CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- May 30, 2008

Biological weapons defense to be studied at UC [University of Cincinnati]
“University of Cincinnati researchers will use a $1.3 million Department of Defense grant to look for a new way to kill the bugs most likely to be used in biological weapons. Researchers led by Sergey Grinshpun will use the three-year grant to try to create a self-contained compound that would counteract biological bombs made of anthrax or other dangerous microorganisms. The compound would be released into the air immediately after a biological weapon is triggered, Grinshpun said.” (Enquirer; 29May08; Peggy O’Farrell)
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/NEWS01/805290385/1056/COL02

Camera keeps eye on traffic [Oak Ridge, Illinois]
“Observant drivers passing through the Oak Ridge intersection of Illinois Avenue and Robertsville Road might notice small white cylinders attached to the bottom of the traffic lights dangling above. The casing holds a camera equipped with a fish-eye lens. One thing is for sure. The camera sees them. […] Aldis [Inc., the Oak Ridge company where the product known as GridSmart is being perfected for planned introduction sometime next year] is working with local software firm Cadre 5 to enable the system to be connected to sensors, such as biological or chemical warfare agent detectors, for homeland security applications.” (KnoxvilleBiz; 30May08; Larisa Brass) http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/may/30/camera-keeps-eye-on-traffic/

China eager to show it can handle Olympics and crisis
“Amid a massive relief and reconstruction effort pulling resources to central China's earthquake-ravaged Sichuan province, Chinese officials said preparations for the Summer Olympics remain on track. […] Officials provided few details on how the government would deal with a bioterrorism attack or other situations necessitating mass evacuations during the Games. But they continued to show great concern about the possibility of bad weather.” (Los Angeles Times; 29May08; Ching-Ching Ni) http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-olympics29-2008may29,0,4910819.story

Singapore DTA 2008 Focused on Unmanned Vehicles
“Singapore is considering buying unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), Navy Chief Rear Adm. Chew Men Leong said in the keynote speech at the Defense Technology Asia (DTA) 2008 show, held here May 22-23. […] Its above-water sensors can perform coastal and harbor surveillance; electronic warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive detection.” (Defense News; 29May08; Wendell Minnick) http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3552725&c=ASI&s=SEA

Umatilla, Ore., weapons disposal to resume in June
“Officials say the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility will resume munitions disposal in early June. The work at the Eastern Oregon plant stopped on May 14 after smoke filled part of a liquid incinerator. Officials say they learned the smoke erupted after pipes in the pollution abatement system inadvertently plugged.” (KTVZ; 29May08; Associated Press)
http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=8396211

Colo. gets $35 million from Army, Shell for arsenal cleanup
“Colorado will get $35 million to help clean up and restore a former nerve gas and chemical manufacturing site near Denver that had been deemed one of the most polluted in the country. Shell Oil Co., which made pesticides and other chemicals at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, will provide $21 million in cash and land under an agreement announced Thursday to settle a 25-year-old state lawsuit. The Army and the federal government are providing the rest. […] The Army manufactured chemical weapons at the 27-square-mile site northeast of Denver starting in 1942. Shell leased part of the land and produced chemicals there until 1982. Cleanup began in 1985.” (San Diego Union Tribune; 29May08; Ivan Moreno) http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080529-1355-wst-arsenallawsuit.html

District Briefing: Spring Valley Weapons Search to Continue
“The cleanup of World War I chemical weapons buried under the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest Washington could last three more years, as crews search for more shells and remove tainted soil, officials said yesterday. […] The Spring Valley cleanup began in 1993, after a construction crew uncovered buried shells from a former testing ground for chemical weapons near American University.” (Washington Post; 30May08; Elissa Silverman) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052903624.html

Coin-sized sensor can detect bombs
“An Air Force Office of Scientific Research-funded team has created an inexpensive sensor the size of a penny that detects bombs made with improvised peroxide explosive devices. […] UAVs and micro UAVs can use the technology in remote sensing for protecting facilities from chemical warfare agents when investigating chemical properties of a vapor cloud.” (Air Force Materiel Command; 30May08; Maria Callier)
http://www.afmc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123100812

