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Status Brief
History/Origins:

Developmental Milestones/Developments to Date:

Current Assessment/State of the Field:

Problems/Challenges:

Proposals:

1999

Brennan, Richard et al. “Chemical Warfare Agents: Emergency Medical and Emergency Public Health Issues.Annals of Emergency Medicine, Volume 34 Issue 2. 191. August 1999

  1. ”Although it is prudent not to overstate the risk posed by chemical warfare agents (CWA), the proliferation of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons (weapons of mass destruction [WMD]) was recently recognized by the US Congress as the most serious threat to national security.” – page 191
  2. “Risks to civilian populations include terrorism, military stockpiles, military use, and industrial accidents involving chemicals used as CWAs.”
  3. “To ensure that American cities and communities are appropriately prepared for a terrorist attack with a chemical, biological, or nuclear weapon, Congress passed The Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 (WMD Act).” – page 192
  4. ”CWAs are broadly classified as nerve agents, vesicants, pulmonary agents, and cyanides (formerly bloody agents).” – page 194
  5. ”Their clinical effects, and their comparative advantages as weapons, vary according to their physiochemical characteristics, toxicity, and primary site of action.” – page 194
  6. ”Relevant issues in disaster preparedness for an incident involving a CWA include education and training of emergency personnel, disaster planning, public education, deployment of specialized teams, and stockpiling of appropriate antidotes.” – page 195
  7. ”The federal response to terrorism consists of 2 components: crisis management and consequence management. The lead federal agency for crisis management is the FBI and the lead federal agency for consequence management is FEMA.” – page 198
  8. ”Recent trends in terrorism, the production and transport of industrial chemicals, and the aging of the military stockpile have increased the risk that civilians may be exposed to CWAs.” – page 202
  9. “Principles of emergency response and medical treatment include levels of response, command and control, personal protective equipment, assessment, demarcation of the contaminated area, agent detection and identification, triage, decontamination, preparedness of the emergency department, protecting the public, medical treatment and antidotes, poison control centers, and surveillance.

Chemical, WMD, Public Health, Military, Japan, Sarin, CWC, Chemical Surveillance

 

Gilligan, Major Matthew J.,Opening the Gate?: An Analysis of Military Law Enforcement Authority Over Civilian Lawbreakers On and Off the Federal InstallationMILITARY LAW REVIEW, Volume 161, September 1999.

  1. “Military commanders have the inherent authority and duty to maintain law and order on military installations and to guarantee the security of the occupants thereon.”
  2. “Congress has specifically granted to military law enforcement officials statutory arrest authority over service members for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”
  3.  The Posse Comitatus Act “prohibits using military personnel to execute civil laws unlss authorized by the Constitution or an Act of Congress.”
  4.  Exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act include the Military Purpose Doctrine and a service member assisting as a private citizen.

Military, Posse Comitatus Act, Military Purpose Doctrine, Uniform Code of Military Justice, Law Enforcement, Law

2000

Benjamin, Georges C. “Chemical and Biological Terrorism: Planning for the WorstPhysician Executive Volume 26 Issue 1. 80. January/February 2000.

  1. Chemical or biological terrorism is the use of pathogenic microbes or toxins derived from plants, animals, microbes, or chemical agents to achieve terror.” – page 80
  2. ”Chemical and biological weapons, like nuclear weapons, are categorized as weapons of mass destruction (WMD) because of the high number of potential victims that can result from their use.” – page 80 *
  3. ”While any chemical can be weaponized, the chemical agents traditionally of concern fall into four categories: nerve agents like sarin, which create an anticholinergic-like syndrome; vesicants like mustard gas, that cause a blistering or burn-like syndrome; cyanide, which interrupts aerobic metabolism; and riot control agents such as mace, which generally cause incapacitation.” – page 80
  4. ”Biological agents act like chemical agents but have a slower onset of action. Agents of concern include Ricin.” – page 81
  5. ”The ideal bioweapon is hard to detect from the usual microbial flora, has person-to-person spread, and is easy to aerosolize. There are two groups of organisms of public health concern: those that cause a high morbidity or a high mortality.” – page 81
  6. ”Examples of high morbidity organisms include salmonella, cholera, or E. coli. The number of highly toxic organisms is fortunately quite low and includes anthrax, smallpox, and the viruses that cause hemorrhagic fevers, plague, brucellosis, and tularemia.” – page 81
  7. “Clues that biological terrorist events have occurred include an unexplained increase in respiratory cases or deaths, or dead and dying animals. Epidemiological clues include diseases with the wrong mode of transmission, which occur in an inappropriate geographic distribution or infect a new or novel population.” – page 81
  8. “Components of a biological/chemical terrorism disaster plan: plan how to identify the threat; develop an effective public health disease surveillance system; link the public health system and the traditional medical care delivery system; develop command and control systems; determine hospital bed availability; define disease containment, isolation, and quarantine procedures; plan how to obtain extra life support equipment such as respirators; plan how to train clinical staff to identify high-risk unusual diseases; ensure non-clinical staff are trained on the management of suspicious packages and mail; identify experts; plan simple handling and transport; plan how to communicate high risk information; manage medical examiner cases; and maintain a crime scene.” – page 81
  9. ”Effective disease control strategies such as case finding, decontamination, prophylaxis and vaccination, and quarantine must be defined.” – page 82

Chemical, WMD, Bioterrorism, Public Health, Military, Sarin, Japan, Ricin, E. coli, Cholera, Salmonella, Anthrax, Smallpox, Hemorrhagic fever, Plague, Brucellosis, Tularemia, Prophylaxis, Vaccination, Quarantine

 

Vergano, Dan, “Bioterrorism defense under fire Doctors say military plans are wrong approach”. USA TODAY. June 21, 2000.

  1. “At a recent briefing sponsored by the American Medical Association, infectious-disease specialists argued that military planners have botched the nation’s bioterrorism defenses and ignored the doctors who would form the leading lines of defense against terrorists wielding diseases to kill.”
  2.  “”It’s not the military who will respond to a biological event, but biologists,” says AMA briefing speaker Michael Osterholm of the Minneapolis-based Infection Control Advisory Network, an infectious-disease consulting firm. A former state health official, he warns “it’s just a matter of time” before a bioterrorist attack occurs. He estimates an anthrax attack could cause 3 million deaths.”
  3. “Osterholm criticizes the federal government’s allocation of funds as already too military-oriented, with about $ 121 million sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat bioterrorism, out of about $ 10 billion in the 1999 federal counterterrorism budget”
  4.  “Biological weapons pose a unique public threat. Unlike explosives or gunfire, microbes overwhelm people slowly, spreading through the populace with symptoms that can mimic more benign maladies, like the flu.”
  5.  “Lab analysis, vaccines and drugs, “disease detectives,” and quarantine are all tools that can be directed toward a biological disaster by the CDC director without the involvement of any other federal agency, Lillibridge says. ‘We anticipate the rest of the government catching up with us.’”
  6.  “Instead of funding military bioterrorism response teams, he says, the government should bulk up disease surveillance efforts staffed by physicians”
  7. “Most bioterrorism planning revolves around worst-case scenarios,” says terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman, who heads the Washington, D.C., office of RAND, a military and public policy think tank. Terrorists desire terror, he suggests, a goal achieved far more easily and cheaply with a gun or a bomb than with microbes.”

Public Health, Bioterrorism, CDC, Quarantine, Emergency Response, Military, Anthrax

2001

Yoo, John C. and Robert J. Delahunty, “Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities Within the United States,” OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNCIL, October 23, 2001.

  1.  Posse Comitatus “only applies to the domestic use of the Armed Forces for law enforcement purposes, rather than for the performance of military function.” Exception: “allows the use of military when constitutionally or stautorily authorized.”
  2.  Constitution “supports deployment of the military domestically, as well as abroad, to respond to attacks on the US.”
  3.  PCA “intended to prevent the use of the military for domestic law enforcement purposes. It does not address the deployment of troops for domestic military operatons against potential attacks on the US.”

 Posse Comitatus Act, Law Enforcement, Military

 

Stolberg, Sheryl, “A NATION CHALLENGED: THE HEALTH SYSTEM; Struggling to Reach a Consensus On Preparations for Bioterrorism”. The New York Times; November 5, 2001.

  1. “This year, Johns Hopkins will buy extra medicines, masks, ventilators and radios for its security force. It will retrofit a building with new air filters, to keep infectious germs from spreading. The price: $7 million. The question is, who will pay for it?”
  2. “”The federal government is going to have to give us some assistance,” Mr. Peterson said. Last week, the American Hospital Association estimated that the nation would have to spend $11.3 billion to get hospitals ready to handle a serious bioweapon attack.”
  3. “The system they have tested — the public health system — has been strained to its breaking point.”
  4. “”We have spent, in the last three years, one dollar per year per American on bioterrorism preparedness,” said Dr. Tara O’Toole, director of the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at Johns Hopkins University. “We are basically getting what we paid for.””
  5. “”We can achieve much better preparedness very quickly,” Mr. Kennedy said, “but it will require a major national effort and a major commitment of new resources.””
  6. “Having the will does not just mean having the money. It means training doctors and nurses and public health professionals. It will also mean a sea change in the way hospitals do business.”
  7. “To prepare for bioterrorism, hospitals must build surge capacity back in. Yet because they are reimbursed by health insurers only for patient care, hospital executives say they have no way to pay for bioterrorism preparedness. And because hospitals compete for patients, most have not engaged in regional planning for a bioterrorist attack — designating one city hospital as the burn unit, for instance, and another the infectious disease ward.”
  8. “Some bioterrorism experts, among them Dr. Frank E. Young, the former director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services, have suggested that military field hospitals could be used to help cope with an attack. Others say that is not practical.”

Public Health, Bioterrorism, Military, Vaccination, Biotechnology

 

Bolgiano, David G., “Military Support of Domestic Law Enforcement Operations: Working Within Posse Comitatus,” FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN, December 2001, Volume 70, Issue 12, page 16.

  1. Legal issues from law enforcement/military overlap
  2. “encounter military support in counterdrug operations, training, disaster assistance, or search and rescue missions.”
  3. “police officers protect the public safety by investigating criminal activity while the military fights the battles against hostile enemies.”

Law Enforcement, Posse Comitatus Act, Military

2002

Thom Shanker, “U.S. Tested A Nerve Gas In Hawaii“, November 01, 2002, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/01/us/us-tested-a-nerve-gas-in-hawaii.html?src=pm. Last Checked 20 September 2011

  1. “According to the reports, released today by the Deployment Health Support Directorate, a branch of the Pentagon office of Health Affairs, the Army detonated warheads filled with Sarin in the forest reserve in April and May of 1967.”
  2. “The goal of the test, named Red Oak, Phase 1, was to ‘evaluate the effectiveness of Sarin-filled 155-mm artillery projectiles and 115-mm rocket warheads in a tropical jungle environment,’ the report states.”
  3. “Pentagon officials said 46 exercises were conducted by the Deseret Test Center, based at Fort Douglas, Utah, from 1962 to 1973. Today’s release brings to 41 the number of tests whose reports have been declassified.”
  4. “The tests were not conducted to study the effects of chemical and biological weapons on human health. Instead, those on land were to learn more about how chemical and biological weapons would be affected by climate, environment and other combat conditions. Tests at sea were intended to gauge the vulnerability of warships and how they might respond to attack.”

Chemical, WMD, Military

2003

Vellozi, Claudia, et.al, “Generalized Vaccinia, Progressive Vaccinia, and Eczema Vaccinatum Are Rare following Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccination: United States Surveillance,” INVITED ARTICLE: CONFRONTING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS, 2003.

  1. “military began vaccinating against smallpox in Decemeber 2002 for bioterrorism preparedness.”
  2. dermatological manifestations
  3. “adverse reactions” to the smallpox vaccine

Vaccination, Smallpox, Military

 

Davis, Jim, “The Looming Biological Warfare StormAir & Space Power Journal, Volume 17, Issue 1. 57. Spring 2003.

