Tag Archives: National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee

Iran and Turkey sign nuclear fuel-swap deal

The BBC News reported on Monday, May 17, that Iran has agreed to send uranium abroad for enrichment after mediation talks in Tehran with Turkish and Brazilian leaders.

“The deal does not address the central nuclear issues dealt with by successive UN Security Council resolutions – namely Iran’s refusal to halt its enrichment program and address questions about its past nuclear activities,” the BBC reported.

According to Wired’s Danger Room, the deal does help ease “a major concern about Iran’s nuclear program. The proposed shipment of 2,640 pounds is enough for a single, crude Hiroshima-style bomb if it is further enriched to a high enough level (90 percent or higher).”  However, Danger Room notes that Iran’s low-level enriched uranium stockpile is larger than when the deal was first proposed.

The New York Times reported that the deal may “prove to be a tactic aimed at derailing efforts to bring new sanctions against Tehran.”

Further reading: BBC News story, Full text of deal, Danger Room story, The New York Times story

Tagged

Pakistani officials arrest man who says he aided Times Square bomb suspect

Officials in Pakistan arrested a man with ties to a Pakistani militant group who claimed to have aided Faisal Shahzad, the suspect arrested for the attempted Times Square bombing, The Washington Post reported on Friday, May 14.

U.S. officials told the paper that the suspect, who U.S. officials declined to identify, provided an “independent stream” of evidence that the Pakistani Taliban were behind the attempt and admitted to helping Shahzad travel into Pakistan’s tribal area for bomb training. Officials familiar with the investigation cautioned about inconsistencies in the two suspects’ accounts, The Post reported, noting that phone records, e-mails and other communication were still being examined.

There are discrepancies, unnamed officials told the paper, relating to the details and chronology of Shahzad’s travel and training. Officials said the conflicts have raised some questions about the reliability of the suspects’ information, but have not cast significant doubt on the overall understanding of the plot, The Post reported.

Further reading: The Washington Post story

Tagged , ,

Intelligence points to “worrisome” al-Qaida movements in Iran

Al-Qaida operatives who had been detained for years in Iran have been making their way quietly out of the country, an Associated Press story printed in The Washington Times on Thursday, May 13, reported.

Current and former U.S. intelligence officials, on the condition of anonymity, discussed efforts to review and monitor al-Qaida in Iran in more than a dozen interviews with the AP. One former CIA official told the AP that some who have left Iran are moneymen and planners, “the kind of manpower al-Qaida needs after a series of successful U.S. drone attacks on al-Qaida’s ranks.” A former counterterrorism official told the AP that anyone who has left Iran recently is likely to be lower-level.

However, the AP reported that U.S. officials are concerned the movement foreshadows the release of al-Qaida’s “management council,” including some of al-Qaida’s most dangerous people, currently being held in Iran. These people include Saif al-Adel, who is wanted by the FBI in connection with the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania; Abu Hafs the Mauritanian, a bin Laden adviser who helped form the modern al-Qaida; al-Qaida’s longtime chief financial officer, Abu Saeed al-Masri; and Mustafa Hamid, an al-Qaida trainer with a terrorism pedigree that spans decades.

Further reading: AP story printed in The Washington Times

Tagged ,

Rogue Pakistani intelligence agents may be involved in Times Square plot

Rogue members of Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s secret service, may be involved in the attempted Times Square bombing, both the Homeland Security News Wire and The Daily Telegraph reported.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday, May 11, that U.S officials were investigating a connection between Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the Times Square attempted bombing, and elements of Pakinstan’s intelligence service. An unnamed source told The Daily Telegraph that Shahzad’s “background as the son of a senior Air Force officer may have brought him into contact with intelligence agents who helped build the Afghan Taliban and who have channeled cash and training to home-grown Jihadis.”

According to an article published by the Homeland Security News Wire on Wednesday, May 12, many terrorists groups in Pakistan are supported, or were created, by the ISI “to be used in the on-going conflict with India over Kashmir.” It also reported that in the past five years, “the ISI and Pakistani military provided training and logistical support for several terrorist attacks inside India — the most recent one being the December 2008 attack in Mumbai, which killed 166 people.”

Further reading: Homeland Security News Wire story, The Daily Telegraph story

Tagged ,

Administration will pursue Times Square suspects in U.S., abroad

Attorney General Eric Holder told the House Judiciary Committee that “the administration would use all available resources to bring those responsible to justice,” for the attempted Times Square bombing, “whether they are in the United States or overseas,” The Washington Post reported on Thursday, May 13.

