Reduction Focus Shifts From Nukes to Bio Threats

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – The 21-year-old program to reduce weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union is shifting focus from nuclear to biological threats and from Russia to Southeast Asia and Africa, the assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs told a Senate panel yesterday.

Madelyn R. Creedon said the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, established in 1991, is gradually shifting to more of a biological threat reduction effort as the program adapts to take on emerging weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, threats in other regions.

“With all the work that's gone on in Russia over the better part of the last 20 years,” she added, “a tremendous amount has been accomplished” in reducing the threat from legacy WMD programs of the former Soviet Union.

Creedon testified before the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities, which met to review President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2013 $3 billion budget request for programs at the departments of Defense and Energy that seek to stem the flow of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

“We do continue to do a variety of work with Russia and in time that will phase down a bit,” Creedon said. “But we also value the relationship with Russia and in that context are seeking an extension of the umbrella agreement that allows for the work in Russia.”

An extension of the agreement, which expires in 2013, would allow work to continue “in some of the areas of sustainment, chemical weapons and some small amount of additional destruction work,” she added.

“We also continue to work in the states of the former Soviet Union,” said Creedon, adding that large biological security programs are ongoing in Kazakhstan, with similar programs in Ukraine.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union military industrial complex transformed viruses and bacteria to weapons of war, and industrial-scale biological weapons facilities were built to win the germ war arms race, according to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency website.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, newly independent republics faced the challenge of dealing with deadly pathogens at sites left unprotected and vulnerable to theft.

Now, Creedon said, “we are beginning to shift focus in the biological program to Africa and the Middle East, so in time we will transition over to those areas of the world as well.”

During 2011, Creedon testified, the CTR program built new nonproliferation partnerships in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Each country’s agreement will be based on its needs and requirements.

For countries like Kazakhstan that are more advanced in such biological work, Creedon added, “you look at things like, how many collections of dangerous pathogens do they have? How are they secured? Should they be consolidated? Should you combine veterinary pathogens and human health pathogens, or does it make more sense to keep them apart?”

In accordance with the CTR’s historical focus, DOD tries to consolidate such biological sites according to a country’s requirements, and monitors each site’s security.

In countries with more advanced facilities, Creedon said, including Kazakhstan and Ukraine, DOD checks the biological safety level of the facilities and determines whether they meet international health regulations and standards.

“We also look at the overall disease surveillance capabilities of the country, because … it's a national security requirement to make sure that our troops in the area, our families in the area, are protected,” she added.

“We want to make sure, particularly in countries that have a naturally occurring incidence of diseases that could be weaponized, that we know whether or not an outbreak is manmade or … natural, Creedon said.

As the biological program expands, Creedon said, “these are the things that we're going to look at with respect to each country, each agreement.”

In the United States, such programs are vetted across federal agencies through a process led by the White House staff, she added. International agencies as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services are included.

Testifying at the same hearing was Kenneth Myers III, director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the U.S. Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction.

He told lawmakers CTR and other nonproliferation programs “are based upon a cooperative relationship with a country, based upon a nonviolent environment where those programs can be carried out.” Myers is also associated with the Joint Forces Headquarters for Elimination, established this year by Stratcom.

“The standing Joint Force Headquarters is designed to be able to provide the same type of capability in a nonpermissive environment,” he said, “or one in which we are not permitted a cooperative opportunity to reduce weapons of mass destruction.”

Good Evening & Greetings

First an introduction.

My name is William Stroock. The boss graciously invited me to blog here. I am a civilian writer specializing in history and military history magazine articles. Here's a link to an article I have in the current issue of Military Heritage Magazine if you want to get a feel for what I do.

Also I have recently published a novel, A Line Through the Desert, currently available at Amazon. Briefly, A Line Through the Desert follows a young Sgt. in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment during the First Gulf War, culminating with the Battle of 73 Easting, 26 February, 1991.

Now, what do I here? I'm going to provide round ups and commentary on war news from all over the world, specifically, the War on Terror, but other areas as needed. So, what does the badly named War on Terror encompass? Obviously Iraq and Afghanistan, but also Somalia, where Islamist militants are battling a weak western backed government and Israel which fights both Hamas (in Gaza) and Hezbollah (in Lebanon) two terrorist groups supported by Iran. Other areas include the Philippines and Pakistan.

With that in mind, lets take a look at the big news.

Today Israel conducted a nationwide drill simulating a massive terrorist attack, presumably a missile attack from Iran. This is very interesting as for more than a year, the Israelis have given every indication that they are going to launch a massive strike on Iran's nuclear program.

Let's consider the facts.

-In the fall of 2007 the IAF destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor built with Iranian and North Korean help.

-Last spring, the IAF conducted an exercise off the coast of Greece, simulating an attack on several targets. Greece is about the same distance as Iran is from Israel. Greece also operates the Russian made S-300 SAM system, which Iran has purchased. This exercise involved more than 100 jets and helicopters.

-The opening move of Operation Cast Lead, Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip last December/January, saw more than 100 Israeli aircraft hit Hamas positions in two waves, with the first wave of 60 aircraft each hitting their targets in a well coordinated simultaneous strike.