  1. ”Until very recently, the lack of focus on this subject (biological warfare) has resulted in a lack of appropriate funding and accountability.” – page 58
  2. ”Unless we focus appropriate dollars and develop a coherent national plant to prepare for and prevent such actions, the United States will likely suffer an enormous economic loss that could even lead to our demise as a superpower.” – page 58
  3. ”A belief in one or more of at least six false assumptions or myths helps explain why individuals, including senior civilian and military leaders, do not believe that a mass-casualty biological warfare (BW) attack will occur.” – page 58
  4. ”Myth one: there never really has been a significant BW attack” – page 58
  5. ”Even before the fall 2001 anthrax terrorism in the United States, incidents of BW and bioterrorism have occurred on multiple occasions.” – page 58
  6. ”Today, more countries have active biological warfare programs than at any other time in history, which increases the likelihood that BW will be used again in the future.” – page 58
  7. ”Myth two: The United States has never been attacked by a BW agent” – page 59
  8. ”Myth three” you have to be extremely intelligent, highly educated, and well-funded to grow, weaponized, and deploy a BW agent” – page 59
  9. ”Dr. Tara O’Toole, deputy director for the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at Johns Hopkins University, believes we have probably crossed over the threshold from ‘too difficult’ to accomplish to ‘doable by a determined individual or group’” – page 59
  10. “Much of the technical information is readily available on the internet, in libraries, and through mail order channels that provide ‘how-to’ manuals.” – page 59
  11. ”Myth four: biological warfare must be too difficult because it has failed when it has been tried” – page 59
  12. ”Myth five: there are moral restraints that have kept and will keep BW agents from being used” – page 60
  13. ”Morality can be marshaled as a reason both to limit BW use and to advocate mass killings – depending on the decision maker’s values and perspectives” – page 60
  14. ”Myth six: the long incubation period required for BW agents before onset of symptoms makes BW useless to users” – page 60
  15. ”There have already been multiple BW attacks, and to a savvy weaponeer, the incubation period can be used as an advantage rather than a disadvantage.” – page 60
  16. ”There are two primary motivations that might drive an adversary to attack the United States with a BW agent. The first motivation is to gradually ‘erode US influence’ as a world superpower. The second is categorized as ‘revenge or hate’” – page 61
  17. ”The author believes that there are three most likely BW scenarios the United States and its allies might face in the future: an agroterrorist event against the United States, a BW attack on United States and allied troops in the Middle East, and/or a bioterrorist attack against a large population center in the United States or an allied state.” – page 61
  18. ”Such myths continue to inhibit the adequate funding of US and allied biodefense” – page 66

Military, Anthrax, Plague, Smallpox, Tularemia, Sarin, Japan, Iraq, Iran, Nonproliferation, WMD

 

Stellman, Jeanne, et al., “The Extent and Patterns of Usage of Agent Orange and Other Herbicides in Vietnam.” Nature, Vol. 422, 681. April 17, 2003.

  1. ”Herbicides including Agent Orange were sprayed by the United States forces for military purposes during the Vietnam War (1961-1971) at a rate more than an order of magnitude greater than for similar domestic weed control.” – page 681
  2. ”Herbicide mixtures, nicknamed by the colored identification band painted on their 208-liter barrels, were used by the United States and Republic of Vietnam forces to defoliate forests and mangroves, to clear perimeters of military installations, and to destroy “unfriendly” crops as a tactic for decreasing enemy food supplies. The best known mixture was Agent Orange” – page 681
  3. ”Agent White was less satisfactory than Agent Orange because several weeks were required for defoliation to begin. Agent Blue was the agent of choice for crop destruction by desiccation throughout the entire war.” – page 682
  4. ”Although Agent Purple is, indeed, likely to have been more highly contaminated with tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), it is also likely that the mean TCDD levels in Agent Orange were far higher for much of the herbicide use.” – page 684
  5. ”Large numbers of Vietnamese civilians appear to have been directly exposed to herbicidal agents, some of which were sprayed at levels at least an order of magnitude greater than for similar US domestic purposes. Other analyses being carried out by us show large numbers of American troops also to have been directly exposed or to have served in recently sprayed areas.” – page 686
  6. ”NAS-1974, a comprehensive study carried out by The National Academy of Science, found the HERBS file, a chronological record which contained flight path coordinates of Air Force spraying missions, to be a powerful tool for studying exposure to herbicides.” – page 686

Military, Public Health, Chemical, Food Supply, WMD

 

Lombardo, Joseph, S., “The ESSENCE II Disease Surveillance Test Bed for the National Capital Area,” Johns Hopkins Technical Digest, pp. 327-334, Vol. 24, No. 4, 2003. http://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/td2404/Lombardo.pdf

  1. “The Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics, version two (ESSENCE II), is being developed through a collaboration between the DoD Global Emerging Infections System and APL [Applied Physics Laboratory]. ESSENCE II uses nontraditional health indicators in syndromic groupings coupled with advanced analytical techniques in an advanced information technology environment.” p. 327
  2. “The contamination and closure of major medical centers, even if only temporary, could have an impact on the health of the populations they serve. To mitigate the consequences of such an event, an effective public health campaign must be launched early in the course of the outbreak.” p. 327
  3. “Disease surveillance began in Europe in the 14th century as a means of controlling disease within communities. IN the United States, disease reporting began in 1741 when Rhode Island passed an act requiring tavern keepers to report patrons with contagious diseases.” p. 327
  4. “ESSENCE II has been a tool for health department epidemiologists to support the early recognition of abnormal disease patterns within the NCA [National Capital Area].” p. 334.
  5. “ESSENCE I is a worldwide military syndromic surveillance system operated by the DoD Global Emerging infections System (DoD-GEIS). ESSENCE II relies solely on the acquisition and processing of existing data from various sources.  It is also unique in that it is the only known system to integrate both military and civilian health indicators.” p. 328
  6. “ESSENCE II is being developed as a test bed for the National Capital Area (NCA). As such it permits the implementation and evaluation of novel surveillance concepts.” p. 328
  7. “ESSENCE II modules implement the following: Policies to ensure the privacy of personal health care information. Policies governing the exchange of information among other surveillance systems, Data achieve …detection of abnormalities in the indicator data, [controls for] special events or environmental conditions that warrant changes in detection parameters …identify false positives … current or historical trends, Visualization of user interfaces, Processes for injecting simulated data for training and measuring the performance of ESSENCE II detectors and indicators.” p 328
  8. “The data needed to effectively use and operate ESSENCE II fall into three distinct categories: sensitive health care information, publically available information, and products of external surveillance.” p. 329
  9. [Data collected includes:] “chief-complaint data from hospital emergency rooms; International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes used for billing patient visits for private practice groups; over-the-counter (OTC) sales of pharmaceuticals that can be used for sefl-medication; nurse hotline calls; school absentee records; etc.”
  10. “We have grouped these data streams into the ”sensitive heath care” category because they may acquired and used only in conformance with privacy laws, corporate policies, memoranda of agreements, etc.” p. 329
  11. “ESSENCE II data achieve is partitioned into three parts: public domain information, sensitive health care data, and data that are subject to the policies agreed upon by the providers and users of the data.” p. 330
  12. “The traditional gold standard is a confirmed laboratory result, but this data source may not provide the timeliness needed to respond to a widespread outbreak caused by a covert attack with a weaponized disease.” p. 330
  13. “One problem with the removal of all personal identifiers on nontraditional clinical data is that a single case of illness could show up in several of the data streams used for surveillance.” p 330
  14. “In addition, the processes implemented must fit into the business rules and privacy policies of the organizations supplying the data.” p. 331
  15. “Most data available to ESSENCE II can be resolved down to only the patient zip code.” p. 331
  16. “A basic function of ESSENCE II is to deliver alerts and surveillance information to civilian public health authorities in the NCA.” p. 332
  17. “Separate user names and passwords are provided so that ESSENCE II can recognize each authorized user and give only the data the user is authorized to view. …a director of epidemiology would have access to all the information within his or her jurisdiction as well as the shared information from the surrounding jurisdictions.” p. 332

Biosurveillance, Public Health, Military

2004

Lecchire, Gary, and Michael A. Wermuth, et al., “Triage for Civil Support: Using Military Medical Assets to Respond to Terrorist Attacks“, TRIAGE, “Legal and Other Barriers to Military Support to Civil Authorities”, 2004.

  1. “State governments and their political subdivisions have primary responsibility for coping with emergencies, including terrorist events.”
  2. Military support for civil authorities, 4 categories allowed: ‘civil disturbance/insurrections, counterdrug operations, disaster relief, counterterrorism/weapons of mass destruction.”
  3. “Under the Stafford Act, a presidential declaration of a major disaster or an emergency triggers federal assistance. The type of federal assistance available depends on whether the situation is considered a disaster or an emergency.”
  4. “In the event of a catastrophic event, particularly when a deadly biological agent is implicated, officials, including military personnel, may need to restrict the civil liberties of Americans, especially freedom of movement, to prevent mass chaos and mitigate public health threats.”

Posse Comitatus Act, Public Health, Emergency Response, Law Enforcement, Military

 

May, Lisa, et. al., “Recommended Role of Exposure Biomarkers for the Surveillance of Environmental and Occupational Chemical Exposures in Military Deployments: Policy ConsiderationsMilitary Medicine Vol. 169, 761, October 2004.

  1. “A lack of individual exposure information limited the evaluation of exposure-outcome relationships after the Gulf War” – page 761
  2. “Exposure Biomarkers provide a mechanism to overcome some of the limits of exposure assessment tools currently used by the Department of Defense by assessing combined exposures from inhalation, ingestion, and dermal pathways to evaluate the extent of chemical entry into the body and can provide a mechanism to systematically document chronic chemical exposures” – page 761
  3. “Exposure Biomarkers offer the Department of Defense an enhanced capability for individual and population exposure assessment during military deployments” – page 764
  4. “The most significant source of error in the Exposure Biomarker method is the time of sampling. It is entirely possible to miss exposures completely because of the clearing mechanisms of the individual and/or because some chemicals have relatively short half-lives.” – page 766

Chemical, Chemical Surveillance, Military

2005

Elsea, Jennifer, “The Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: A SketchCRS REPORT FOR CONGRESS, June 6, 2005.

  1. prevent the use of military as law enforcement unless authorized by Congress or Constitution
  2. “bills that could result in increased interaction between military and civilian authorities” (H.R. 1986, H.R. 1815, S. 1042, S. 1043)

Posse Comitatus Act, Military

 

Hedges, Stephen, “Gulf Coast Crisis: Off the Gulf CoastCHICAGO TRIBUNE, September 4, 2007.

  1. naval goodwill station unused, waiting to help in efforts for Hurricane Katrina
  2. “role in the relief effort of the sizable medical staff on board the Bataan was not up to the Navy, but to FEMA.”

Military

 

Editors, “Hurricane Katrina Medical SITREP“, Situation Report, September 13, 2005.

  1. relief efforts, supplies, and resource statuses in aiding victims

Military

 

Elsea, Jennifer, “The Use of Federal Troops for Disaster Assistance: Legal Issues“, CRS REPORT FOR CONGRESS, September 16, 2005.

  1. shared information between military and law enforcement

Posse Comitatus Act, Military

 

Shane, Scott, “At Hearings, State and National Guard Make Appeals for Aid“, NYT, Section A, Column 3, September 29, 2005.

  1. “National Guard has only a third of the equipment it needs to respond to domestic disasters and terrorist attacks ad will need $7 billion to acquire the radios, trucks, construction equipment and medical gear required.”
  2. National Guard: “using old radios were unable to talk to active duty troops with the latest communication systems as they patrolled New Orleans.”
  3. “The President seems to think we’ll use the Guard and Reserve in Iraq and the Army in Louisiana,’ Mr. [David] Obey [Democrat of Wisconsin] said, calling that approach ‘backward’.”

Emergency Response, Military

2006

Sullivan, Eileen, “DOD Sees Larger Role in Disaster Support if Civilian Responders Can’t Handle Job“, CQ HOMELAND SECURITY, May 15, 2006.

  1. “The Department of Defense will have a larger role in providing civil support during disasters or catastrophes, but only if local, state and federal civilian responders do not have the resources or expertise to handle the disaster themselves.”
  2. “DOD cautions that there should not be too much reliance on military support during disasters, because military assets – first and foremost – exist for DOD’s national security mission and may not be available for domestic response.”

Military, Emergency Response, Law Enforcement, Homeland Security

 

Sullivan, Eileen, “DoD, DHS Insist Nation Well-Prepared to Withstand Another HurricaneCQ HOMELAND SECURITY, May 23, 2006.

  1. National Guard not stretched too thin, more resources available in case of a disaster
  2. State and Local governments to be primary managers with help if needed from federal government and military

Military, Emergency Response, Homeland Security

 

Editors, “Nonlethal Weapons Touted For Use On Citizens“, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 12, 2006.

  1. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne believes that “nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield.”
  2. injury issues domestic vs. world

Military

 

Hillen, JohnDefense Trade ControlsDISAM Journal of International Security Assistance Management, Volume 28, Issue 2. 83-88. Winter 2006.