PACE [Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly] Urges Disclosing Info on Chemical Arms Buried in Baltic
“The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) appealed to the United States, the United Kingdom and NATO on Thursday to immediately declassify information on chemical weapons which were apparently buried in the Baltic Sea after World War Two. The appeal followed a report to a meeting of the PACE Standing Committee in Stockholm on Thursday, on chemical munitions that belonged to Nazi Germany but were taken over by the United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union after the war and were dumped in the Baltic in the late 1940's, the chief Russian delegate to PACE, Konstantin Kosachyov, told Interfax by telephone from the Swedish capital.” (Red Orbit; 29May08) http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1408791/pace_urges_disclosing_info_on_chemical_arms_buried_in_baltic/

Chemical arms: Watchdog wants states to reveal WWII dumps
“Europe's top rights watchdog has urged the United Kingdom, United States and NATO to reveal locations of chemical munitions dumped in the Baltic Sea after World War Two. The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has called for them to immediately declassify information on the locations of sites where chemical munitions were dumped when the war ended. A resolution adopted by the body on Thursday calls for information to allow a detailed study of the current condition of these chemical weapons, and the risk they pose to the marine environment.” (ADN Kronos;
30May08)
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2210414400

The Not-So-Ugly American
“McCain reached across the aisle to work with Al Gore in co-sponsoring the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act in 1992, went against fellow Republicans in backing ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and supported ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). […] Moreover, there are grounds for optimism about McCain’s willingness to live with the constraints on U.S. behavior that are inherent in international law, whether the acceptance of CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention] challenge inspections or (one day) the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.” (The Atlantic; 29May08; James Gibney) http://thecurrent.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/post-19.php

Clive Stafford Smith: Why has the Government forsaken Binyam Mohamed?
“It seems likely that the US military will soon seek to prosecute Binyam Mohamed in a military tribunal that fails to meet internationally recognised legal standards. British officials have condemned the tribunals, and the former lord justice Steyn referred to them as ‘kangaroo courts.’ The British Government has strongly opposed Mr Mohamed being put on trial in such an unfair process, and has demanded that he be returned home to London.” (The Independent; 30May08) http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/clive-stafford-smith-why-has-the-government-forsaken-binyam-mohamed-836746.html

Nations Endorse Strengthened Effort on Containing Weapons' Spread
“On the eve of the fifth anniversary of a major counterproliferation effort, representatives from 88 countries endorsed a declaration to strengthen their ability to prevent or intercept the illicit transfer of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Following a senior-level conference in Washington May 27-29, Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) partners said they will continue to work together to prevent the proliferation by air, land or sea of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), related delivery systems and technology. They also are seeking cooperation from industry to prevent the proliferation of such weapons to and from states and groups of concern.” (News Blaze; 30May08; Jacquelyn S. Porth) http://newsblaze.com/story/20080530070144tsop.nb/newsblaze/WORLDNEW/World-News.html

Al-Qaeda's terrifying vision of a devastated America in the wake of a nuclear attack “Washington is laid to waste. The Capitol is a blackened, smoking ruin.
The White House has been razed. Countless thousands are dead. This is the apocalyptic scene terrorists hope to create if they ever get their hands on a nuclear bomb. The computer-generated image below was posted on an Islamic extremists' website yesterday. […] Last night FBI sources said Al Qaeda was desperate to get its hands on a weapon of mass destruction, be it nuclear, chemical, or biological.” (Daily Mail; 30May08; Barry Wigmore) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1022840/Al-Qaedas-terrifying-vision-devastated-America-wake-nuclear-attack.html

Morocco's Anti-Terrorism Efforts Dismantle al-Qaeda Cell and Earn US Praise
“Morocco's anti-terrorism campaign continued to yield tangible results with last week's arrest of a group of suspected al-Qaeda extremists planning attacks in North Africa and Europe. Morocco's international partners, including the United States, praised Morocco's efforts as a model for combating terrorism in the region and around the world. On May 19, Moroccan authorities arrested the 11 suspected terrorists in Nador and Fez, who reportedly were planning attacks on tourist destinations and government facilities in Belgium as well as targets in Morocco. These arrests resulted from the on-going intelligence sharing and cooperation between Morocco, Spain, Belgium, and others to stop the spread of regional terrorist threats, most recent by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). […] Also, last week, Morocco joined the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), the U.S.-led international effort to combat the transfer and production of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.” (PR Newswire;
29May08)
http://sev.prnewswire.com/aerospace-defense/20080529/DC2373829052008-1.html

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