized Homeland Security’s delay in creating a unified watch list.

“This problem needs to be fixed,” wrote Lieberman, the top Democrat on the Governmental Affairs Committee.  “Potentially fatal gaps in our watch-list system should be closed.  It is important to have a consolidated national watch list operating around the clock to alert us to terrorists attempting to enter our country,” he said.

The report recommends that the president immediately issue an executive order to consolidate the various watch lists.  In addition, the Homeland Security Department should provide state and local law enforcement officials with the ability check names against a unified list by the end of the year, the report says.

The report also raises concerns with the Homeland Security Threat Advisory System — the color-coded system used by Homeland Security to indicate various levels of potential terrorist activity risks.  In a separate report issued last week, the Congressional Research Service warned that the system is too vague, and as a result, might be disregarded by the public.  The Governmental Affairs Committee Democratic report calls for revising the system to provide specific information about terrorist threats and detailed information on appropriate protective measures.

In addition to improved information-sharing, the Bush administration needs to do more to improve state and local officials’ access to classified homeland security-related intelligence, the report says.  It calls for an increase in resources to expedite security clearances for designated state and local officials.  The report also recommends examining the feasibility of having agencies proactively recognize security clearances already issued for state and local officials, unless there are compelling reasons not to do so.  A task force should be created to review security clearance procedures with a six-month deadline to propose improvements, the report says.

In a press statement released yesterday, Lieberman urged the White House to do more to improve information-sharing.

“If we are to successfully protect our citizens against future terrorist attacks, there must be genuine collaboration between federal, state and local officials," Lieberman said.  “This is not an easy task, but so far, I haven’t seen the kind of leadership from the administration that is necessary to break down barriers, cut through deeply ingrained cultures and build the partnerships that are absolutely critical to homeland security,” he said.

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Iraq:  U.S. Troops Will Stay Until WMD Programs Found, Armitage Says

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. military forces will stay in Iraq until former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s alleged WMD capabilities are found and destroyed, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 12).

Speaking yesterday to the Asia Society Forum in Sydney, Armitage said he had “absolute confidence” that coalition forces in Iraq would find evidence of Hussein’s suspected WMD programs.  The absence of weapons discoveries so far only demonstrates the great lengths Hussein went to to hide WMD programs, he said.

“The fact that it has taken us this long to find the evidence is a chilling reminder that these programs are far too easy to move, and, I believe, far too easy to hide,” Armitage said.

Armitage also praised the efforts of former U.N. weapons inspector David Kay, who is now heading the Iraq Survey Group, which is conducting the WMD hunt in Iraq.  While Kay has made “solid progress,” he too has found that “deception and concealment were an extensive and embedded part” of Iraq’s WMD efforts, Armitage said.

It will take time to find Iraq’s WMD capabilities, including the scientists and equipment used to produce weapons of mass destruction, Armitage said.  U.S. troops will remain in Iraq, however, until they are found, he said.

“[U.S.] President [George W.] Bush has made it crystal clear that we don’t intend to stay in Iraq any longer than is necessary, but I will make it crystal clear to you today that we are not going to leave until we find and destroy Iraq’s capability to produce biological, chemical and nuclear weapons,” Armitage said.

Proliferation Security Initiative

In his remarks yesterday, Armitage also said there is a need for new measures to combat the transfer of goods and technologies that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction.  One such measure is the Proliferation Security Initiative, an 11-member effort to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo (see GSN, Aug. 6).

As part of the initiative, Australia is expected to hold a naval exercise next month to develop interdiction capabilities, Armitage said.  He added that the United States would take part in the exercise, which could also include Italy, Germany and Japan.

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North Korea:  Powell Says No Economic Incentives Offered

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday that the United States has not offered economic incentives to urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions (see GSN, Aug. 13).

“We have put no economic proposals forward at the moment,” Powell said.  In recent weeks, Powell has suggested that Washington could provide an informal nonaggression agreement to Pyongyang.

“We are looking for a different relationship with North Korea,” he said (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/London Guardian, Aug. 14).