  1. “The following are excerpts of the address to the 18th Annual Global Trade Controls Conference November 3, 2005” – page 83
  2. “We are here today at this conference to talk about export controls, which are nonproliferation in action.” – page 83
  3. “It is clear that combating the twin threats of terrorism and proliferation will be one of the central tasks of the new century… All our energies must be bent to prevent this sort of situation.” – page 83
  4. “Enemies of modernism and open societies are on the move. They are constantly changing their tactics, locales, modalities, technologies, command structures, and methods of procurement” – page 83
  5. “This year, two Iranians, Mahoud Seif and Shahrazed Mir Gholikhan, were indicted in a U.S. court and convicted in an Austrian court for attempting to smuggle Generation III night vision goggles to Iran.” – page 83
  6. “This year, dual Lebanese-Canadian citizen Naji Antoine Khalil pled guilty in a U.S. court to attempting to export night vision equipment and infrared aiming devices to Hizballah.” – page 83
  7. “This year, Colombian citizen Carlos Gamarra-Murillo pled guilty in a U. S. court to brokering and exporting defense articles without a license.” – page 83
  8. “One of the responsibilities of the Bureau of Political Military Affairs … is to conduct a program to destroy Man-portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) to keep them out of terrorist hands” – page 83
  9. “Defense export controls are an integral part of our broader security agenda, whether it is the global war on terrorism, preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, or bolstering regional stability around the globe.” – page 84
  10. “First and foremost, we’re responded to these complexities in part through more aggressive compliance efforts” – page 85
  11. “Where the export control sins aren’t sufficiently serious to require criminal prosecution, we can resort to civil enforcement actions.” – page 85
  12. “We also encourage industry to self-report violations uncovered by their internal compliance programs, and last year we received 396 of these voluntary disclosures, more than one a day, every day, including Christmas”
  13. “… we have instituted an expedited licensing procedure for the urgent needs of our Coalition partners in Afghanistan and Iraq” – page 85
  14. “One step we have taken to meet this growth is our new system for fully electronic defense trade, which is making our export licensing process faster, simpler, and more efficient” – page 86
  15. “Not only has defense trade become more complex, but the nature of what is being exported has become more sophisticated as well. For the most part, “defense articles” used to mean weapons themselves and their component parts. But today the most sensitive defense exports don’t necessarily go “bang.” – page 86
  16. “Given the increasingly global nature of defense trade, a key element of our defense export policy is to strengthen international export controls, which is also a major pillar of our broader nonproliferation policy” – page 87

Export Control, Nonproliferation, WMD, Military, Compliance, Industry

2007

Kocieniewski, David, “6 Men Arrested in a Terror Plot Against Fort Dix“, NYT, A1, May 9, 2007.

  1. “newest breed of threat: loosely organized domestic militants unconnected to – but inspired by – Al Qaeda or other international terror groups.”
  2. plot uncovered by FBI – plot to kill soldiers at the Fort Dix Army Base

Military, Al-Qaeda, Terrorist/Offender

 

Saulny, Susan, and Jim Rutenberg, “Kansas Tornado Reviews Debate On Guard At War: Slow Response to Storm, States Assert Deployments Stretch the Troops and Mate’riel Too Thin“, NYT, A1, May 9, 2007.

  1. “For months Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas an other governors have warned that their state National Guards are ill-prepared for the next local disaster.”
  2. slow response, National Guard ill-equipped
  3. A report by the Government Accountability Office “concluded that the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have ‘significantly decreased’ the amount of equipment available for National Guard units not deployed overseas, while the same units face an increasing number of threats at home.”

Military, Emergency Response, Iraq, Afghanistan

 

Cloud, David S., “Gates Says Miltary Faces More Unconventional Wars“, NYT, A13, October 11, 2007.

  1. improve ability to “train foreign militaries and prepare for other unconventional conflicts.”
  2. “Mr. [Robert M.] Gates [Secretary of Defense] said that the Army had to regain its edge in fighting conventional wars while retaining what it had learned fighting unconventional wars.”
  3. future- “Army soldiers can expect to be tasked with reviving public services, rebuilding infrastructure, and promoting good governance.” – “nontraditional capabilities have moved into the mainstream of military thinking, planning and strategy.”

Military

2008

Reppy, Judith, “A biomedical military–industrial complex?Technovation, 28(2008)802–811 .

  1. “This paper considers whether the surge in spending and the responses from industry, universities, and individual scientists have created a network of interlocking interests that constitute a new ‘Biomedical Military–Industrial Complex’ (BMIC), similar to the military–industrial complex that Eisenhower warned against in his Farewell Address. Despite the emergence of many practices associated with the military–industrial complex, the tentative conclusion is that the new institutions and practices in the area of biosecurity do not merit the BMIC label, at least not yet.”

Biodefense, Biosecurity, Industry, Military

 

Cheadle, Shawn. “Are you up to Date on Export Compliance?Military Microwaves Supplement. 8. August, 2008

  1. “To export defense articles or technical data, companies must remain compliant with regulations enforced by the US State Department (State), US Customs Agency, Department of Commerce (Commerce), the Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC), Homeland Security, and the Census Bureau among others.” – page 8
  2. “Technical data is defined as follows by the EAR: information that is required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, repair, testing, maintenance or modification of controlled items requiring a license to export.” – page 9
  3. “The penalties for exporting without a license may be severe, including both criminal and civil penalties to the corporation and even the individuals involved.” – page 9
  4. “US companies found guilty of violating the various laws will generally be debarred from exporting for three years, and may be debarred for much longer.” – page 9
  5. “The State Department uses both the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to control exports.” – page 9
  6. “Primarily, under the EAR, you must classify your products against the Commerce Control List to see if they have an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) or will be designated as “EAR99.”” – page 14
  7. “Just because you have classified products as EAR99 does not necessarily mean that the products may ship as no license required (NLR). You still must consult several prohibitions checklists to determine whether a license is nevertheless required.” – page 14
  8. “All records associated with the review of each export, re-export, deemed export, or exports conducted under a license exception, should be retained by the company and the responsible individuals for five years from the date the item is exported” – page 18

Export Control, Compliance, Military, Homeland Security, State Department, Information Policy

 

Joiner, Jamie A., and Mark C. JoyeComplying with U.S. Export Controls: Practical Considerations and Guidelines for BusinessesInternational Trade Law Journal. Winter 2008

  1. “Export control training will guarantee that all employees, all compliance officers, and all managers of the corporation remain up-to-date on export controls.”
  2. “There are two primary separate export control regimes in the United States that businesses operating in or with the U.S. must be aware of. The first is the regime for dual-use exports, which is administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).”
  3. “BIS administers and enforces the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) which cover “dual-use” items.”
  4. “The second is the regime for defense articles and services, which is administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).”
  5. “DDTC administers and enforces the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which covers military items including items that have a military use.”
  6. “The EAR imposes dual-use controls for several purposes, including national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation, and U.S. economic interests.”
  7. “The EAR includes general export and reexport requirements, processes and prohibitions, as well as penalties.”
  8. “The EAR also contains the Commerce Control List (CCL) which is a list of the items that the U.S. Government has designated as “dual-use” items.”
  9. “Items listed on the CCL contain one or more Control Codes which indicate the reason(s) for control of that item.”
  10. “The ITAR is the primary set of regulations containing the defense-related export controls, and the ITAR applies to manufacturers and exporters of defense articles and services.”
  11. “The ITAR includes the U.S. Munitions List (USML), a list of the defense articles and technical data controlled for export under the ITAR.”
  12. “There are at least two major types of foreign laws that relate to U.S. export controls that businesses should be aware of. The first type is complementary to U.S. export controls and these are the export control laws that are maintained by certain foreign countries that are fairly consistent with and similar to U.S. export controls.”
  13. “These multilateral export control Conventions and Agreements include: The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, The Australia Group, The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and On Their Destruction, also referred to as the Chemical Weapons Convention, and The Missile Technology Control Regime”
  14. “The second type, on the other hand, are foreign “blocking” statutes which essentially prohibit the foreign country’s citizens, including businesses, from complying with certain U.S. economic or trade sanctions, such as the U.S. embargo of Cuba.”

Export Control, Compliance, Military

 

Martin, Timothy, “Drawing Lines in the Sea“, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, December 2008, Vol. 134 Issue 12, p58-62.

  1. “PSI is a cooperative although informal arrangement, without a formal treaty. All states party to this arrangement agreed to the 2003 Statement of Interdiction Principles (SIP), which gives guidance on the interception of vessels under accepted international law as laid out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Participating states agree to abide by these principles, but the SIP does not authorize states to conduct interdictions at sea.”
  2. “Determining what cargo is ‘reasonably suspected’ is likely to be contestable, as many states reserve the right to ship military, nuclear, and other material by sea, and there is nothing in UNCLOS that specifically prohibits the transport of WMDs through international waters.”
  3. “To determine acceptable measures for law enforcement and interdiction in international waters requires that common perceptions exist regarding the level of threat, and that the national interests of states have been considered.”
  4. “Vessels registered or flagged to a particular state retain that state’s sovereign protection. So when authorities interdict a suspicious vessel, they must pay attention to these limitations, or risk being accused either of violating a foreign state’s territorial jurisdiction, or breaching international conventions on freedom of the seas.”
  5. “International agreements greatly accelerate the process by which law enforcement officials from one state can board suspect vessels flying the flag of another, especially when the flag state is unable to exercise control over the vessel due to its location or other factors, or maintain contact with suspect vessels entering national waters and airspace.”

PSI, Law Enforcement, WMD, Military

 

Rood, John C. “Improvements to the Defense Trade Export Control SystemDISAM Journal of International Security Assistance Management, Volume 30, Issue 4. 83-89. Winter 2008.

  1. “The following are excerpts of remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC, February 26, 2008” – page 83
  2. “I am excited to discuss with you the significant changes that this Administration has undertaken which we believe will maintain the United States’ ability to control sensitive military technology and at the same time, permit U.S. companies to export their products in a more timely and predictable manner and collaborate more effectively with foreign companies” – page 83
  3. “We changed our licensing policy so that employees of foreign companies who are nationals from NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] or EU [European Union] countries, Japan, Australia [or] New Zealand are now considered authorized under an approved license or TAA (Technical Assistance Agreement).” – page 84
  4. “We also are working with the Department of Commerce to clarify the application of U.S. munitions export controls to parts and components certified by the Federal Aviation Administration” – page 84
  5. “Similarly, we are reviewing internal review processes within the Department with the objective of eliminating internal bottlenecks where they may exist” – page 84
  6. “And, as you know, the Administration also signed landmark treaties with the United Kingdom and Australia on Defense Trade Cooperation this year.” – page 86
  7. “The goal was to create the ability for our respective militaries and security authorities and companies to freely exchange information and technologies. To accomplish this, we have created an entirely new structure for most defense exports” – page 87
  8. “Exports of most classified and unclassified U.S. defense goods, technology, and services will be permitted to go into and to move freely within this community without the need for government approvals and export licenses when in support of:
    1. Combined military and counterterrorism operations
    2. Cooperative security and defense research, development, production, and support projects
    3. Specific security and defense projects where HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] is the end-user
    4. And USG only end-use” – page 88
  9. “This will be a big change from today’s export licensing system where numerous government approvals are often necessary for companies to hold discussions about potential projects, to pursue joint activities, to ship hardware and know-how to one another, and even sometimes to move engineers and other personnel within branches of the same company on both sides of the Atlantic” – page 88
  10. “One important highlight of the treaty is that it will include the ability for both governments to effectively enforce it against violators” – page 88

Export Control, Dual Use, Military, Compliance, NATO

2009

Sferopolous, Rodi, “A Review of Chemical Warfare Agent (CWA) Detector Technologies and Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Items.Defense Science and Technology Organization. March 2009

  1. ”An ideal detector can be described as one that can detect both Chemical Warfare Agents (CWA) and Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TIC) selectively within an acceptable time; sensitive enough to detect agent concentrations at or below levels which post a health risk, and not be affected by other factors in the environment. As yet, the ‘ideal’ detector is not a commercial reality.” – Executive Summary
  2. ”Whilst Chemical Agents (CA) can cause serious injury or death, it is the method and accuracy of their delivery that determines the severity of the damage.” – page 2
  3. ”TICs are another class of CA that are less deadly than conventional CWAs, but pose a greater threat because they are more easily accessible in large quantities and are widely used in the manufacturing or primary material processing (mining and refining) industries.” – page 6
  4. ”Most detectors are designed to respond only when a threat is directly imminent and therefore tend to ‘detect to respond’ or ‘detect to react’ rather than ‘detect to warn.’” – page 10
  5. ”Individual Personal Equipment (IPE) is still utilized as the main form of protection against a chemical weapons attack as it has been proven to provide effective protection for an individual whilst the agent is neutralized or eliminated.” – page 10
  6. ”With increasing threats of terrorism, the roles of CA detectors are also increasing in civil emergency responses.” – page 10
  7. ”At present, the most challenging aspect for detection and identification of CAs is the differentiation of the agent of interest from another chemicals already present in the environment.” – page 11
  8. ”Environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, wind, dust and contamination concentration in the air, can affect the performance of a detector. It is crucial that during the selection process it is determined if a detector is able to operate effectively in the intended environment.” – page 14
  9. ”Ion Mobility Spectroscopy (IMS) based detectors are the most commonly deployed detectors for chemical monitoring by the military.” – page 16
  10. ”Existing IMS-based field detectors include Chemical Agent Monitor (CAM), Advanced Portable chemical Agent Detector (APD 2000), Multi-IMS, Rapid Alarm and Identification Device-Monitor (RAID-M), IMS-2000, GID-3 also known as Automatic Chemical Agent Detection Alarm (ACADA), SABRE 4000, and the Lightweight Chemical Detector (LCD).” – page 20
  11. ”Flame Photometry Detectors (FPD) are deployed in military forces and civil agencies worldwide, however they are more commonly found integrated with a gas chromatograph (GC) in the laboratory. To date, GC-FPD has been one of the most useful methods in determining the CWA concentrations in samples sent to a laboratory for confirmation analysis.” – page 32
  12. ”Existing FPD based field detectors include the French AP2C monitor, the updated AP4C version, and MINICAMS.” – page 34
  13. ”For field applications, Infra-Red (IR) Spectroscopy based detectors are used to determine whether a sample contains targeted chemicals rather than being used to identify them.” – page 38
  14. ”Existing IR based detectors include the M21 detector, Joint Service Lightweight Standoff Chemical Agent Detector (JSLSCAD), MIRAN SapphIRE Portable Ambient Air Analyzer, AN/KAS-1 and AN/KAS-1A Chemical Warfare Directional Detectors, TravelIR HCI, HazMat ID, and the IlluminatIR.” – page 43
  15. ”Raman Spectroscopy is a light scattering technique based upon the knowledge that when radiation passes through a transparent medium, any chemical species present will scatter a portion of the radiation bean in different directions.” – page 52
  16. ”Existing Raman spectroscopy based field detectors include the FirstDefender and the FirstDefender XL.” – page 54
  17. ”Surface Acoustic Waves (SAW) sensors operate by detecting changes in the properties of acoustic waves as they travel at ultrasonic frequencies in piezoelectric materials.” – page 57
  18. ”Existing SAW based field detectors include the HAZMATCAD, ChemSentry 150C, CW Sentry Plus, SAW MINICAD mk II, and the Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD).” – page 59
  19. ”Colorimetric detection is a wet chemistry technique formulated to indicate the presence of a CA by a chemical reaction that causes a color change when agents come into contact with certain solutions or substrates.” – page 65
  20. ”Photo Ionization Detectors (PID) are typically used in first responder scenarios to give preliminary information about a variety of chemicals as they can detect vapors given off by certain inorganic compounds that other detectors may not. They only provide suggestive, not definitive, information about whether a site has been compromised.” – page 75
  21. ”Existing PID field detectors include MiniRAE 2000, MiniRAE 3000, ppbRAE, ppbRAE 3000, ppbRAE Plus, MultiRAE Plus, ToxiRAE Plus, and the TVA 1000B Toxic Vapor Analyzer.”- page 77
  22. ”Flame Ionization detectors are general-purpose and non-selective, therefore they respond to any molecule containing carbon-hydrogen bonds.” – page 86
  23. ”Existing FID field detectors include the Photovac MicroFID Handheld FID.” – page 87
  24. ”Current detection capability is somewhat limited, as such there is a need for further research into the development of technologies which are aimed at building improved detectors to accurately provide advanced warning of a CA release.” – page 89

