CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- November 3, 2008

US: FDA and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] announce final rule and compliance policy guide on prior notice of imported food shipments
“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a final rule and draft compliance policy guide (CPG) today for ‘Prior Notice of Imported Food Shipments.’ The final rule is part of the requirements of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (the Bioterrorism Act). This rule is part of FDA's efforts to protect the nation's food supply against terrorism and other food-related emergencies. The draft CPG describes FDA and CBP's strategy for enforcing the requirements of the prior notice final rule while maintaining an uninterrupted flow of food imports.”
(Fresh Plaza; 03Nov08; Source: FDA.gov)
http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=32072

Bioterrorism’s deadly math
“The White House in 2006 quietly directed the Department of Homeland Security to commission studies from teams of researchers on what Americans had received for the billions of dollars spent on preparing for a bioterrorist attack since 2001. Taken together, the papers—whose contents remain secret […] —constitute what officials call the first ‘net assessment’ to focus exclusively on the issue. Though many of the papers were delivered to the DHS months ago, the net assessment remains unfinished and is likely to be handed over to the next administration, officials say. Still, its thrust is that while the estimated $50 billion spent since 2001 on countering bioterrorism has left us far better prepared for a bioterrorist attack, we remain vulnerable and, in some ways, may even be losing ground. […] [However,] officials and independent analysts agree that much has been done to prepare for an attack and mitigate its consequences.” (FrontPage Magazine; 03Nov08; Judith Miller; Source: City Journal)
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=EEBED91F-4894-422D-B65D-4B719B41E626

Thailand's [prime minister] Somchai visits Laos following bloody military, chemical weapons attacks on Hmong
“In apparent preparation for the first official visit today of Thailand’s Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR), a special joint military task force of Lao and Vietnamese troops has been engaged in heavy military attacks on Hmong civilians and dissident groups in hiding in Phou Da Phao and Phou Bia, Xieng Khouang Laos. Hundreds of Hmong and Laotian civilians have been arrested or killed in October, including credible reports of chemical weapons attacks by joint Vietnam and Lao military groups and special hunter-killer units. […] Human Rights Watch has recently issued an appeal on behalf of Hmong refugees in Thailand.” (Media-Newswire; 03Nov08; Anna Jones) http://media-newswire.com/release_1077933.html

Nuclear trash is piling up [U.S.]
“For years, truckloads of low-level nuclear waste from most of the U.S.
were taken to a rural South Carolina landfill. […] But a South Carolina law that took effect July 1 ended nearly all disposal of radioactive material at the landfill, leaving 36 states with no place to throw out some of the stuff. […] In June, the GAO concluded that while there has been progress, more must be done to track radioactive material to prevent it from falling into terrorists’ hands and ending up in a dirty bomb, or one that uses conventional explosives to scatter radiation. […] Only one low-level landfill, in Utah, has opened in the past 30 years. One more could open in Texas by the end of next year, but it would accept trash from only Vermont and the Lone Star State. […] The government this week did move to shore up security by requiring hospitals and labs to better secure machines used to irradiate blood. Also, dirty-bomb fears have prompted the National Research Council to urge replacing the roughly 1,300 such machines in the U.S. with less hazardous but more expensive equipment.” (The Chief Engineer; 03Nov08; Source: AP) http://www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_display.cfm/seqnumber_content/3598.htm

World faces growing risk of conflict: U.S. intelligence chief
“The world faces a growing risk of conflict over the next 20 to 30 years amid an unprecedented transfer of wealth and power from West to East, the US intelligence chief has said. Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence, predicted rising demand for scarce supplies of food and fuel, strategic competition over new technologies, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. […] ‘During the period of this assessment, out to 2025, the probability for conflict between nations and within nation-state entities will be greater,’ [McConnell] said. Conditions for ‘large casualty terrorist attacks using chemical, biological, or less likely, nuclear materials’ also will increase during that period, he said.” (Lanka Business; 31Oct08; Source: AFP)
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/print.php?nid=2067907578

[Indian] Army for tunnels to protect troops from nuclear [and CBW] attack
“The [Indian] Army now wants tunnels to be dug in forward areas along the unresolved borders with Pakistan and China to provide protection to its troops from NBC (nuclear, chemical, biological) warfare as well as to store critical war-fighting equipment. […] The use of tunnels would […] help in fooling enemy satellites from gauging the exact troop positions and their strength in forward areas.” (Kashmir Watch; 01Nov08; Rajat
Pandit)
http://www.kashmirwatch.com/showheadlines.php?subaction=showfull&id=1225544131&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&var0news=value0news

Terrorists trying to infiltrate British labs
“Dozens of suspected terrorists have tried to infiltrate Britain's top laboratories during the past year to develop weapons of mass destruction, such as biological and nuclear devices. The security services, MI5 and MI6, have intercepted up to 100 potential terrorists posing as postgraduate students who they believe tried accessing laboratories to gain the materials and expertise needed to create chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons, the Government has confirmed. It follows warnings from MI5 to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that al Qaeda's terror network is actively seeking to recruit scientists and university students with access to laboratories containing deadly viruses and weapons technology.” (New Zealand Herald; 04Nov08)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10540937


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.