The Post also reported that Holder defended the Obama administration’s counterterrorism approach, saying that protecting Americans against terrorism “remains the highest priority for the Department of Justice. The administration will continue to use all lawful means to protect our national security, including, where appropriate, military, law enforcement, diplomatic and economic tools and authorities.”

Holder also said that “the criminal justice system has proven its strength in both incapacitating terrorists and gathering valuable intelligence,” and urged Congress to modernize and clarify the public safety exception to the Miranda warnings “so that interrogators would have “a greater degree of clarity” on how the exception can be used in questioning terrorism suspects,” The Post reported.

Further reading: The Washington Post story

Tagged ,

Tracking people and money offered as “new defenses” by Senate committee

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has called for “new defenses” to tighten screening and tracking of travelers and money between the U.S. and Pakistan, The Washington Times reported.

On May 11, the committee was briefed privately by intelligence and law enforcement officials on the investigation of Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing, and how similar cases could be prevented, the paper said.

Three ideas emerged from the briefing: tracking people who travel between the U.S. and Pakistan every year, tracking how money is transferred between the U.S. and Pakistan and sending the no-fly list to airlines every 30 minutes. The Obama administration has proposed a two-hour required update for no-fly lists.

Further reading: The Washington Times story

Tagged , ,

Obama: US on right track in Afghanistan, but struggle against Taliban remains difficult

by Jessica Binsch, Medill News Service for UPI.com on 05/12/10

WASHINGTON – While acknowledging that the fight ahead will be difficult, President Barack Obama said Wednesday he expects to meet his timeline and begin drawing down U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the summer of 2011.

At a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the East Room of the White House, Obama said the situation would get worse before it gets better.

“What I’ve tried to emphasize,” Obama said, “is the fact that there is going to be some hard fighting over the next several months.” The international forces in Afghanistan are getting ready to retake Kandahar, the country’s second largest city, in what is expected to be a tough battle.

Obama said,U.S. forces are beginning to reverse the momentum of the insurgency: “We are steadily making progress.”

By Diane Rusignola

Karzai looks on as Obama speaks to reporters Wednesday at the White House.

The American president emphasized the administration’s approach near the end of the event “I am more convinced than ever that we have found a difficult but appropriate strategy.”

This strategy will also include Afghanistan’s neighbor Pakistan, where Taliban fighters were able to take refuge in the past. Obama said Pakistani leaders are recognizing that extremist strongholds along their border are threatening Pakistan’s sovereignty and security. The country is now engaged in a military campaign against extremists in their border regions.

To stabilize and secure Afghanistan, Obama stressed that a civilian component is increasingly important, especially when troops begin to leave.

“We can’t win with a military strategy alone,” Obama said, adding that a long-term strategy has to include a civilian component.

“More American civilians and experts are now partnering with their Afghan colleagues,” he said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry have said that the number of U.S. civilians has tripled in the last year, now coming to1,000. However, the military presence still far outweighs the civilian, with an additional 30,000 troops alone set to be in Afghanistan by this summer as part of Obama’s surge.

The administration has said it aims to begin the drawback by July 2011. Obama said he is confident this timeline will be met, but that the U.S. will continue to invest resources in Afghanistan.

“Even as we begin to transition security responsibility to Afghans over the next year, we will sustain a robust commitment in Afghanistan going forward,” Obama said.

On the issue of reconciliation with Taliban foot soldiers, Obama said the process has to be led by the Afghans. He expects a peace conference of Afghan leaders this summer to clarify the specifics of that process.

A draft of a plan for reintegration of low-level Taliban fighters calls for investments of $160 million funded by the U.S., the U.K. and Japan, among others. The U.S. has stressed preconditions for Afghan insurgents rejoin mainstream society. Among those are that fighters put down their weapons and denounce violence, as well asaccept the Afghan constitution and government.

Despite assurances that the Afghan government will lead the process, experts think the U.S. will be heavily involved. “The U.S. has to be fully on board because it is the U.S. blood and treasure that is being invested in Afghanistan,” said Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank. “The U.S. and the Karzai administration have to work hand in glove.”

According to the draft, the reconciliation program would at first focus on a number of provinces across Afghanistan such as Helmand and Kandahar in the South or Kunduz in the North. Fighters willing to lay down their arms may be channeled through a demobilization center before they return to their villages, which would receive aid and investments in infrastructure.

At the press conference, both leaders sought to demonstrate unity and partnership. Tensions between the two countries that made headlines in recent months have been “simply overstated,” Obama said. “Obviously there are going to be tensions in such a complicated and difficult environment and in a situation in which on the ground both Afghans and Americans are making enormous sacrifices.”