Chemical, Military, Chemical Surveillance, Public Health, Emergency Response, WMD

 

Hartz, Marlena, “Scientists Develop CW Decontamination WipeNTI. March 11, 2009.  http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20090311_1277.php

  1. “A Texas-based team has used federal funding to create a wipe that would neutralize chemical warfare materials released in a terrorist attack”
  2. “The thin sheet of carbon is included with a lotion-soaked sponge in a kit that could be distributed to U.S. military personnel and first responders. The items could be used to remove chemical agents from equipment, skin and even eyes and open wounds”

Decontamination, Bioterrorism, Public Health, Emergency Response, Military

 

Cetron, Marvin J. & Davies Owen, “Ten Critical Trends for Cybersecurity”, 1 September 2009 Futurist Last checked February 24, 2011.

  1. “Technological advances and greater connectivity may be making our systems less rather than more secure.”
  2. ‘“Cybersecurity is the soft underbelly of this country,…”’
  3. “McConnell does not worry…hackers or spies will steal classified information from computers owned by government or the military… He is afraid they will erase it and thereby deprive the United States of critical data…”
  4. “January 2008, a CIA analyst told American utilities that hackers had infiltrated electric companies in several locations outside the United States.”
  5. “Information warfare will be a significant component in most future conflicts.”
  6. “Repeated reports that Chinese computer specialists have hacked into government networks in Germany, the United States… show that the threat is not limited…”
  7. “Information warfare in military planning and operations will expand greatly in the next two or three decades.”
  8. “The growing domination of technology is the ultimate foundation for cyberwar.”
  9. ‘“Coordinated cyberattacks at multiple levels will be capable of knocking out the macro(national defense systems), meso (local power grids), and micro (starting an automobile) simultaneously.”’
  10. ‘“National-security interventions and general hell raising, it is time to plan, design, and execute over the next five to seven years a replacement for the internet.”’
  11. “Disrupt essential information or communications systems,… government agency. Or military unit could be dead in water…”
  12. “Our major concern is no longer weapons of mass destruction, but weapons of mass disruption.”

Cybersecurity, China, Homeland Security, Military

2010

Lieggi, Stephanie; Shaw, Robert; and Toki, Masako. “Taking Control: Stopping North Korean WMD-Related ProcurementBulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 66, issue 5. Pages 21-34. September 2010

  1. “Last year, when two Japan-based traders were convicted for attempting to illegally transport sensitive materials, a larger story unraveled – one that illuminated North Korea’s efforts to obtain technology related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD).” – page 21
  2. “Historically, the country acquired much of its WMD-related technology and training from abroad, particularly China and the Soviet Union. Today, North Korea’s procurement network employ a sophisticated mix of front companies, brokers, and transshipment strategies.” –page 21
  3. “Since the early 1950’s, North Korea has both legally and illegally sought to acquire advanced technology and commodities from Japanese entities to improve its military capability.” – page 22
  4. “Pyongyang’s (capitol of North Korea) missile business has developed into an important source of revenue – ranging from #300 million to $1.5 billion annually, according to some estimates – and North Korea has traded missile technology with many countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Syria, and Yemen.” – page 23
  5. “The export violations incidents in Japan involving Toko Boeki and Tadao Morita occurred after the U.N. Security Council passed resolutions in July and October 2006 sanctioning North Korea, and after Tokyo consequently expanded its list of items under embargo to Pyongyang.’ – page 23
  6. “…Japans ‘catch-all’ controls, which mandate a license requirement for certain destination countries if an export is likely to support development of WMD, even if the item is not specifically mentioned on domestic controls list” – page 23
  7. “In early 2009, police in Kanagawa, a suburb of Tokyo, raided the offices of trading company Toko Boeki after the firm attempted to export a magnetometer (a device used to measure magnetic fields) to Myanmar in September 2008 and again in January 2009.” – page 23
  8. “Japanese authorities determined a magnetometer to be a useful tool in the development of magnets critical to the operation of some missile guidance systems, and police suspected a link to North Korea’s missile development programs” – page 23
  9. “The investigation led to the June 2009 arrest – and eventual indictment – of Toko Boeki’s founder and president, Li Gyeong Ho, for his attempts to dodge Japan’s catch-all controls.” – page 23
  10. “Li pleaded guilty and received a prison sentence of two years, matching the request of the prosecutors. However, the sentence was suspended for four years, highlighting Japan’s problem with lenient sentences for proliferation-related offenses. Additionally, Li’s company, Toko Boeki, was fined about $68,000 (6 million yen)” page 25
  11. “In addition to the criminal penalties, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) imposed a complete seven month export ban on both Li and his company.” – page 25
  12. “In May 2009, police in Hyogo, a suburb outside Kyoto, arrested Chong Rin Chae (Tadao Morita), a South Korean resident, for attempting to illegally export two tanker trucks from Japan to North Korea via South Korea.” – page 25
  13. “In July 2009, Morita pleaded guilty to export control violations involving the tanker trucks and the luxury goods and was sentenced to a suspended three-year prison term. His company was also assessed a fine of approximately $55,000 (5 million yen).”- page 26
  14. “In January 2010, six months after Morita’s criminal conviction, METI also imposed a 16-month export ban on Morita and his company” – page 27
  15. “Since METI’s 2002 implementation of catch-all controls, the Japanese government has strengthened legal and administrative provisions specific to curbing the spread of WMD – a process accelerated by North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile tests.” – page 27
  16. “Last year, Japan amended its Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade law, which increased the maximum penalty for export control violations from five to seven years. If a violation involves WMD-related items, however, then the maximum penalty is 10 years” – page 27
  17. “The use of front companies and transshipment destinations reveals a network continuously evolving in response to U.N. sanctions and increased nonproliferation-focused export controls of supplier countries like Japan” – page 30

Export Control, Japan, North Korea, WMD, Military, Nonproliferation, UN

 

Lorber, Jane, “House Passes Cybersecurity Bill” 4 February 2010 New York Times http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/house-passes-cybersecurity-bill/ Last Checked March 15, 2011.

  1. “The House… passed a bill aimed at building up the United States’ cybersecurity army and expertise, amid growing alarm over the country’s vulnerability online.”
  2. “Bill… passed 422-5, requires the Obama administration to conduct an agency-by agency assessment of cybersecurity workforce skills…”
  3. “Establishes a scholarship program for undergraduate and graduate students who agree to work as cybersecurity specialists for the government after graduation.”
  4. “Officials puzzle over how to defend the nation from enemies that are often impossible to pinpoint, … education and recruitment are crucial.”
  5. ‘“Investing in cybersecurity is the Manhattan Project of our generation,”’
  6. “But this time… we are facing far greater threat. Nearly every high school hacker has the potential to hamper… the internet. Just imagine what a rouge state could do.”’
  7. “Federal government will need to hire between 500 and 1,000 more ‘“cyber warriors”’ each year to keep up with potential enemies.”
  8. “Large-scale cyberattacks could massively disable or hurt international financial, commercial and physical infrastructure.”
  9. “Mr. Obama has said cybersecurity is one of his top priorities and between the fallout from the attack on Google’s computers in January…”
  10. “Authorizes one single entity,… to represent government in negotiations over international standards… a cybersecurity university-industry task force to guide the direction of future research.”

Cybersecurity, Military

 

Shanker, Thom, “Loophole May Have Aided Theft of Classified Data,NYT, July 8, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/world/09breach.html?_r=2&sq=military gaga&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1279090805-QBlmeAmcqVZu6CQdJRU0Ww

  1. “Criminal charges were filed this week against the soldier, Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, 22, who was accused of downloading more than 150,000 diplomatic cables, as well as secret videos and a PowerPoint presentation.”
  2. “A Defense Department directive from November 2008 prohibits the use of small thumb drives or larger external memory devices on any of the estimated seven million computers operated by the Pentagon and armed services. The order was issued to forestall the accidental infection of national security computer networks by viruses — and the intentional removal of classified information.”
  3. “Defense Department computers have their portals disabled to prevent the use of external memory devices that are ubiquitous in homes, offices and schools, officials said.”
  4. “According to Pentagon officials and one former hacker who has communicated with Private Manning, he appears to have taken compact discs that can accept text, video and other data files into an intelligence center in the desert of eastern Iraq to copy and remove the classified information.”
  5. “The four pages of official charges against Private Manning accuse him of downloading and removing the classified data from last November to May. The charges say he also loaded unauthorized software onto a computer linked to the military’s classified computer network, called the SIPR-Net.”
  6. “In downloading more than 150,000 diplomatic cables, the charges state, Private Manning did “intentionally exceed his authorized access on” the SIPR-Net.”

Information Policy, Classified, Military

 

Gertz, Bill, “China Targets U.S. Troops with Arms Buildup,” Washington Times, August 31, 2010. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/16/china-targets-us-troops-with-arms-buildup/

  1. “A report to Congress about China’s military power warned that China is aggressively building up military forces capable of striking U.S. forces in the western Pacific and elsewhere as part of what the Pentagon calls an array of high-tech ‘anti-access’ missiles, submarines and warplanes in its latest annual report.”
  2. “‘China is fielding an array of conventionally armed ballistic missiles, ground- and air-launched land-attack cruise missiles, special operations forces, and cyberwarfare capabilities to hold targets at risk throughout the region,’ the report said.”
  3. “Much of the report builds on past reports on China’s arms buildup, which includes a modestly growing nuclear arsenal and large-scale expansion of missile, naval and air forces.”
  4. “The report for the first time highlighted the growth of Chinese anti-access and area-denial weapons, notably Beijing’s building and testing of a unique anti-ship ballistic missile that can hit ships at sea with pinpoint accuracy up to 1,000 miles from China’s coasts.”
  5. “The goal of China’s arms buildup is to have forces that can attack U.S. ships should they be called on to defend Taiwan in a future conflict with China.”
  6. “‘China is pursuing a variety of air, sea, undersea, space and counter-space, and information warfare systems and operational concepts to achieve this capability, moving toward an array of overlapping, multilayered offensive capabilities extending from China’s coast into the western Pacific,’ the report said of the anti-access arms.”
  7. “New power projection forces that give China’s military an extended range and are upsetting East Asian stability, specifically threatening the South China Sea region where tensions have been raised.”
  8. “Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, said ‘It is clear that China is aggressively expanding its military capabilities, which appear to be aimed at limiting American strategic options in the Pacific. This troubling reality is inconsistent with China’s supposed interest in fostering a peaceful, stable region.’”

China, Military

 

Editors, “Planned Malaysian Biolab Raises Security Concerns,” Global Security Newswire http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20100908_8991.php September 8, 2010. Last checked September 10, 2010.

