Commission predicts WMD use by 2013

The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism announced that WMD will likely be used somewhere in the world by 2013, and the weapon is expected to be biological.

“The terrorists are organizationally sophisticated enough to get either the nuclear or the bio weapon, but the bio weapon would be even easier for them to get…if they isolate a pathogen, and are able to weaponize it, there’s no reason they wont be able to make more than one weapon and attack more than once,” said Commission co-chair Jim Talent.

However, Talent said there are steps that can be taken to mitigate the risks of both nuclear and biological attacks. In regard to nuclear proliferation, Talent recommends focusing on Pakistan.

“We decided that some time ago as a group, and the events of the last weekend just shows one of the reasons why it’s important. Pakistan is the epicenter of a lot of these dangers, and not just of terrorism but also the potential use by nation states of nuclear weapons because there’s a budding arms race between Pakistan and India in that area,” explained Talent.

The commission outlined other steps, such as halting the use of highly enriched uranium in research reactors, putting a moratorium on manufacturing weapons usable fuels for reactors, and the controversial step of eliminating financial incentives for promoting nuclear energy.

To prevent a biological attack the commission suggested improving protection for the high containment labs where pathogens are created and fostering a community of security among biological scientists, similar to the one shared by physicists in the nuclear age.

“We have recommended that there be some standardization and a single point of accountability for the high containment laboratories in the United States. There has been a proliferation of those labs since 9/11,” said Commission Chairman Bob Graham.

Acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donely says that for the Air Force mission to maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal risk must be eliminated not merely managed. The Air Force recently underwent a shakeup due to an incident were missile material was mistakenly sent to Taiwan. (0:42)

 

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Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) says that the knowledge North Korea has gained from its nuclear program can never be undone, and there will always be a weapons or proliferation threat from the nation (:25).

 

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Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution, says if the unraveling of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty continues, it may be because of the Indian exception to the NPT and could lead to the development of 25 nuclear states. He notes that five countries with nuclear weapons were grandfathered into the treaty. (0:58)

 

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U.S. should not preemptively attack Iran

At the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a discussion was held on the implications of relations between the United States and Iran. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter, said that Iran must make a concession before the U.S. will negotiate them, the hostility of the region and the “clumsiness” that the problem has been handled has been a problem.

The U.S. has lived with a nuclear armed Russia, China, Pakistan, India and Israel for many years, deterrence will work with Iran as well, but preemptive war will not work, Brzezinski said. Iran is looking to build up its nuclear program to be secure in the region, but it is incorrect to say that they will use nuclear weapons to attack Israel or give them to Hezbollah, he said. The Iranian government is not very popular among the Iranian people and they will not support military action against other nations, they are only building up nuclear weapons to ensure security and safety in a volatile region, Brzezinski said.

The U.S. needs to be willing to lower sanctions on Iran, if the Iranian government promises not to use their uranium for nuclear weapons, Brzezinski said. However, the U.S. should not back down on nuclear proliferation and thereby unintentionally legitimizing the use of force to gain respect and power in the Middle East, he said.

Thomas D’Agostino, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security at the National Nuclear Security Administration says updates to nuclear weapons facilities are urgent at a House Armed Services Strategic Forges Subcommittee hearing on nuclear modernization. He says Cold War facilities are wasteful as they are too big and too expensive. (0:31)

 

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The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces held a hearing to consider the National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan for modernizing the nuclear weapons complex. Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) said the Stockpile Stewardship Program, which maintains the nation’s nuclear weapons, is very successful, but its maintenance is scarcely considered. She said that as facilities of the Manhattan Project era crumble, America’s nuclear policies require updating. (more…)

During a press briefing at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that Iran is clearly trying to develop missiles with greater ranges and says that Iran presents a threat in the near future. (0:27)

 

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David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, talks about the Israeli-an attack on Syria’s supposed nuclear facility. Albright says that the U.S. needs to pay more attention to illicit nuclear trading to prevent nations like Syria from being able to create nuclear facilities. He also says that diplomacy is very important, explaining that Syria probably wouldn’t have been able to complete construction of the facility due to what was being said at the Six Party talks. (0:42)

 

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The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) held a discussion on “Israel’s Airstrike on Syria’s Nuclear Reactor: Preventive War and the Nonproliferation Regime.” In September of 2007, Israel attacked what was rumored to be a partially constructed nuclear facility in Syria, and this facility has remained a subject of speculation in the months following the attack. Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, explained that there was very little information pertaining to this Syrian site immediately after the raid. Now, seven months after the fact, Kimball said U.S. intelligence believes that the site was a small nuclear facility under construction for Syrian military purposes. (more…)