CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- July 21, 2008

Vangent Awarded $23 Million Contract to Support Force Health Protection & Readiness
“Vangent, Inc., a leading global provider of information management and strategic business process outsourcing solutions, today announced that the Department of Defense (DoD) Force Health Protection & Readiness Program Office (FHP&R) has awarded the company a $23 million contract to manage and enhance FHP&R automated information systems.” (Market Watch; 21July08) http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/vangent-awarded-23-million-contract/story.aspx?guid=%7B35B81569-1FFA-40FB-8D80-30DC606F97E7%7D&dist=hppr

Killer Kevlar: Clothing That Shields From Germs
“Researchers in South Dakota report progress toward the first Kevlar fabrics that can kill a wide range of infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, and the spores that cause anthrax. […]The scientists developed a special process to coat Kevlar samples with acyclic N-Halamine, a potent germ-fighting substance. They then exposed coated and uncoated fabric samples to E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida tropicalis (a fungus), MS2 virus, and Bacillus subtilis spores (to mimic anthrax).” (Science Daily; 21July08) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721092412.htm

Bio Weapons Monitor System Draws Criticism
“Homeland Security experts consider Southern Nevada a high-risk target for terrorist attacks […] one of 30 major cities nationwide that actually monitor the air for biological weapons. The program is called BioWatch. BioWatch has drawn criticism since it began five years ago. Just this week, members of a Congressional subcommittee heard it characterized as a ‘parasite’ by the local public health officials tasked with running it.”
(Las Vegas Now; 21July08)
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=8701384&nav=168X

Completion of VX neutralization means many things to [Vermillion] Valley [Indiana]
“For more than 40 years, one of the last and deadliest remnants of the Cold War — 2.5-million pounds of VX — has been sitting quietly in carbon steel barrels in Vermillion County, part of a stockpile of chemical weapons the United States has been trying to dispose of for more than a decade.” (The Tribune-Star; 21July08; Deb Kelly) http://www.tribstar.com/local/local_story_201225101.html

Boone, Avondale [Colorado] to hold chem-demil meetings
“Public meetings on the next phase of the Defense Department’s effort to destroy Pueblo’s stockpile of chemical weapons will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in Boone and Avondale.” (The Pueblo Chieftain; 21July08; John Norton) http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/07/20/news/local/doc4882d6376a7c2288377999.txt

RNC [Republican National Convention] has hospitals ready for anything
“Medical personnel scrambled to set up decontamination showers in an ambulance garage. Others donned head-to-toe hazardous materials protection suits. Pagers beeped madly as doctors and nurses rushed to help victims. Luckily, none of it was real. It was just the latest drill by metro hospitals in more than a year of preparation for medical calamities in advance of the Republican National Convention […]” (Star Tribune; 18Jul08; Chen May Yee) http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/25638404.html?page=1&c=y

Defentect Invited to Join 'Operation Golden Phoenix' Disaster Response Training Event
“Defentect™ gamma radiation detection network will be a participating technology at the Golden Phoenix real world disaster response laboratory environment in San Diego, July 21 – 24. Federal, state and local agencies will engage in a large-scale terrorism training event led by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection, the County of San Diego, the City of San Diego and U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft Group-46.” (The Earth Times; 21Jul08) http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/defentect-invited-to-join-operation-golden-phoenix-disaster-response-training-event,473859.shtml

Soviet uranium removed from Bulgaria
“The last of the highly enriched uranium stored in Bulgaria was removed from the country Thursday and transported to a secured site in Russia. […] The removal of the uranium, stored in Bulgaria since the 1970s, is part of an initiative to deter nuclear proliferation by terrorist groups and other militants whose stated goals include detonating a dirty bomb constructed with nuclear material.” (The Middle East Times; 18Jul08; United Press International)
http://www.metimes.com/Security/2008/07/18/soviet_uranium_removed_from_bulgaria/9b36/

Would-be Vegas hitman’s story ends in Irish jail
“Essam Ahmed Eid, a 53-year-old Egyptian man living in Vegas and dealing poker at the Bellagio, dreamed of becoming a hit man. […] After [Sharon] Collins [the alleged contractor] was arrested, police searched Eid’s cell and found he had a contact lens case with traces of Ricin inside. That evidence, on top of the e-mail, the phone calls, the testimony from Engle and the money Lying Eyes sent to Vegas, was enough for a jury to find Eid and Collins guilty. Collins was convicted of soliciting and conspiring to murder the Howards. Eid was convicted of extortion, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in Ireland, and assorted theft charges, for the office break-in.” (Las Vegas Sun; 20Jul08; Abigail Goldman) http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jul/20/would-be-vegas-hitmans-story-ends-irish-jail/

Another Former High-Ranking Iraqi Official Confirms WMD Went to Syria
“Ali Ibrahim al-Tikriti says he was southern regional commander for Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen militia in the late 1980s and a personal friend of the dictator. Units under his command dealt with chemical and biological weapons. He was known as the ‘Butcher of Basra’ due to his campaigns and defected shortly before the Gulf War in 1991. This interview aims to gain some insight into the current situation in Iraq.” (International Analyst Network; 21July08; Ryan Mauro)
http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2276

City [Johnstown, Pennsylvania] hosting physicians’ disaster-Training program
“Eight physicians have begun Training in the four-year program, with an emphasis on disaster response and bioterrorism. [...] If approved by the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, the subspecialty will be incorporated with Memorial’s [hospital] newest residency program.”
(The Tribune-Democrat; 20July08; Randy Griffith) http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_202201422.html

[National] College [Salem, North Carolina] Helps Prepare for Disaster
“National College in Salem partnered with the Near Southwest Preparedness Alliance (NSPA) [...] They sponsored a three-day planning and Training seminar by the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center that prepared medical teams for situations involving weapons of mass destruction, bioterrorism, radiation exposure and even chemical warfare.” (Red Orbit; 19July08; Jones Ryan)
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1485718/college_helps_prepare_for_disaster/

US military to be part of NZ exercise
“A large United States military delegation will take part in an international security exercise in New Zealand in September. […] The exercise, which involves stopping a ship carrying materials that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, is being organised as part of New Zealand's commitment to the Proliferation Security Initiative. The initiative was set up by the United States five years ago to get countries to cooperate on stopping illicit shipments of weapons and materials that could be used to make chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.”
(Stuff.co.nz; 21July08; The Dominion Post, Hank Schouten) http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4626131a6160.html

International Journalists Discuss Iranian Missile Threat
“Iran’s testing of two separate rounds of long-range ballistic missiles earlier this month has aggravated tensions between Tehran and the United States, Israel, and even the Arab states in the region. […] Iranian journalist Ali Reza Nourizadeh, who directs the Center for Arab and Iranian studies in London, agrees that Tehran has probably exaggerated the range and accuracy of its missiles. Nonetheless, they are still ‘very dangerous’ because the hundreds of kilos of explosives they carry could be ‘turned to chemical and biological warheads.’” (VOA News; 21July08; Judith
Latham)
http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/2008-07-21-voa25.cfm

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.