  1. “Plans to construct a high-security biological research laboratory in Malaysia have caused some worry over possible proliferation of highly lethal disease materials, ProPublica reported yesterday.”
  2. “Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions and Ninebio Sdn Bhd., which is funded by the Malaysian Health Ministry, in 2008 announced a joint plan to construct a large complex at an industrial site not far from Kuala Lumpur for ‘vaccine development and manufacturing.’”
  3. “Emergent is the producer of the only U.S.-licensed anthrax vaccine. The Emergent-Ninebio venture intends to manufacture halal-compliant vaccines for the international Muslim market. The complex is currently slated to begin work in 2013, according to an Emergent release.”
  4. “The two firms intend to construct a ‘biocontainment R&D facility that includes BSL … 3 and 4 laboratories,’ According to online architectural plans for the 52,000-square-foot complex.”
  5. “Biosafety Level 4 laboratories perform countermeasure research on diseases for which there are no known cures, such as the Ebola and Marburg viruses. There are fewer than 40 such facilities in the world and none in Malaysia. The nation has three BSL-3 laboratories, which handle potentially deadly pathogens like anthrax and plague.”
  6. “U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Vann Van Diepen said during a House panel hearing in March that a critical aspect of today’s biological weapon fears is ‘the growing biotechnology capacity in areas of the world with a terrorist presence.’”
  7. “Malaysia’s history with terrorism includes the 2002 bomb attack by Malaysian-based extremists from Jemaah Islamiyah that killed 202 people at a popular nightclub in Bali, Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur served as the ‘primary operational launchpad’ for al-Qaeda senior operatives planning the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the FBI. The Malaysian capital was also a key hub in the nuclear technology smuggling ring operated by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan (see GSN, March 14, 2005).”
  8. “Security specialists argue that having a U.S. firm such as Emergent involved in Malaysia’s growing biotechnology industry would give Washington some degree of clout and authority over international biodefense work.”
  9. “Malaysian authorities want the high-tech laboratories to respond to local epidemics of diseases such as SARS and Japanese encephalitis in addition to advancing research on cures for biological materials that could be used in acts of terrorism.”
  10. “Kuala Lumpur has started to develop new biological security regulations that would meet U.S. standards. It has received assistance in the effort from the U.S. Energy Department’s Sandia National Laboratories, ProPublica reported.”
  11. “…and monitoring of biological manufacturing installations under the Biological Weapons Convention. The United States and Russia, however, are against site inspections and the likelihood of more effective oversight controls being put into effect is not known.”
  12. “‘We currently do not have [BSL-4] labs in Malaysia but we would be happy to collaborate with the government of Malaysia on biosurveillance, safety and security in the future,’ a Defense Department spokesman said (Coen/Nadler, ProPublica, Sept. 7).”

BSL, Malaysia, Vaccination, Nonproliferation, Bioterrorism, Public Health, Military, State Department

 

Shane, Scott, “Pentagon Plan: Buying Books to Keep Secrets,” NYT Sept. 9, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/us/10books.html?_r=1&hpw last checked sept 10, 2010.

  1. “Defense Department officials are negotiating to buy and destroy all 10,000 copies of the first printing of an Afghan war memoir they say contains intelligence secrets, according to two people familiar with the dispute.”
  2. “The publication of “Operation Dark Heart,” by Anthony A. Shaffer, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer and a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, has divided military security reviewers and highlighted the uncertainty about what information poses a genuine threat to security.”
  3. “Disputes between the government and former intelligence officials over whether their books reveal too much have become commonplace. But veterans of the publishing industry and intelligence agencies could not recall another case in which an agency sought to dispose of a book that had already been printed.”
  4. “Army reviewers suggested various changes and redactions and signed off on the edited book in January, saying they had “no objection on legal or operational security grounds,” and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, planned for an Aug. 31 release.”
  5. “But when the Defense Intelligence Agency saw the manuscript in July and showed it to other spy agencies, reviewers identified more than 200 passages suspected of containing classified information, setting off a scramble by Pentagon officials to stop the book’s distribution.”
  6. “Release of the book “could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to national security,” Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess Jr., the D.I.A. director, wrote in an Aug. 6 memorandum. He said reviewers at the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and United States Special Operations Command had all found classified information in the manuscript.”
  7. “The disputed material includes the names of American intelligence officers who served with Colonel Shaffer and his accounts of clandestine operations, including N.S.A. eavesdropping operations, according to two people briefed on the Pentagon’s objections. They asked not to be named because the negotiations are supposed to be confidential.”
  8. “By the time the D.I.A. objected, however, several dozen copies of the unexpurgated 299-page book had already been sent out to potential reviewers, and some copies found their way to online booksellers. The New York Times was able to buy a copy online late last week.”
  9. “The dispute arises as the Obama administration is cracking down on disclosures of classified information to the news media, pursuing three such prosecutions to date, the first since 1985. Separately, the military has charged an Army private with giving tens of thousands of classified documents to the organization WikiLeaks.”
  10. “Colonel Shaffer, his lawyer, Mark S. Zaid, and lawyers for the publisher are near an agreement with the Pentagon over what will be taken out of a new edition to be published Sept. 24, with the allegedly classified passages blacked out. But the two sides are still discussing whether the Pentagon will buy the first printing, currently in the publisher’s Virginia warehouse, and at what price.”
  11. “A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Bob Mehal, said the book had not received a proper ‘information security review’ initially and that officials were working ‘closely and cooperatively’ with the publisher and author to resolve the problem.”
  12. “In a brief telephone interview this week before Army superiors asked him not to comment further, Colonel Shaffer said he did not think it contained damaging disclosures. ‘I worked very closely with the Army to make sure there was nothing that would harm national security,’ he said.”
  13. “‘Operation Dark Heart’ is a breezily written, first-person account of Colonel Shaffer’s five months in Afghanistan in 2003, when he was a civilian D.I.A. officer based at Bagram Air Base near Kabul.”
  14. “The book includes some details that typically might be excised during a required security review, including the names of C.I.A. and N.S.A. officers in Afghanistan, casual references to “N.S.A.’s voice surveillance system,” and American spying forays into Pakistan.”
  15. “David Wise, author of many books on intelligence, said the episode recalled the C.I.A.’s response to the planned publication of his 1964 book on the agency, ‘The Invisible Government.’ John A. McCone, then the agency’s director, met with him and his co-author, Thomas B. Ross, to ask for changes, but they were not government employees and refused the request.
    The agency studied the possibility of buying the first printing, Mr. Wise said, but the publisher of Random House, Bennett Cerf, told the agency he would be glad to sell all the copies to the agency — and then print more.
    ‘Their clumsy efforts to suppress the book only made it a bestseller,’ Mr. Wise said.”

Information Policy, Classified, Military

 

Andrues, Wesley R. “What U.S. Cyber Command Must do” 1 October 2010 JFQ: Joint Force Quarterly Last checked March 8, 2011. http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy-tu.researchport.umd.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=21&sid=ceea057b-79dd-4a43-9b25-88e4042c232a%40sessionmgr14&vid=3

  1. “The U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) … role in information technology ownership and draw clear operational boundaries in administering cyber security…”
  2. “The existing ingredients of cyber security would be more effective under a central commander than distributed to those with a custodial responsibility for the network.”
  3. “Information assurance, computer network defense, and computer network response actions… weapons of choice in safeguarding DOD information…”
  4. “Overlapping responsibilities may hobble the effectiveness of a new command devoted exclusively to cyberspace operations and security.”
  5. “NSA, whose influence on planning and programming information systems could feasibly eclipse that of CIO.”
  6. “June 2009,… the creation of U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM),… subunified command to be led by the director…National Security Agency (NSA).”
  7. “USCYBERCOM will be legitimized by a base execute order from the Secretary of Defense that will bestow it with the authorities needed … on some global level.”
  8. “Cyber forces are far from readily understood or objectively applied.”
  9. “There is potential for subunified command to make a tangible impact on a functional area such as cyberspace…”
  10. “USCYBERCOM may emerge as a well-intended office whose real authorities prove negligible in the long run.”

Cybersecurity, Military

 

Schneidmiller, Chris, “U.S. Eliminates 80 Percent of Chemical Weapons Arsenal”, 5 October 2010, Global Security Newswire, http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101005_5357.php Last Checked 5 October 2010

  1. “Only 20 percent of the U.S. arsenal of chemical warfare materials remains to be destroyed.”
  2. “‘This 80 percent destruction milestone highlights the firm determination that has been consistently demonstrated by the United States in meeting its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention,’ said Ahmet Üzümcü, head of the convention’s international verification body, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.”
  3. “The United States held 31,500 tons of lethal substances such as mustard blister agent and the nerve agents sarin and VX when it ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. The pact prohibits the development, production and use of such materials and requires member nations to destroy existing stockpiles — putting them permanently out of the reach of governments and extremists.”
  4. “Washington originally agreed to dispose of its banned arsenal within a decade of formally joining the pact, a deadline later pushed back to April 2012. Operations, though, are expected to continue for nine years past the mandated end date.”
  5. “The convention does not allow for Moscow or Washington to receive extensions past 2012. However, experts have played down the potential consequences for states that fail to meet their obligated deadline, as long as they demonstrate progress on disarmament.”

Chemical, Military

 

Eschenfelder, Chip, “Lockheed Martin Completes Preliminary Design for Next Generation Long-Range Surveillance Radar” 21 October 2010, Global Security Newswire http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2010/102010_LM_3DELRR.html Last Checked 21 October 2010.

  1. “The U.S. Air Force has approved Lockheed Martin’s preliminary design for its next-generation mobile, long-range surveillance and ballistic missile defense radar.”
  2. “The Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR) will serve as the principal ground-based sensor for long-range detection, identification, tracking, and reporting of aircraft and missiles for both the Air Force and the Marine Corps.”
  3. “‘The new radar’s open architecture will allow it to easily adopt emerging technology, expanding the system’s viability well beyond the typical 20-year life of today’s sensor systems,’ said Mark Mekker, director of Lockheed Martin’s ground-based surveillance radar.”
  4. “Once deployed, 3DELRR will be the primary ground-based sensor for the Air Force’s Joint Forces Air Component Commander through the Ground Theater Air Control System and the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Commander through the Marine Air Command and Control System.”
  5. “The radars operate in some of the harshest remote locations around the world, from the Arctic Circle to the jungles of the Amazon.”

Military, WMD

 

Shachtman, Noah, “Wikileaks Show WMD Hunt Continued in Iraq – With Surprising Results” 23 October 2010, Wired http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/wikileaks-show-wmd-hunt-continued-in-iraq-with-surprising-results/, Last Checked 24 October 2010.

  1. “WikiLeaks’ newly-released Iraq war documents reveal that for years afterward, U.S. troops continued to find chemical weapons labs, encounter insurgent specialists in toxins, and uncover weapons of mass destruction.”
  2. “American forces came across a ‘house with a chemical lab … substances found are similar to ones in lesser quantities located a previous chemical lab. The following day, there’s a call in another part of the city for explosive experts to dispose of a ‘chemical cache.’”
  3. “An armored Buffalo vehicle unearthed a cache of artillery shells ‘that was covered by sacks and leaves under an Iraqi Community Watch checkpoint. The 155mm rounds are filled with an unknown liquid, and several of which are leaking a black tar-like substance.’ Initial tests were inconclusive. But later, ‘the rounds tested positive for mustard.’”
  4. “American troops found at least 10 rounds that tested positive for chemical agents.”
  5. “Remnants of Saddam’s toxic arsenal, largely destroyed after the Gulf War, remained. Jihadists, insurgents and foreign (possibly Iranian) agitators turned to these stockpiles during the Iraq conflict — and may have brewed up their own deadly agents.”
  6. “The more salient issue may be how insurgents and Islamic extremists (possibly with the help of Iran) attempted to use these lethal and exotic arms.”
  7. “In WikiLeaks’ massive trove of nearly 392,000 Iraq war logs are hundreds of references to chemical and biological weapons.”
  8. “There was more evidence of a major and modern WMD program than the American people were led to believe.”

Chemical, WMD, Military, Iraq

 

Elliott, Dan, “Air Force Manual Describes Shadowy Cyberwar World” 25 October 2010, Associated Press http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101025/ap_on_re_us/us_cyberwarfare_manual/print Last Checked 26 October 2010.

  1. “A new Air Force manual for cyberwarfare describes a shadowy, fast-changing world where anonymous enemies can carry out devastating attacks in seconds and where conventional ideas about time and space don’t apply.”
  2. “The manual — officially, ‘Cyberspace Operations: Air Force Doctrine Document 3-12’ — is dated July 15 but wasn’t made public until this month. It is unclassified and available on the Internet.”
  3. “The manual explains how dependent the military and civil society have become on computer networks for communication, banking, manufacturing controls and the distribution of utilities.”
  4. “It also outlines the vulnerabilities of the Internet, including the relatively low cost of computers that could give an adversary a way to block, manipulate, damage or destroy a network.”
  5. “Much of the Internet’s hardware and software are produced and distributed by private vendors in other countries who ‘can be influenced by adversaries to provide altered products that have built-in vulnerabilities, such as modified chips.’”
  6. “Enemies can cloak their identities and hide their attacks amid the cascade of data flowing across international computer networks.”
  7. “Operating in cyberspace ‘may require abandoning common assumptions concerning time and space’ because attacks can come from anywhere and take only seconds, the manual says.”
  8. “Relentless attackers are trying to hack into home and office networks in the U.S. ‘millions of times a day, 24/7.’”
  9. “It dwells mostly on protecting U.S. military computer networks and makes little mention of attacking others. That could signal the Pentagon wants to keep its offensive plans secret, or that its chief goal is fending off cyberattacks to keep its networks up and running, analysts said.”
  10. “Overall U.S. military cyberwarfare operations will be the job of the U.S. Cyber Command, which began limited operations in May. It will have components from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines.”
  11. “Responsibility for civilian and government cybersecurity is less clear. Congress is debating between giving more power to the Homeland Security Department or the White House and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.”