To really damage Iran's nuclear program, the Israelis have to take out three main sites, the Uranium enrichment facility in Nataz (in Central Iran), the reactor at Bushehr (on the Persian Gulf) and the research center in the city of Esphahan.

A large, coordinated strike, like the one the Israelis seem to be rehearsing for, would be the only feasible way to do so from the air. Destroying Bushehr would necessarily alert Nataz.

Of course, that's if the Israelis aren't cooking up something else altogether...

ChemBio Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- January 9, 2008

New York Presses To Deploy More Bioweapons Sensors
“[New York] City officials last month quietly activated some of the nation's newest generation of early warning sensors to detect a biological attack, turning on a limited number of filing-cabinet-size air filters in sensitive, high-volume areas of Manhattan. But city officials say their effort to expand the program has run into surprising resistance from the White House, which is not widely deploying the machines. Five years ago, officials here note, the Bush administration was prodding local authorities to move faster to detect the use of biological weapons and pouring billions into biosecurity-related initiatives. New York's leaders now say the administration's enthusiasm and sense of urgency has flagged in its final year in office.” (Washington Post, 09Jan08; Spencer S. Hsu) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803892.html?hpid=topnews

Will ‘NIMBY’ Syndrome Kill N.C. [North Carolina]’s Chances for Bioterror Lab?
“Tuesday’s news that the Granville County [North Carolina] Board of Commissioners has pulled support for building a bioterrorism lab near Butner is bad news for the project. The NIMBY syndrome – as in ‘not in my back yard’ – will chill local and state efforts to win the $450 million project and the hundreds of scientific research jobs that go with it.
However, […] federal officials are at fault for not helping to allay people’s concerns about the project. ‘Homeland Security is not talking to people, not answering their questions,’ local resident John Monroe [said]. Have concerns about the project? Go to our Web site, said Homeland Security. Poor communication about what exactly the project is – and how dangerous it could be – could very well throw North Carolina’s extensive recruitment efforts into turmoil.” (WRAL LocalTechWire.com, 09Jan08, Rick
Smith)
http://www.localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/opinion/blogpost/2275140/

Lab electrician contends firing was retaliatory
“A former electrician at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton [Montana] is alleging that he was fired last spring after lodging complaints about safety breaches at the research facility, which is building a lab to study dangerous diseases such as Ebola. The matter goes before a federal administrative judge in Missoula today for a two-day hearing to determine if managers fired the man as punishment for being a whistle-blower. Rick Hurley, a licensed master electrician who has worked for the federal government for more than 20 years, filed a whistle-blower complaint in March 2006. The National Institutes of Health, which ultimately oversees the lab, issued a statement Monday saying officials investigated all of Hurley's complaints regarding electrical safety at the lab and found them baseless. […] At issue in today's hearing is not whether Hurley's allegations are true, but if the lab was right to fire him and whether managers did so in retaliation for his allegations. The hearing is a result of Hurley's appealing his April 2007 termination.” (Billings Gazette, 07Jan08, Jennifer McKee) http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/01/08/news/state/24-electrician.txt

The growing number of immunocompromised
“It's estimated that about 10 million people in the United States (3.6 percent of the population) are immunocompromised. But that's likely an underestimate because it only includes those with HIV/AIDS (diagnosed and undiagnosed), organ transplant recipients, and cancer patients; there's a sizable population that takes immunosuppressive drugs for other disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. This is a concern because while modern medicine allows many immunocompromised individuals to live longer, they're at an increased risk for acquiring and spreading infections to others. […] Agents of bioterrorism such as smallpox also pose a great risk to the immunocompromised, who are ineligible for the smallpox vaccine because it contains an active (although weakened) virus that could cause a deadly adverse reaction.”
(Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 07Jan08, Laura H. Kahn) http://www.thebulletin.org/columns/laura-kahn/20080107.html

Oregon commission reopens public testimony on Umatilla waste
“In response to a lawsuit, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission voted Tuesday to reopen public comment on the disposal of secondary waste from the destruction of aging chemical weapons stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot near Hermiston. The waste includes plastic protective suits used by workers and contaminated carbon filters from the incinerators used to destroy the stockpile of Cold War chemical weapons at the Army depot in Eastern Oregon. The Government Accountability Project, based in Washington, D.C., won a ruling in April in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland ordering the state to review the ‘best available technology’ for disposing of secondary waste.” (OregonLive.com, 08Jan08, AP) http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1199832242189460.xml&storylist=orlocal

Army Corps hopes to resume chemical munitions dig
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is awaiting a safety board's approval to resume digging for buried chemical munitions near American University [Washington, D.C.]. Army Corps officials say they stopped digging in early December after the discovery of a shell that was configured to explode. Project manager Dan Noble says it's only the second explosively configured munition found in 15 years of digging for World War I munitions buried in the area. In a meeting with nearby residents late Tuesday, officials said the shell did not have a fuse attached, making the chance of an explosion highly unlikely. The Army operated a chemical warfare station at the university to develop and test weapons during the war. Munitions were buried behind the campus when the Army left decades ago.” (Examiner.com, 09Jan08)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1146999~Army_Corps_hopes_to_resume_chemical_munitions_dig.html