Karzai said the two presidents discussed efforts to reduce civilian casualties “in great detail in a very frank and productive manner.” The Afghan government in the past has asked U.S. forces to step up efforts to ensure the protection of civilians.

“When there is a civilian casualty, that is not just a political problem for me,” Obama said. “I am ultimately accountable, just as General (Stanley) McChrystal is accountable, for somebody who is not on the battlefield getting killed.”

Karzai visited the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Tuesday and said it was heart-rending for him to see wounded soldiers. He thanked the American people for their commitment. “The work that we have done promises a better future for Afghanistan,” he said.

Medill media partner

UPI
Ownership: News World Communications
Daily audience: 2.8 million unique visitors per month
Audience demographic: UPI is a provider of critical information to media outlets, businesses, governments and researchers worldwide.
Brief profile: The news wire’s daily coverage today includes domestic and international top news, business, entertainment, sports, science, health and “Quirks in the News” through its traditional NewsTrack newswire, as well as coverage and analysis of emerging threats, the security industry and energy resources through its premium service.

Tagged ,

Red Cross confirmed second detainee facility at Bagram air base

BBC News reported Monday, May 10, that the International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed a second detainee facility  at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, although the U.S. military stated the main Bagram prison is the only detention facility on the base north of Kabul.

According to the BBC, nine former prisoners were held in a building separate from the Detention Facility in Parwan, the main prison on the base.  The BBC reported that the former prisoners told BBC journalists that they referred to the separate building as the “Tor Jail,” which translates as “black jail.”

“They told consistent stories of being held in isolation in cold cells where a light is on all day and night. The men said they had been deprived of sleep by U.S. military personnel there,” the BBC said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross told the BBC that U.S. authorities “have been notifying it of names of detained people in a separate structure at Bagram” since August in accordance with an executive order issued by President Barack Obama on Jan. 22, 2009. The ICRC also told the BBC that it has been notified of detainees at the Detention Facility in Parwan since February 2008.

The BBC reported that Vice Adm. Robert Harward, in charge of U.S. detentions in Afghanistan, denied the abuse allegations as well as the existence of a second detention facility at Bagram, saying the Detention Facility in Parwan was the only detention center in the country.

According to an ICRC operational update posted to its website, the Red Cross has visited the base 142 times since October to check on the detainees’ treatment.

Further reading: BBC story, Executive Order 13491—Ensuring Lawful Interrogations, ICRC operational update – Persons detained by the US in relation to armed conflict and the fight against terrorism

Tagged , , ,

Europe and U.S.'s bond is weak, former Spanish premier says

CHICAGO — The United States and Europe need to strengthen their relationship, said José María Aznar, Spain’s former prime minister, at a speech sponsored by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Monday.

Aznar, who served as prime minister from 1996 to 2004, opened his hour-long presentation talking about how in the past, Americans died for the freedom of Europe. By the end of the hour, he lamented that the U.S. no longer recognizes Europe as a significant group of nations.

“It is very unfortunate to see that Europe is not a current priority for the U.S. administration,” Aznar said. “There are those who believe the Atlantic alliance is obsolete.”

José María Aznar
José María Aznar, former Spanish prime minister, mingles with audience members after delivering a speech at the Chicago Club.

Aznar spoke in broad terms about his assertion regarding this perceived dwindling importance placed on the North Atlantic Treaty, saying only that times had changed, and, in his view, the U.S. puts most of its emphasis on nations with rising power, such as China, India and Russia.

“Europe is an important part of the world,” Aznar said. And with a tinge of humor: “We have a lot of countries. We have a lot of meetings. I promote to reinvigorate the alliance. I can’t imagine the future of the world without this Atlantic alliance.”

The speech, titled “Beyond Lisbon: The Future of Europe,” was held at a banquet room in downtown’s Chicago Club and attended by more than 100 Chicago Council on Global Affairs members and local university students. Aznar discussed the Lisbon Treaty (signed by European Union members in December 2007) and its potential to transform European and transatlantic relations. The Lisbon Treaty redefined the EU’s leadership role in Europe – reestablishing rules and guidelines and altering the structure of its institutions and how they work. The goal was to bring more democracy and stability to the EU.

The treaty went into force in December 2009, but Aznar doesn’t seem to place much faith in it. He said Europe’s security to democracy and freedom was dependent upon its allegiance with the U.S., going so far as to say that Europe does not have the capacity to establish its own security.

“The Lisbon Treaty is limited,” he said. “How is it possible for Europe to become more influential in the world economy?”

Aznar answered his own question, stating that the EU needs to resolve its economic and immigration problems in Europe and define its interest in the world.