Cybersecurity, Military, Homeland Security

 

Hersh, Seymour M., “The Online Threat”, New Yorker. 1 November 2010  Last Checked March 9, 2011.

  1. “If China had reverse-engineered the EP-3E’s operating system, all such systems in the Navy would have to be replaced, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.”
  2. “The Chinese penetration as a warning about present and future vulnerabilities–…that China, or some other nation, could use… cyber skills to attack America’s civilian infrastructure and military complex.”
  3. “After years of planning, the U.S. Cyber Command was officially activated, and took operational control of disparate cyber-security and attack units… among the four military services.”
  4. “Its commander, Army General Keith Alexander… wants more access to e-mail, social networks, and internet to protect America and fight in… a new warfare domain—cyberspace.”
  5. “President Obama, who has publicly pledged that his Administration will protect openness and privacy on the Internet, will have to make choices that will have enormous consequences for the future…”
  6. “Will cyber security be treated as a kind of war?”
  7. ‘“Cyber war” was emerging as one of the nation’s most widely publicized national-security concerns.”
  8. “The federal government currently spends between six and seven billion dollars annually for unclassified cyber-security work, and, it is estimated, an equal amount on the classified portion.”
  9. “Fourteen million dollars to build a bunker for the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command.”
  10. “Cyber espionage is… capturing e-mail traffic, text messages, other electronic communications, and corporate data for the purpose of gathering national-security or commercial intelligence.”
  11. “Cyber war involves the penetration of foreign networks for the purpose of disrupting or dismantling those networks, and making them inoperable.”
  12. “Blurring the distinction between cyber war and cyber espionage has been profitable for defense contractors–and dispiriting for privacy advocates.”
  13. “The most common cyber-war scare scenarios involve America’s electrical grid.”
  14. “Many long-standing allies of the United States have been deeply engaged in cyber espionage for decades.”
  15. “A retired four-star Navy admiral, who spent much of his career in signals intelligence, said that Russia, France, Israel, and Taiwan conduct the most cyber espionage against the U.S. …”

Cybersecurity, Military, China, Russia, France, Israel

 

Editors, “Army Orders Chemical Defense System,” Global Security Newswire, NTI, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, Last Checked Nov. 10, 2010. http://gsn.nti.org/siteservices/print_friendly.php?ID=nw_20101103_8806.

  1. “The Army has issued a multimillion dollar contract for development of an advanced chemical defense testing system intended to help protect U.S. troops.”
  2. “Missouri-based Midwest Research Institute has been awarded a $35.5 million, 41-month contract to complete the blueprints for the testing system, acquire permits, and perform system testing and other work. The Kansas City company will be working with five subcontractors on the project.”
  3. “The system is to be placed at the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland toward the end of 2013. It is intended to aid the testing of individual and group protective equipment as well as evaluate threat detection technologies and decontamination systems.”

Chemical, Military

 

Schmitt, Eric, “Air Force Limits Access to Web Sites Over Secret Cables,” NYT, December 14, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/us/15wiki.html?_r=1&hp Last checked December 14, 2010.

  1. “The Air Force is barring its personnel from using work computers to view the Web sites of The New York Times and more than 25 other news organizations and blogs that have posted secret cables obtained by WikiLeaks, Air Force officials said on Tuesday.”
  2. “When Air Force personnel on the service’s computer network try to view the Web sites of The Times, the Guardian of London, Germany’s Der Spiegel, Spain’s El Pais and France’s Le Monde, as well as other sites that posted full confidential cables, the screen says: ‘Access Denied: Internet usage is logged and monitored,’ according to an Air Force official whose access was blocked … Violators are warned they faced punishment if they tried to view classified material from unauthorized Web sites.”
  3. “Computer network operators at the 24th Air Force last week followed longstanding policy to keep classified information off unclassified computer systems, Air Force officials said. ‘News media Web sites will be blocked if they post classified documents from the WikiLeaks Web site,’ said Lt. Col. Brenda Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Space Command. ‘This is similar to how we’d block any other Web site that posted classified information.’”
  4. “Colonel Campbell said that only sites posting full classified documents, not just excerpts, would be blocked.”
  5. “Spokesmen for the Army, Navy and Marines said they were not blocking the Web sites of news organizations, largely because guidance has already been issued by the Obama administration and the Defense Department directing hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors not to read the secret cables and other classified documents published by WikiLeaks unless the workers have the required security clearance or authorization.”
  6. “‘Classified information, whether or not already posted on public websites or disclosed to the media, remains classified, and must be treated as such by federal employees and contractors, until it is declassified by an appropriate U.S. Government authority,’ said a notice sent on Dec. 3 by the Office of Management and Budget, which is part of the White House, to agency and department heads.”
  7. “Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, a secrecy specialist, said that since the O.M.B. directive about a dozen agencies have implemented their own approaches to the order that tells employees not to look at the WikiLeaks cables. For instance, Mr. Aftergood said NASA, the Library of Congress and the Congressional Research Service have gone beyond the O.M.B. directive so their computers block access to the WikiLeaks sites, as many military computer networks already do.”

Information Policy, Classified, Military

 

Yousseff, Nancy A., “Could more secret files lead to more leaked data?,The Pantagraph, December 05, 2010. News, Pg. A1

  1. “WikiLeaks’ release of tens of thousands of classified government documents on three separate occasions this year has prompted U.S. officials to add layers of new safeguards, but that very impulse has sparked a debate among experts about whether those new protections might make national security secrets more vulnerable, not less.”
  2. “Since WikiLeaks began last week publishing classified State Department cables that date back to 1966 and touch on nearly every international issue, the State Department removed its cables from the Defense Department’s Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet, the Pentagon’s classified computer system.”
  3. “Such over-classification isn’t isolated. The U.S. government, which has three broad classes of classified documents – confidential, secret and top secret – often classifies public events as “secret.””
  4. “In 2009, President Barack Obama issued an executive order calling for a review of how documents are classified, saying none can remain classified indefinitely.”
  5. “The order sought to avoid “over-classification” by providing training every two years to officials authorized to classify documents and requiring officials to regularly review documents to determine if they should remain classified.”
  6. “The right answer is not more secrecy but smarter secrecy,” Aftergood.”

Classified, State Department, Military

 

Knox et al, “The US Air Force Suicide Prevention Program: implications for public health policy.” American Journal of Public Health, pgs. 2457-2463, December 2010.

  1. “The Air Force Suicide Prevention Program (AFSPP) has been found to have achieved significant relative risk reductions of rates of suicide and other violence-related outcomes, including accidental death and domestic violence.”
  2. “It uses leaders as role models and agents of change, establishes expectations for airman behavior regarding awareness of suicide risk (i.e., policymaking), develops population skills and knowledge (i.e., education and training), and investigates every suicide (i.e., outcomes measurement).”
  3. “This model compares the pre-intervention quarterly mean suicide rate for all previous time periods to the post-intervention mean quarterly suicide rate for all quarters following the start date of the intervention.”
  4. “Organizational capacity for monitoring compliance with the program is now coupled with development of population risk indicators that are used to monitor suicide rates for identification of early shifts in patterns of suicide rates.”
  5. “In a study by Boscarino, 22 veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder continued to be at heightened risk for suicide 30 years after separation from the service.”
  6. “It also is worth noting in this regard that the air force encourages early help-seeking behavior for a mental health problem, and 97% of air force personnel who seek mental health care do not experience any negative consequences to their military careers as a result.”
  7. “Nevertheless, the enduring public health message from12 years of this program is that suicide rates can be reduced, and that program success requires interventions to be consistently supported, maintained, and monitored for compliance.”
  8. “In conclusion, the US Air Force showed, through its efforts to reduce deaths from suicide, that (1)it is possible to reduce the rate of suicide across a period of years using a multifaceted, overlapping, community based approach, and (2) reductions in suicide rates cannot be simply maintained by virtue of a program’s inherent momentum.”

Force Protection, Military

2011

Editors, “China Could Consider Nuclear First Use, Documents Indicate” 5 January 2011, Global Security Newswire http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20110105_3850.php Last Checked 5 January 2011

  1. “Defense analysts in the United States have for more than three years asserted that there are indications that China might be rethinking its policy of no first use.”
  2. “Official Chinese records indicate the nation’s armed forces would weigh the use of nuclear weapons against a nuclear-armed country attacking its cities or critical infrastructure.”
  3. “Beijing would first warn the opposing power of a possible nuclear response through television, the Internet or other communication channels.”
  4. “The People’s Liberation Army’s Second Artillery Corps, which oversees China’s strategic nuclear force, ‘will adjust the nuclear threat policy if a nuclear missile-possessing country carries out a series of airstrikes against key strategic targets in our country with absolutely superior conventional weapons.’”
  5. “Targets that could draw such a response include any of China’s leading urban centers or its atomic or hydroelectric power facilities, according to the documents. Any strikes posing an existential threat to the Chinese government could also merit a nuclear retaliation.”
  6. “The Second Artillery Corps ‘must strictly follow’ the orders of the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission and “must not adjust” its nuclear stance independently.”

China, WMD, Nuclear, Military

 

Gertz, Bill, “China Spurns Strategic Security Talks with U.S.” 10 January 2011, Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/10/china-spurns-strategic-security-talks-with-us/print/ Last Checked 10 January 2011.

  1. “China’s defense minister on Monday rebuffed an offer from Defense Secretary to hold strategic nuclear talks.”
  2. “Since taking office in 2006, Mr. Gates has tried to persuade China to hold strategic military talks, saying they would reduce mistrust and miscalculation.”
  3. “China’s military is engaged in a large-scale buildup of its strategic nuclear forces, with as many as three new long-range nuclear missiles and an unknown number of nuclear weapons. It also is building missiles that can destroy satellites and maneuver warheads that can target aircraft carriers.”
  4. “China’s military fears such talks will disclose information about its nuclear forces and weapons that would be used in targeting or cyber-attacks during a future conflict.”
  5. “China’s refusal to engage and share information on its military ‘all boils down to the fact that we’ve been way too indulgent with the Chinese,’ Mr. Tkacik said.”
  6. “‘For the past 20 years, we’ve given the Chinese information briefings and tours of our military facilities without demanding any reciprocity. And as a result, we haven’t gotten any reciprocity,’ Mr. Tkacik said.”
  7. “The exchanges were undermined by China’s dispatch of large numbers of intelligence collectors to gather war-fighting information at U.S. military facilities.”
  8. “Congress in 1999 outlawed exchanges that could bolster Beijing’s nuclear and power-projection capabilities.”
  9. “Gen. Liang and Mr. Gates did agree to boost cooperation in nontraditional security areas, such as counterterrorism, peacekeeping, counterpiracy and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.”

China, Military, U.S. Foreign Policy, Nuclear

 

Patrick, Micheal, “The New Form I-129- Enhanced Enforcement,” NYLJ, January 20, 2011, P. 3, Col.1.

  1. “Form I-129 is used by employers to petition U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for prospective non-immigrant foreign workers, including H-1B professionals, L-1 intracompany transferees, and O-1 individuals of extraordinary ability.”
  2. “The form is used primarily to determine whether the foreign national and the job he or she will perform are eligible for the non-immigrant classification. But recent revisions to the form have increased its role as a compliance and enforcement document.”
  3. “First, the petitioner must certify that it has reviewed the list of controlled technologies and technical data from the EAR and ITAR. Second, with respect to technology or technical data the petitioner intends to release to the foreign worker, the petitioner must check one of two boxes, stating either that an export license is not required or that a license is required and will be obtained before the employer releases the controlled technology to the foreign worker.”
  4. “This is the first time that employers filing visa petitions for non-immigrant workers have been required to make this certification directly on the I-129 form.”
  5. “The export control regulations apply primarily to ‘dual use’ technologies with both commercial and military applications
  6. “[B]ecause of widespread objections to and confusion about this new requirement, its implementation has been delayed two months, and it will not become mandatory until Feb. 20, 2011.”

Export Control, Dual Use, Military

 

Gertz, Bill, “Show of Strength Urged for Cyberwar” 27 January 2011, Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/27/show-of-strength-urged-for-cyberwar/ Last Checked 27 January 2011.