A senior White House official said, “there is still no internally agreed upon U.S. position.”

U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that he thinks the crisis can be resolved “in a peaceful way, and we’re making good progress” (Bill Nichols, USA Today, Aug. 14).

Meanwhile, U.S., South Korean and Japanese diplomats met yesterday in Washington and discussed upcoming six-nation talks with North Korea.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also met with South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan in Seoul and developed a coordinated approach for the negotiations, Yonhap News Agency reported.

After the meeting, Li announced he was “pleased to say that we have reached a consensus” (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, Aug. 14).

China and Russia might offer North Korea a nonaggression treaty in an effort to persuade Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons efforts, the Associated Press reported.

“The two countries might offer additional guarantees, if guarantees established by the United States fail to meet North Korea’s expectations to the full,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov.  “North Korea’s wish to have security guarantees looks absolutely logical and there is every indication it will be insisting on them,” he added (Steve Gutterman, Associated Press/Moscow Times, Aug. 10).

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Iran:  Council Advances Second Bushehr Reactor

Iran’s Supreme Nuclear Council has approved the development of a second nuclear reactor in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Aug. 13).

The announcement was reported on Iranian state-run television (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Kansas City Star, Aug. 13).

The council also reviewed a report from the Iranian nuclear agency on the best location for the reactor, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.  The plant would reportedly have a 1,000-megawatt capacity (Islamic Republic News Agency, Aug. 14).

The council also mentioned the potential development of a particle accelerator, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse, Aug. 14).

Iranian nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said U.N. inspectors were allowed to visit a Tehran electric company last week, two months after they were turned away from the same site (Dareini, Associated Press).

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United States I:  Building Explodes at Minuteman 3 Motor Plant

Rocket fuel preparation activities have been halted at a California facility after an accidental explosion leveled a three-story building there last week.  The San Jose plant produces motors for rockets such as the Minuteman 3 ICBM, according to the San Jose Mercury News (see GSN, Aug. 8).

The explosion occurred during a routine mixing of 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of rocket fuel propellant, said Julie Anderson, a spokeswoman for United Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion Chemical Systems Division, which operates the plant.  Three employees were remotely operating the fuel mixing-equipment from a bunker about one-half mile from the explosion site, the Mercury News reported.

Safety measures at the plant helped to prevent fatalities, injuries or other structural damage from the explosion, Pratt & Whitney officials said.  The building exploded as it was designed to do so in the event of an accident, the company said (San Jose Mercury News, Aug. 8). 

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United States II:  Conservatives Outline Need for Low-Yield Warheads

Two conservative commentators this week called for the United States to build new “bunker-busting” nuclear weapons to help destroy weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Aug. 8).

In an opinion piece published yesterday in USA Today, former U.S. House Speaker House Newt Gingrich said the United States should develop low-yield nuclear weapons to have the capability to destroy deeply buried WMD facilities.

As tunneling technology continues to improve, rogue states such as Iran and North Korea will develop new ways to hide “weapons-of-mass-death” facilities beyond the range of conventional weapons, said Gingrich, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.  Bunker-busting nuclear weapons would be able to penetrate deep underground to hit and destroy such facilities, he said.

Gingrich said existing nuclear warheads could not be used to destroy deep-buried targets.  New low-yield weapons could destroy such targets with only a minimum of collateral damage, as opposed to current warheads, he said.

In his piece, Gingrich also suggested that new low-yield nuclear warheads would go beyond the deterrence purposes of the current U.S. nuclear arsenal.

“This would be a weapon designed to be used,” Gingrich said.  “It would not simply be a weapon of deterrence, as current nuclear weapons are,” he added (Newt Gingrich, USA Today/Yahoo!News, Aug. 14).

In a commentary released Monday, Jack Spencer of the Heritage Foundation also advocated developing low-yield nuclear weapons, saying such weapons would be especially effective against biological weapons.  While conventional munitions may be able to destroy a biological weapons facility, they also carry the risk of spreading biological agents, Spencer said.  A low-yield nuclear weapon would be able to both destroy the facility and incinerate biological agents, preventing their release, he said (see GSN, Aug. 11).

