Budget for Nuclear Terrorism Threat Reduction Under Scrutiny

Today's top nuclear policy stories, with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today: Friday February 11, 2011

Congress's Nuclear Terrorism Shortfall - Michelle Marchesano for The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists [link]

• The US National Security Strategy, released by the White House in May 2010, states that "there is no greater threat to the American people than weapons of mass destruction, particularly the danger posed by the pursuit of nuclear weapons by violent extremists and their proliferation to additional states." This is why the Obama administration is in the midst of an international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years.
• Republicans and Democrats alike have voiced support for limiting access to vulnerable nuclear materials to prevent nuclear terrorism. Yet the US programs charged with securing fissile materials and thwarting terrorists' efforts to acquire them are among the victims of this year's federal budget fights.
• Critically important nuclear material security programs are facing significant budget shortfalls because Congress chose to extend the fiscal year (FY) 2010 funding levels through March 4, 2011, with a continuing resolution, rather than passing FY 2011 appropriation bills. Consequently, an additional $320 million over the FY 2010 level was not appropriated -- despite being authorized by lawmakers in the National Defense Authorization Act. Without appropriated budgets commensurate to program agendas, efforts to improve global nuclear material security will stall.
• The coming weeks offer a key opportunity to get these programs back on track. The Republican House leadership plans to introduce a bill the week of February 14 to fund the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year. The additional $320 million should be included in the final bill. If this does not happen, the National Nuclear Security Administration's Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) will be the biggest loser.
• Efforts should be made to ensure that the final funding bill better reflects the urgency and importance that government officials place on improving global nuclear material security to prevent nuclear terrorism. Allowing the current nonproliferation shortfalls to continue past March 4 or bleed into the 2012 fiscal year appropriation process -- which will start on February 14 with the release of the president's budget proposal for that year -- would jeopardize both US national security objectives and global nuclear material security.

Clapper Testifies: Al Qaida Affiliates Still at Fore of Threats to U.S. - Jonathan S. Landay for McClatchy [link]

• Terrorism, the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and espionage, especially cyber attacks and the theft of U.S. technology, are the leading U.S. national security threats, the top U.S. intelligence official said Thursday.
• Delivering the U.S. intelligence community’s annual threat assessment to Congress, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said the country faces “numerous” other “potential dangers over the long term...It is the multiplicity and interconnectedness of potential threats — and the actors behind them — that constitute our biggest challenge,” Clapper said in the report submitted to the House Intelligence Committee.
• Testifying before the committee, Clapper was flanked by the heads of other U.S. intelligence agencies, including CIA Director Leon Panetta. Clapper said that the al Qaida leadership based in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan has been “damaged” by U.S. counter-terrorism efforts. But, he continued, Osama bin Laden’s inner circle and affiliated groups in the Middle East and North Africa will remain “at the forefront of our national security threats over the coming year,” plotting attacks on the U.S. homeland and targets overseas.

India and Pakistan Agree to Resume Peace Talks - Simon Denyer and Karin Brulliard for The Washington Post [link]

• India and Pakistan agreed Thursday to resume formal peace talks that were broken off after the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which were blamed on Pakistan-based militants. The decision could ease tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals and was welcomed by the Obama administration.
• The United States has urged the Indian government to resume the dialogue with Pakistan, in part because their rivalry undermines efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. There has been a string of meetings in the past year between officials from both sides, but Thursday's announcement of a dialogue "on all issues" marks a significant step forward, regional experts said.
• It also represents something of a concession by India, which had been pressing Pakistan to bring to justice those responsible for the November 2008 attack on Mumbai, India's financial hub, when gunmen stormed luxury hotels and a Jewish center, killing 166 people.
• Although observers expect India to continue to press Pakistan to crack down on terrorist networks long harbored on its territory, Pakistani officials say they want the talks to address the disputed Kashmir region. Progress on all issues is likely to be slow, after decades of mutual suspicion and three wars between the neighbors since independence more than 60 years ago.

Senator Jon Kyl Announces His Retirement From Senate - David Cantanese for Politico [link]

• Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl announced Thursday that he would retire after his current term, creating the fifth open seat Senate race of the 2012 cycle.  Kyl, who rose to the post of minority whip, will be remembered as a major player on defense policy — he organized a coalition against the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the 1990s and became the leading voice against ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia late last year.
• Several GOP operatives acknowledged a tea party candidacy is almost an inevitability in a state that is now known for enacting the nation’s toughest law on illegal immigration.  Democrats, basking in a bit of promising news after the retirements of two of their own — Sens. Kent Conrad and Jim Webb — contend that the seat will be in play, especially if a crowded and costly primary bruises the eventual GOP nominee.
• “Frankly, for the last year or two, only one name’s been at the top of everybody’s list, and that’s Gabby Giffords,” said one Democrat. “She has the right of first refusal. Hopefully, people will give her the space and time she needs to recover and make that decision.”
• Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, former Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Harry Mitchell, 2010 attorney general nominee Felicia Rotellini and U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke are all potential Democratic possibilities, as well.

U.S. Intelligence Chief: Iran Keeps Options Open to Make Nuclear Arms - Tony Capaccio for Bloomberg [link]

• Iran is keeping its options open on building nuclear weapons by pursuing "various nuclear capabilities,'' the U.S. intelligence chief said Thursday.  The U.S. does not know if Iran will ultimately build weapons, but its programs “position it” to do so, said James Clapper, President Barack Obama’s director of national intelligence.
• “There is a real risk that its nuclear program will prompt other countries in the Middle East to pursue nuclear options,” he said in testimony before the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Iran will build weapons “if its leaders choose” to proceed, he said.  “We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons,” he said. Still, “Iran’s nuclear decision-making is guided by a cost-benefit approach, which offers the international community opportunities to influence Tehran,” Clapper said.
• Iran’s leadership “undoubtedly consider Iran’s security, prestige and influence, as well as the international political and security environment when making decisions about its nuclear program,” Clapper said.
• Iran also continues to “reach out” to Latin America “as a way to diminish its international isolation and bypass international sanctions,” Clapper said.  So far, he said, those relations have developed “only significantly” with Venezuela, Bolivia and Brazil.  “Most moderate governments have responded coolly to Tehran outreach although an increasing number of Iranian embassies are attempting to spread” the country’s influence.