  1. “Gen. Chilton said the foreign operation that penetrated U.S. classified computer networks in 2008 changed the culture, conduct, and capabilities for cyberwarfare.”
  2. “Military cyberwarriors are building up efforts to pinpoint the sources of foreign computer break-ins on U.S. networks and will need to demonstrate a major computer attack capability in the future to deter increasingly sophisticated threats.”
  3. “On tracking the source of computer attacks, a process the military calls ‘attribution,’ Gen. Chilton said the military is improving its capability to locate the sources of electronic attacks, a key first step in defending systems and conducting offensive cyber-attacks.”
  4. “Deterring cyber-attacks before they are carried out, either by nations or criminals, requires demonstrating a ‘credible threat’ from the U.S. Military that would force all attackers to think before acting.”
  5. “Other countries were sent a clear signal that the U.S. military could shoot down enemy satellites in a conflict, based on the February 2008 Strategic Command-led operation known as Burnt Frost, which used a modified Navy SM-3 missile fired from an Aegis warship to shoot down a falling National Reconnaissance Office satellite.”
  6. “The U.S. satellite shootdown followed China’s January 2007 first successful test of an anti-satellite missile, an event that triggered alarm in U.S. military circles because of the vulnerabilities of U.S. satellites to China’s anti-satellite (ASAT) missile.”
  7. “The cyberworld has emerged as a new war-fighting arena.”

Cybersecurity, Military

 

Lieberman, I. Joseph. “Joseph I. Liebeman Holds a Hearing on FEMA Catastrophic Disaster Prepardness” (March 2011). Military and Government Collection. Last checked. September 20, 2012.

  1. “So the events of the past week in Japan lend a sense of urgency to our hearing today as we ask how well prepared is America for a catastrophe perhaps when equal to that occurring now in Japan.”
  2. “After our investigation, the committee drafted and Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act in 2006. Our aim was to rebuild FEMA into a stronger, more capable agency.”
  3. “I think it’s important to say that response to and recovery from a disaster or a catastrophe in the United States is the responsibility of a lot of other agencies and other people besides FEMA.”
  4. “Other federal agencies, state and local governments, the private sector, and in some sense every affected American have roles to play and many of them also need to improve their capabilities.”
  5. “On a positive note, just recently the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and the congressionally-mandated Council of Governors, recently signed off on a very important plan establishing clear rules for when both National Guard and military forces can jointly respond after a disaster. And this means that in a large disaster-catastrophe, we will have the ability to call on the resources of the Department of Defense in a more timely and effective manner.”
  6. “I also have serious concerns about FEMA’s stewardship of federal funds. One of those hard-learned lessons from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was that FEMA’s assistance programs were highly vulnerable to fraud and improper payments.”
  7. “Our committee, with the assistance of the I.G. and GAO, documented more than $1 billion in misspent funds. . . . FEMA also paid millions of dollars for housing assistance to hundreds of applicants who apparently resided in state and federal prisons.”

Emergency Response, Military, Pandemi

 

Gertz, Bill, “Inside the Ring”, 16 March 2011, The Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/16/inside-the-ring-278570395/?page=1 Last Checked 26 March 2011.

  1. ‘“The cyberthreat continues to mature, posing dangers that far exceed the 2008 breach of our classified systems,…”’
  2. “He also disclosed that computer warfare troops were dispatched to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
  3. “He warned that the command is working to defend against a “Cyber 9/11” attack.”
  4. “The command is projected to have 931 military and civilian officials and a budget of $159 million by next year.”
  5. ‘“We believe that state actors have developed cyberweapons to cripple infrastructure targets in ways tantamount to kinetic assaults. Some of these weapons could potentially destroy hardware as well as data and software,…”’
  6. “His command is prepared to use offensive cyberwarfare to defend freedom of action in cyberspace and deny adversaries its use.”
  7. ‘“In sum, our adversaries in cyberspace are highly capable.”’

Cybersecurity, Military, Iraq, Afghanistan

 

Gertz, Bill, “Inside the Ring: Sea Law Treaty Push,” 27 July 2011, Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/27/inside-the-ring-319113972/print/ Last Checked 27 July 2011.

  1. “The Obama administration and Sen. John F. Kerry are pushing for Senate ratification of the controversial Law of the Sea Treaty amid heightened tensions over Chinese maritime aggressiveness stemming from the 1982 pact.”
  2. “The treaty gives nations a 200-mile Economic Exclusion Zone.”
  3. “China has used that provision to claim wide areas of international waters as its own, prompting recent clashes in the South China, East China and Yellow seas as well as verbal sparring with the Pentagon over freedom of navigation.”
  4. “The treaty push is part of the administration’s policy of using international agreements as a centerpiece of national security policies.”
  5. “Critics say those policies usually involve signing agreements that constrain the United States, while allowing foreign signatories to violate or circumvent the accords.”
  6. “A main objection of critics of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, its formal name, is that the agreement undermines U.S. sovereignty.”
  7. “Non-navigation provisions would give the United Nations some power to control access to undersea resources and also to intervene in U.S. domestic affairs.”
  8. “Heritage Foundation analyst Steven Groves said a major problem with the treaty is Article 82. The section would force the U.S. government to lose millions by forfeiting royalties from U.S. companies to explore for oil and gas on the continental shelf beyond 200 miles. Instead, a U.N. organization would get a portion of the money.”
  9. “‘It’s the non-navigational provisions — sharing oil and gas royalties with underdeveloped countries, mandatory dispute resolution and the deep seabed mining provisions — that give conservatives heartburn,’ he said.”
  10. “Navy Capt. John Kirby said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supports the treaty because ‘he believes that by remaining outside the convention, we give up the firmer foundation of treaty law for navigational rights vital to our global mobility.’”
  11. “The White House is using the Navy’s support for the treaty’s navigation provisions to gain the backing of skeptical senators.”

PSI, Jurisdiction, U.S. Foreign Policy, Military

 

Yuriy Gavrilov, Rossiyskaya Gazeta website, Moscow, in Russian “Russia introduces polygraph testing for Strategic Missile Troops,” BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union,  27 Oct 11,)  October, 31, 2011.

  1. ”The results of a practice that is relatively new for the army – the wholesale lie-detector inspection of the men and officers – have been tallied in the Strategic Missile Troops.”
  2. ”He said that the polygraph testing affected 1,600 servicemen altogether. A further 11,000 persons, including 3,000 officers, were tested for the use of drugs and alcohol. The special IMEDIS-EXPERT-BRT-PK appliance and also test cups and breathalyzers helped uncover the fans of dope and alcohol.”
  3. ”For the men and officers engaged in the protection of strategic facilities testing is now mandatory twice a year. Those that serve at the nuclear switch will undergo it every 12 months.”
  4. ”The technical novelties will help uncover corrupt officers, drunks, drug addicts, and mentally unstable servicemen army-wide.”

Personnel Reliability, Military, Russia, Nuclear

 

Homeland Security Newswire, “Securing smartphones in battle” 13 October 13, 2011, HSN http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/securing-smartphones-battle

  1. “As the military moves to incorporate smartphones on the battlefield, critics worry that the inherent security flaws in the devices could result in major data breaches or cybersecurity attacks on the military’s networks.”
  2. “The military is opening themselves up to serious problems,…”
  3. “It seems stupid to use a platform that thousands of people are trying to hack.”’
  4. “Soghoian pointed to the potential for enemies to precisely track the movements of troops through a smartphone’s GPS transmitter or steal sensitive military information stored on the phones.”
  5. “McAfee Inc., an internet security firm, recently concluded that malicious software aimed at smartphones and tablets is on the rise.”
  6. “With the increasing ubiquity of the devices, hackers are likely to target them with increasing frequency.”
  7. “Nearly every branch of the military is exploring how to integrate smartphones, despite the security risks, and defense companies are leaping at the opportunity to provide applications and cybersecurity measures.”
  8. “Symantec Corp., a cybersecurity firm aimed at protecting personal computers, is currently working on “O3,” a product aimed at securing wireless military networks.”
  9. “The company has developed the Raytheon Advanced Tactical System, a software program that allows troops to share sensitive data on their smartphones, along with more than twenty other apps.”
  10. “We think that within three years there will be a major move in the military toward fielding mobile handsets,…”
  11. “According to Bigham, apps will sell for $500 each as far fewer are made than commercial apps which generally sell for a few dollars and have millions of purchasers.”
  12. “The Army alone would have to purchase 1.2 million smartphones if it proceeds with plans to equip every soldier with a handheld device.”

Cybersecurity, Military

 

Tinder, Paul, “Army to stop injecting monkeys with nerve-blocking drugs“, BioPrepWatch, 17 October 2011, http://www.bioprepwatch.com/news/278172-army-to-stop-injecting-monkeys-with-nerve-blocking-drugs Last Checked 31 October 2011.

  1. “The Army has agreed to stop injecting monkeys with high doses of a nerve-blocking drug to simulate a nerve gas attack after they received sustained pressure from animal rights groups and a member of Congress.”
  2. “The practice, which has been carried out at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, Md., is meant to train Army medical personnel to respond to chemical attacks on troops, the Washington Post reports.”
  3. “The Army will instead switch to trained actors, computer programs and high-tech mannequin-like patient simulators.”
  4. “In August, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine formally petitioned the Defense Department to end the tests of physostigmine on monkeys, saying that they were inhumane and a poor training tool. “Using African green monkeys to try to demonstrate effects of nerve gas exposure on humans is not accurate,” John J. Pippin, a physician with PCRM, said, according to the Washington Post. “The physiology is not accurate. Many of the first signs in humans — sweating, dilation of pupils — can’t be assessed. Also, participants in the course don’t actually do anything except hold a bag to help the monkey breathe.”
  5. “Other animal rights groups, such as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society International, protested the practice.”

Military, Chemical

 

Fitzgerald, Jay, “Terminator-like robot will help Army test anti-chemical clothingBoston Globe. Oct. 31, 2011 http://articles.boston.com/2011-10-31/business/30342672_1_marc-raibert-robotic-aircraft-bigdog

  1. “Boston Dynamics, a Waltham company that three years ago introduced the four-legged BigDog robot, a beast of burden designed to traverse rough terrain, is unveiling its newest creation: an improved version of a walking machine that is shaped like a human being.”
  2. “plans to use it for testing clothing and headgear intended to protect soldiers from chemical warfare agents”
  3. “Now, via a $33 million contract with the agency, the company has developed the four-legged successor to BigDog: AlphaDog, officially known as the Legged Squad Support System, or LS3”
  4. “AlphaDog can carry a 400-pound payload, travel up to 20 miles, and move at 7.5 miles per hour.”
  5. “He said he envisions robots such as AlphaDog being used to help fight fires and carry commercial equipment to difficult-to-reach locations.Robots like PETMAN may later be used commercially as stand-ins for humans in dangerous assignments, such as working in nuclear power plants”

Chemical, Biotechnology, Biosafety, Military, Emergency Response, Nuclear, Public Health

 

Fitzgerald, Jay, “Soldier stand-ins“, BostonGlobe, 31 October 2011, http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/10/31/boston_dynamics_military_robot_walks_like_a_human/ Last Checked 31 October 2011.

  1. “The company may have another robotic sensation: PETMAN, a two-legged, 180-pound machine nearly six feet tall.Boston Dynamics, which has created a slew of robots for the military over the years, is expected today to publicly unveil the first video of the nearly fully developed PETMAN, power-walking on a treadmill in the company’s labs.”
  2. “But it can walk like a person, and it’s set for possible delivery next year to the military, which plans to use it for testing clothing and headgear intended to protect soldiers from chemical warfare agents.”
  3. “PETMAN has been through preliminary tests in preparation for use next year as part of an anti-chemical-warfare program developed by the Pentagon. Because it can walk, turn, and twist like a person, PETMAN will serve as a stand- in for humans when it is doused with noxious chemicals in tests.”
  4. “The PETMAN robot will enable a kind of lifelike testing of protective clothing that the [Pentagon] has long sought and never had,’’ said Dr. Robert Playter, vice president of engineering at Boston Dynamics.”

Chemical, Biotechnology, Biosafety, Military, Emergency Response, Nuclear, Public Health

 

Editors, “U.S. Acknowledges Possible Threats to Pakistani NukesGTI. Nov. 8th, 2011. http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20111108_5248.php

  1. “The Atlantic and National Journal jointly reported last week that the Pakistani army had taken to transporting nuclear warheads around the country via unmarked civilian-style vans on congested roadways in an attempt to keep their whereabouts away from prying U.S. intelligence efforts”
  2. ““The U.S. government’s views have not changed regarding nuclear security in Pakistan,” the U.S. embassy in Islamabad said in a statement. “We have confidence that the government of Pakistan is well aware of the range of potential threats to its nuclear arsenal and has accordingly given very high priority to securing its nuclear weapons and materials effectively.””
  3. “These new recruits would comprise “handpicked officers and men, who are physically robust, mentally sharp and equipped with modern weapons and equipment, trained in technical skills to the best international standards and practices,””

Public Health, Military, Chemical, Nuclear, Biosafety, Biodefense

 

Dasgupta, Suni and Cohen, Stephen, “Arms Sales for India Subtitle: How Military Trade Could Energize U.S.-Indian Relations,” March 2011-April 2011, Council on Foreign Relations Inc., Vol. 90, No. 2.