Spencer also called on Congress to increase funding for research into new nuclear weapons.  He noted the efforts in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to reduce such funding in the fiscal 2004 energy appropriations bill (see GSN, July 17).

“The Bush administration has requested essential levels of funding for feasibility studies that would begin to define the role that nuclear weapons should play in the 21st century,” Spencer said.  “Congress should meet, or exceed, those funding requests,” he added (Jack Spencer, Heritage Foundation release, Aug. 12).

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United States I:  Tooele Chemical Weapons Incinerator Falls Short in Test

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has stopped burning some chemical weapons at its Tooele, Utah, incinerator while it investigates an incomplete burn of M-55 rockets filled with VX nerve gas during test last week (see GSN, Aug. 13).

“The numbers that came out of the test burn were not within the parameters of the permit,” said Greg Mahall, a spokesman at the Army’s Chemical Materials Agency.

The incinerator apparently did not burn as much of the chemical as regulations require, possibly releasing some into the atmosphere, but the shortfall was negligible, according to Mahall.

Environmental regulations mandate that 99.9999 percent of the chemical be destroyed.  Tests indicated that the incinerator last week destroyed 99.99985 percent of the gas.

The problem might lie with the testing process and not the incinerator, Mahall added.

“It is cause for concern from the point that it doesn’t meet the permit, it behooves one to stop and look at this,” he said.  Army officials have suspended the incineration of fiberglass shipping and firing tubes for M-55 rockets, which contain the chemicals that might have been released.

Army officials, Mahall said, are “being as protective as [they] can.”

An environmental activist group said yesterday, however, that they might use the Tooele test as legal ammunition to stop chemical weapons incineration at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama (see related GSN story, today).  The group sought a temporary restraining order against the Anniston incinerator last week, but it was rejected Friday.

In arguing against the restraining order, Army lawyers cited the success of the Tooele incinerator.

“Part of the argument they made was the performance and maturity and efficacy of the facility in Utah,” said Craig Williams, who heads the Chemical Weapons Working Group.  Citing the troubled Umatilla incinerator in Oregon — which has failed several test burns — Williams said the overall outlook is not good for the Army’s incineration program.

“Start connecting the dots, look at the big picture,” he said, the incinerators are “not all that they are advertised to be.”

Tooele county officials said they do not believe the Army’s incineration program should be suspended because of last week’s test results at their local incinerator.

The regulatory levels for burning chemical weapons “are set so conservatively … that even the failed level is no harm,” said Wade Mathews, a spokesman for Tooele County.

Tooele County Commissioner Gene White said that last week’s test “doesn’t create an unsafe situation.”

“It doesn’t completely concern me right at this particular point,” he added.

The Tooele officials said that some of their worry is alleviated because their facility is not located in the midst of a residential area, unlike the Anniston plant, where about 30,000 residents live within nine miles of the incinerator.

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United States II:  Army Delays VX Destruction at Newport Depot

The U.S. Army announced yesterday that it has decided to delay the destruction of VX nerve agent housed at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, July 16).

The Army had originally planned to begin disposing of the VX stored at the depot in October.  The facility being built to neutralize the nerve agent, however, is not expected to be ready until at least January, Army project manager Jeff Brubaker said (Associated Press, Aug. 14).

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United States III:  Anniston Depot Has Shut Down Incinerator Twice This Week

The chemical weapons incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama has been shut down twice this week because of maintenance problems after beginning operations Saturday, according to the Anniston Star (see GSN, Aug. 13).

On Monday night, workers identified a problem with the motor on the cooling system for the facility’s pollution abatement system.  Earlier that day, workers had also found a small leak of hydraulic fluid, according to the Star.  A spokesman for the depot said both problems have been fixed.

The two incidents were not emergencies and did not involve the release of chemical agents, depot spokesman Mike Abrams said.  The incinerator was expected to resume operation yesterday, he said (Sara Clemence, Anniston Star, Aug. 13).

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