Feds, farm groups working to improve security of high-risk farm chemicals
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working to make the screening process regarding chemical security regulations more appropriate for farmers. The department recently announced a delay that exempts farmers and other agricultural facilities from having to complete the vulnerability screening, which has caused some confusion about who should complete the screening and who is exempt. The screening will help DHS determine if it needs to follow up with individuals to do further vulnerability assessments, according to a university report. ‘The system that is in place for chemical manufacturing, refining and distribution plants is not ideal for farm operations,’ says Purdue University Extension Disaster Education Network communication specialist and field staff liaison Steve Cain. ‘The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) and farm organizations will work with the department to help develop a system more appropriate for agriculture.’” (Agriculture Online, 09Jan08) http://www.agriculture.com/ag/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/ag/story/data/1199892909300.xml

Poison sent to councillor 'strong enough to kill'
“The poison in a vodka bottle sent to a Blackburn [U.K.] councillor as part of a campaign for Scottish independence was strong enough to kill him, a court heard. Wayne Cook, 45, is on trial at the court charged with two counts of using noxious substances or things to cause harm and intimidate, under anti-terrorism legislation. The unemployed father-of-three is accused of sending a miniature bottle of vodka filled with caustic soda to Darwen councillor John Wright in April 2007 while another parcel with the same contents was posted to a Scottish journalist, Myra Philp. […] It is alleged that the parcels were sent as part of a campaign by the Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA) to force the British Government out of Scotland. Cook denies the charges.” (Blackburn Citizen, 09Jan08, Telegraph Newsdesk) http://www.blackburncitizen.co.uk/news/newsheadlines/display.var.1953786.0.poison_sent_to_councillor_strong_enought_to_kill.php

Congress Calls for Outside Look at Radiation Detectors
“The omnibus spending bill passed late last year by Congress has placed additional hurdles in front of the Homeland Security Department’s drive to roll out next-generation radiation detectors at U.S. ports, including demanding an outside scientific evaluation of the technology. The new requirements are just the latest development in a more than yearlong battle between the Government Accountability Office, lawmakers and DHS officials over the efficacy of the new technology and the way in which the department has tested it. The new detectors, called Advanced Spectroscopic Portal monitors (or ASPs), are designed to not only detect radiation but to identify the nature of its source, eliminating the need for time-consuming secondary inspections to determine whether the material is innocuous or dangerous. A number of mundane items regularly shipped into the United States, including ceramic tiles and bananas, contain radioactive isotopes that can set off the radiation detectors.” (Global Security Newswire, 09Jan08, Jon Fox)
http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2008_1_9.html#65053A68

Press candidates on threat of nuclear terrorism, two say
“Voters should press the presidential candidates to say what they would do, if elected, to prevent terrorists from carrying out a nuclear attack in the U.S., an expert on nuclear terrorism and the daughter of a victim of the Sept. 11 attacks said Tuesday. Michael Hurley, a counter terrorism advisor to the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a senior staff member to the
911 Commission, and Carie Lemack, founder of Families of September 11, commended efforts since the 2001 attacks to avoid a promised al-Qaida-led nuclear attack on the nation, but they said more can be done.” (Arkansas News Bureau, 09Jan08, Rob Moritz) http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2008/01/09/News/344767.html

CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.

For more information and resources on CBW and WMD terrorism, visit the web page of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, at http://cns.miis.edu/research/cbw/index.htm

Biological Attack Investigator’s Handbook

“Criminal and Epidemiological Investigation Handbook, Federal Bureau ofInvestigation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USDepartment of Justice, and the US Army Soldier Biological ChemicalCommand. 2006.”

Available At:
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/CrimEpiHandbook2006.pdf

Book Excerpt:
“Current information indicates that, regardless of location, American assets and citizens will continue to be targets of terrorist activities. Terrorists have demonstrated their willingness to employ non-traditional weapons to achieve their ends. One such class of non-traditional weapons is biological agents. Biological agents pose new challenges to both law enforcement and public health officials in their efforts to minimize the effects of a biological attack and apprehend those responsible for the attack. In the past, it was not uncommon for law enforcement and public health officials to conduct separate and independent investigations. However, a biological attack requires a high level of cooperation between these two disciplines to achieve their respective objectives of identifying the biological agent, preventing the spread of the disease, preventing public panic, and apprehending those responsible. The lack of mutual awareness and understanding, as well as the absence of established communication procedures, could hinder the effectiveness of law enforcement’s and public health's separate, but often overlapping, investigations. Due to the continued likelihood of biological attacks, the effective use of all resources during a biological incident will be critical to ensure an efficient and appropriate response.

The purpose of this handbook is as follows:

To provide an introduction to epidemiological and criminal terrorist investigations so public health and law enforcement personnel have a better understanding of each other's information requirements and investigative procedures.

To identify potential conflicts law enforcement and public health personnel will encounter during their respective biological incident investigations and to provide potential solutions that can be adapted to meet the needs of the various jurisdictions and agencies throughout the United States.

To enhance the appreciation and understanding of each discipline's expertise by all parties.”

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.