  1. “Obama announced that the United States would sell $5 billion worth of U.S. military equipment to India, including ten Boeing C-17 military transport aircraft and 100 General Electric F-414 fighter aircraft.”
  2. “Although the details are still being worked out, these and other contracts already in the works will propel the United States into the ranks of India’s top three military suppliers, alongside Russia and Israel.”
  3. “With India planning to buy $100 billion worth of new weapons over the next ten years, arms sales may be the best way for the United States to revive stagnating U.S.-Indian relations.”
  4. “Since coming to power, the Obama administration has shifted course, partly on the grounds that Bush gave India too much, especially in regard to the nuclear deal. The Obama administration wants greater reciprocity — including Indian support for U.S. policies on global energy and trade, India’s granting of more freedom of action in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and weapons contracts for U.S. firms. Obama also wants to develop ties more incrementally. One reason is that his administration’s primary interest in the region is stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
  5. “Obama’s two years of trying to bring Pakistan on board with Washington’s plans has led only to frustration and has highlighted the importance of renewing cooperation with India in order to make progress on Afghanistan.”
  6. “Russian military suppliers enjoy strong relationships with the Indian military establishment and its research agency, the Defense Research and Development Organization, relationships that were developed during the Cold War.”
  7. “But now, after a decade of rapid economic growth that fattened India’s military budgets, the Indian armed forces have set their sights on buying a range of new weapons, from traditional machinery, such as tanks, ships, and aircraft, to the most advanced innovations, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and the technology for electronic warfare. And India is increasingly turning to Israeli and Western suppliers, especially since its ties with Russian sellers started souring in early 2010, when the Russians forced a repricing of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov from $1 billion to $2.3 billion.”
  8. “The Indian-Israeli arms trade amounts to more than $2 billion annually, and Israel has become India’s number two military supplier. Like Russia, it offers India access to military equipment without imposing political conditions, and Israeli firms have also been able to woo the DRDO with offers of joint development of high-tech weaponry.”
  9. “The United States clearly has the technological edge to win Indian military contracts, but the U.S. law banning the transfer of technologies that have military uses is a major stumbling block. India’s leaders have made it clear that if they purchase machinery from the United States or U.S.-based firms, they expect to be granted access to the manufacturing processes and technology behind it. On the other side, the U.S. government would have to overcome significant legal hurdles to allow technology transfers to India.”
  10. “There are questions about whether technology transfers would actually motivate India to make the political concessions the United States seeks and worries that Washington would have to keep offering more and more to secure Indian friendship in the future.”
  11. “The Obama administration is apprehensive that getting too close to India would jeopardize U.S. objectives in Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially if the Indian military were to use equipment it received from the United States against Pakistan. Even U.S. companies, which hope to profit from India’s military market, are reticent about sharing their prize technologies.”
  12. “In 2009, India’s leaders signed an end-use monitoring agreement that would allow U.S. representatives to periodically inspect and inventory items transferred to India — and they did so despite criticism that the agreement’s terms eroded India’s sovereignty.”
  13. “During his visit to India in November, Obama promised to lift some export-control restrictions on India and to remove some restrictions on trade with India’s space and military research agencies.”
  14. “But some major obstacles remain. For one, India needs to fix its broken procurement system. Although the Indian Ministry of Defense has issued a series of new military procurement guidelines in the last few years, transparency, legitimacy, and corruption problems continue to plague the process. Indian law also requires foreign suppliers to source components and invest in research and development in India, while prohibiting them from creating wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries in the country. These two provisions are intended to ensure that the technology used by foreign suppliers will eventually be transferred to Indian companies. But the U.S. government and U.S. companies would not agree to this unless the U.S. law governing technology transfers were relaxed and India began to guarantee the protection of intellectual property rights.”
  15. “The new nuclear liability bill that India passed in August will also have a chilling effect on U.S.-Indian military trade. It holds foreign suppliers responsible for accidents at nuclear power plants for up to 100 years after the plants’ construction. The law applies to companies that supply equipment to the contractors building the reactors, even if these companies do not have a physical presence in India. Progress on the construction of any new reactors under the U.S.-Indian nuclear deal will almost certainly be slowed by this law, as U.S. companies seek to protect themselves from liability.”
  16. “The United States can get around its own legal restrictions on technology transfers by pursuing such ambitious long-term projects, because if a technology does not currently exist, U.S. law does not protect it.”
  17. “Not only would the United States gain a huge foothold in the Indian military market; it could also channel any offset money it is required to invest in India into joint development projects.”
  18. “So far, however, the Obama administration has not wanted to think big and seriously consider joint technology development. This is a mistake. Short-term differences between India and the United States caused their estrangement during the Cold War. A similar rift now would not be in the long-term interest of either country.”

Export Control, U.S. Foreign Policy, India, Military

 

Beaumont, Peter and Domokos, John, “Egyptian military using ‘more dangerous’ teargas on Tahrir Square protesters” 23 November 2011, theguardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/23/egyptian-military-teargas-tahrir-square, Last Checked 23 November 2011.

  1. “Egyptian security forces are believed to be using a powerful incapacitating gas against civilian protesters in Tahrir Square following multiple cases of unconsciousness and epileptic-like convulsions among those exposed.”
  2. “Suspicion has fallen on two other agents: CN gas, which was the crowd control gas used by the US before CS was brought into use; and CR gas.”
  3. “Both gases can be more dangerous than CS and can cause unconsciousness and seizures in certain circumstances. Concern began to emerge over the use of more powerful incapacitating agents after reports of gassed protesters falling unconscious and having attacks of jerking spasms. Those who have experienced the more powerful gas have described it as smelling different and causing an unusual burning sensation on the skin. Others have complained of rashes.”
  4. “We have been attacked with four different kinds of gas bombs,” said Dr Ahmad Sa’ad. “I have never seen these ones before because the patients come in with convulsions. I’ve never seen patients like that before. You can see it yourself. You can be 100 metres away from the gas bombs [and it will still affect you].”
  5. “Another concern, raised by the group Campaign Against Arms Trade, is over the age of some of the CS gas that has been used by Egyptian security forces. Gas canisters more than five years old can become more toxic, and some canisters that have been used in the last few days are up to a decade old.”
  6. “Describing the effects of gas, activist Ahmed Salah said he was still coughing blood 15 hours after being exposed to it. “I was wearing a gas mask. My eyes and mouth were covered as was my skin. As soon as the gas came people around me fell on to the ground in convulsions. I felt very weak and dizzy. I couldn’t focus and I started coughing. Coughing up blood. “People have seen three different kinds of canisters. Most are marked CS but some have seen canisters marked with the letters CR and there is a third canister that has no markings at all.”
  7. “In a statement put out via Twitter, Ramez Reda Moustafa, a neurologist at Cairo’s Ain Shams University, described seeing cases where exposure to gas had “caused extra-pyramidal symptoms [involuntary jerks in extremities and trunk mimicking a convulsive seizure, oculogyric crisis, etc] and little respiratory distress”. He added: “The type of gas used is still uncertain but it is certainly very acidic and is not the regular teargas used in January.”
  8. “Karim Ennarah, who works with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, has been trying to collect evidence about the gases used in Tahrir and the surrounding area since the weekend, and in what circumstances, amid claims the gases have been used in a way that violates international norms.”We are still trying to put together what has been going on. We have seen different symptoms and reactions to gas from what we saw in January,” said Ennarah. “I still have not seen a canister with CR markings but there are accounts of people seeing them.”But we can’t say that it has been confirmed. We have seen more and more videos, however, of people suffering seizures.”
  9. “What is clear is that gas has been used differently and far more heavily than was used at the beginning of the year and in enclosed areas like Mohammed Mahmoud. The basic principle of the way the gas is being used is not for riot control but as a punishment and that raises questions of violations of its use.”

Chemical, Africa, Military, Public Health

 

Dover, Michelle E., “Syria’s Chemical Weapons an Opaque but Alarming Risk“, 5 December 2011, WPR, http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/10838/syrias-chemical-weapons-an-opaque-but-alarming-risk, Last Checked 6 December 2011.

  1. “Recent reports from Syria of military defectors attacking an Air Force intelligence building in Hasrata highlight the growing likelihood that Syrian military sites will become a target in the country’s ongoing conflict. While no other similar attacks have been reported since then, the Hasrata incident illustrates the possibility of escalating instability within Syria’s military command, which could in turn lead to difficulties in controlling and securing Syrian military assets. In such a climate, Syria’s alleged chemical weapons program is cause for particular concern.”
  2. “The international community suspects Syria of having a comprehensive chemical weapons program that includes production and delivery capabilities, and there is unease among U.S. officials and weapons experts over how control of chemical agents and weapons may factor into the current conflict. Should the violence escalate, shifts in power could jeopardize the security and control of Syria’s chemical weapons, particularly since many of its suspected facilities are located near current or recent sites of unrest.”
  3. “Syria has never explicitly confirmed its possession of chemical weapons, and public information on the program’s details is neither specific nor thoroughly documented. Damascus also has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Since Syria does not adhere to the treaty, makes no declarations and allows no inspections, the international community has no easy way of determining what capabilities the country may have.”
  4. “Initial press and intelligence reports in the 1970s and 1980s indicated that Syria was acquiring a chemical weapons stockpile with help from the USSR, Egypt and Czechoslovakia. This approach appears to have shifted in the 1990s to a focus on domestic production. Syria is thought to have either stockpiles of — or the current capability to produce — mustard gas and more-lethal nerve agents such as sarin and possibly VX.”
  5. “The only report of possible Syrian use of chemical weapons consists of unconfirmed allegations by Amnesty International (.pdf) that the Syrian regime used cyanide gas in its repression of the 1982 uprising in Hama. A recent statement from Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, Jr., the director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, suggests that Syria still relies on foreign assistance for the precursor chemicals needed to produce chemical warfare agents and research-and-development collaboration. If so, Syria’s chemical weapons program is not entirely self-sufficient. News reports of illicit trade of precursor chemicals corroborate such an assessment, and may also indicate that at least some components of Syria’s chemical weapons program remain active.”
  6. “Syria probably has artillery shells, aerial bombs and ballistic missiles — including SCUDs, SCUD-variants, and SS-21s — that could carry chemical agents.”
  7. “In the 1990s, for example, Syria allegedly received nerve agent precursors from Russia, while as recently as in the 2000s, Iran may have collaborated with Syria on research and provided precursor chemicals. Russia and North Korea are believed to have aided Syria’s missile capabilities”
  8. “Since the 1980s there have been numerous open-source reports and declassified documents that list research, production and storage sites of chemical agents and missiles in Syria, many of which are located in or around several of the largest cities that are currently seeing protests. Homs, Hamah and Latakia, for example, have all been cited as locations for chemical weapons production facilities and have been major centers of unrest. Aleppo, another city that has seen major protests and violent repression, is alleged to be the site for missile production and storage. Aleppo is also not far from a suspected chemical weapons production site in Al-Safirah.”
  9. “The level of security at Syria’s sensitive military sites is unknown, including the number and sophistication of physical barriers, the type of accounting systems in place and the number and training of guards at such sites. Should security at these facilities be breached by outsiders or sabotaged by guards, any number of worrisome outcomes could arise, including use of chemical weapons or their transfer to non-Syrian actors such as Hezbollah.”
  10. “The United States and Israel have stated they are concerned about the status of Syria’s WMD programs and that they are watching the situation carefully, though they have not said how.”
  11. “The potentially destabilizing factor of Syria’s chemical weapons program should be a matter of concern to U.S. policymakers, who should aim to ensure the security of sites related to the program, perhaps by engaging in contingency planning with Syrian opposition leaders and other regional powers such as Turkey. Much remains unknown about Syria’s chemical weapons, but what is known warrants closer attention.”

Chemical Surveillance, WMD, Chemical, Military

 

Editors, “North Korea making missile able to hit U.S.”, The Washington Times. Dec 5th, 2011. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/5/north-korea-making-missile-able-to-hit-us/?page=3

  1. “New intelligence indicates that North Korea is moving ahead with building its first road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, an easily hidden weapon capable of hitting the United States, according to Obama administration officials.”
  2. ““We believe this new intelligence reiterates the need for the administration to correct its priorities regarding missile defenses, which should have, first and foremost, the missile defense of the homeland.””
  3. “Mobile missiles are difficult for tracking radar to locate, making them easier to hide. They also can be set up and launched much more quickly than missiles fired from silos or launchpads.”
  4. ““North Korea has three paths to building ICBMs. One is using the Taepodong-2, with a range of up to 9,300 miles, as its main strategic missile. A second way is to further develop the ranges of existing missiles like the Musudan, and last is to “use the very large launch facility that is being constructed on the west coast of North Korea to launch a very large missile,” the cable said.”
  5. “North Korea also has a new solid-fueled short-range missile called the Toksa, with a range of 75 miles, and has sold a number of shorter-range Musudan missiles to Iran, the report said.”
  6. “Pressed for details, he said, “I don’t think it’s an immediate threat, no. But on the other hand, I don’t think it’s a five-year threat.””
  7. ““They are developing a road-mobile ICBM. I never would have dreamed they would go to a road-mobile before testing a static ICBM. It’s a huge problem. As we’ve found out in a lot of places, finding mobile missiles is very tough”

Nuclear, Biosecurity, Biodefense, Bioterrorism, Biotechnology, Emergency Response, Military, Public Health, CWC, Russia, North Korea, Homeland Security, Biodetection

2012

 

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