While the focus of his speech was on European economic policy, with Greece highlighted in the world media as a nation in economic peril, Aznar spoke adamantly of nuclear energy – and the exigency for Europe to acquire it.

“Nuclear energy is the key for European stability,” he said. “Without nuclear energy, Europe will be vulnerable. Freedom requires power.”

Aznar closed his speech reemphasizing Europe’s shared interests with the United States: democracy, respect for human rights, civil liberties, collective security, and economic freedom.

Just to drive the point home, he said: “I believe in a Europe that is open to war, in a Europe that is willing to compete in the global economy.”

During his time as prime minister, Aznar presided over economic and social reforms in Spain, saying he oversaw close to 5 million new jobs that left a clear mark on the Spanish economy. He no longer lives in Spain, but in Washington, D.C., where he teaches various seminars on contemporary European politics at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Tagged , ,

Israel keeps nukes at bay by not talking

WASHINGTON — Covering your face to make something go away works well if you’re 3 years old, or if you’re Israel, and trying to keep neighboring Egypt from developing nuclear weapons.

This month, President Barack Obama was a regular Chatty Cathy when it came to nuke talk, while Israel was characteristically quiet. Obama signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia: Both countries agreed to cut their strategic nuclear arsenals by about a third. Obama also hosted a two-day Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, attended by 49 world leaders. The goal there was get the countries on board to prevent nuclear smuggling and secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in the next four years.

But when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled out of the summit, and sent a second-tier diplomat instead, some participants and reacted  angrily. Their contention: Netanyahu’s refusal to participate in ongoing nuclear treaty talks threatens to undermine global security.

What these detractors fail to acknowledge, some experts say, is that there’s a more dangerous threat ­much closer to home.

“We’ve got big egos,” Henry Sokolski, president of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center on Washington said of U.S. officials. “What if it turns out that we’re one of the biggest problems?”

Washington’s ego is twofold. Though trying to become a world peace negotiator is a noble undertaking, even Washington may not be equipped to fend off the ramifications that could result from Israel’s speaking up on the topic of nuclear proliferation.

“They don’t get any benefits from declaring that they have nuclear weapons, Institute for Science and International Security president David Albright, a physicist who has written numerous assessments on secret nuclear weapons programs throughout the world, said of Israel’s position. “They could get some serious repercussions. It will be hard to keep Egypt from building. There’s a reality that if you talk about it, it leads others to talk about it.”

Put simply: If Israel’s nuke program is confirmed and recognized, everyone else in the Middle East will want nukes too.

Sokolski agrees with Albright about the need for caution.

“While their arsenal is something that needs to be talked about, it matters how you do it,” said Sokolski. “If you’re reckless, you can make things worse.”

Additionally, if Israel were to declare, Obama might have to address the longstanding rumor that the United States helped Israel violate the first tenant of the summit—to prevent nuclear smuggling. U.S. officials may have helped Israel build its first bomb by enabling it to procure highly enriched uranium from the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation in Pennsylvania the early 1960s. HEU is a necessary component for building a nuclear weapon.

Scientists Victor Gilinsky and Roger J. Mattson tackled this subject in “Revisiting the NUMEC Affair,” an article published in the March/April 2010 edition of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

“You could look at all the documents and ask yourself whether something had happened here. The answer was probably yes. Then the question was whether you could do anything about it, and the answer was no,” the article quoted James Connor, President Gerald Ford’s cabinet secretary, having said with regard to the incident.

But now that it’s 2010 and Obama is scheduled to meet with 200 countries to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May, the treaty credited with keeping nuclear weapons from spreading for four decades, he seems eager “to do something about it.” But what he “does” during the duration of his anti-nuke mission seems to be leading him in only one direction: fueling his adversaries’ ire.

Either Israel admits to having nuclear weapons, which will entice her neighbors and also potentially lift the lid on the defamatory rumor. Or Israel continues to remain mum and Washington is accused of coddling the Jewish countryyet again.

In light of a recent statement by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Obama appears headed in the direction of the latter:

“There is no room to pressure Israel to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” said Barak, quoted in an April 14 Haaretz article. “Israel has never threatened to annihilate other nations and peoples, while today Iran, and also Syria, Libya and Iraq in the past, all of whom signed this treaty, have systematically violated its stipulations while explicitly threatening Israel’s existence.

And if Israel is further alienated by the nascent global nuclear “trust,” she may be more incentivized to hold her even weapons closer.

“It’s not like Israel has the security that comes with having friends in the region,” observed Sokolski. “When you’re not loved and you feel isolated, it’s not surprising that you might seek solace in as many defenses as you can compound. I don’t like seeing people who are nervous feel more isolated.”

Tagged ,