Computer Worm Hampers Iran Nuclear Efforts

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

Stories we're following today: Monday, September 27, 2010.

Iran Fights Malware Attacking Computers by David Sanger in The New York Times[link]

• The Iranian government agency that runs the country’s nuclear facilities, including those the West suspects are part of a weapons program, has reported that its engineers are trying to protect their facilities from a sophisticated computer worm that has infected industrial plants across Iran.
• Given the sophistication of the worm and its aim at specific industrial systems, many experts believe it is most probably the work of a state, rather than independent hackers.
• “It is easy to look at what we know about Stuxnet and jump to the conclusion that it is of American origin and Iran is the target, but there is no proof of that,” said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and one of the country’s leading experts on cyberwar intelligence. “We may not know the real answer for some time.”
• Iran’s enrichment program has run into considerable technical difficulties in the past year, but it is not clear whether that is because of the effects of sanctions against the country, poor design for its centrifuges, which it obtained from Pakistan, or sabotage.

Move Ahead With New START: Treaty Returns Inspections, Bolsters U.S. Security by Daryl Kimball in Defense News [link]

• The U.S. Senate should act to approve the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). The threat posed by the Cold War nuclear stockpiles of the U.S. and Russia has gradually shrunk as a result of bilateral arms control agreements that have won the support of Republicans and Democrats alike.
• Why the urgency? Ever since the original START I expired Dec. 5, 2009, the U.S. has been losing ground in understanding Russian strategic forces through the window of that treaty's comprehensive verification regime.
• In August, Sen. Jon Kyl threatened to withhold support for New START unless the administration guarantees more funding for the U.S. nuclear weapon production infrastructure.
• U.S. nuclear weapon labs have more than enough resources to maintain the reliability of current warhead types through the ongoing Life Extension Program. New-design warheads and the renewal of nuclear testing are technically unnecessary and would undermine U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
• Senate Republicans and Democrats need to put aside party politics and re-establish the inspections for the U.S. and Russia to "trust, but verify," and to reduce Russia's still enormous nuclear stockpile. U.S. national security is clearly stronger with New START than without it. It is time for the Senate to act.
• Note: Daryl Kimball is the Executive Director of the Arms Control Association, a Ploughshares Fund grantee.
  

Susan Shaer: National Security at Greater Risk Without New START by Susan Shaer in Cap Times [link]

• The partisan split in politics is getting old and stale. Real people want real solutions to real issues, and one of the gravest is within our grasp to solve.
• The Senate now must ratify the New START treaty by a two-thirds margin (67 votes) to preserve the security protections of on-the-ground intelligence we have relied on.
• Failure to ratify New START would send a message of indifference to Russia and the rest of the world, voiding decades of arms control policy. Failure to ratify would be a warning sign to the world that the U.S. no longer stands behind its nuclear commitments.
• The threats posed by nuclear terrorism, the proliferation of nuclear materials, and a lack of transparency and access to Russia’s nuclear weapons program is too dangerous to delay action any further.
• Note: Susan Shaer is the Executive Director of Women's Action for New Directions, a Ploughshares Fund grantee.

Pakistan Takes Helm of UN Atomic Watchdog for First Time Since Bomb Tests by Jonathan Tirone from Bloomberg News [link]

• Pakistan, home to nuclear-weapons smuggler Abdul Qadeer Khan, assumed control of the United Nations atomic agency’s main decision-making body today.
• The South Asian nation took over the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board of governors, according to a statement by the Vienna-based agency
• Pakistan will chair meetings where IAEA inspectors deliver reports on Iranian and Syrian nuclear activities and oversee approval of atomic- technology aid.
• It is the first time that Pakistan has chaired the IAEA board, which meets quarterly in the Austrian capital, since it tested six nuclear bombs in 1998.

Kim to pick heir? Delegates Gather in N. Korea from MSNBC News [link]

• Delegates to North Korea's biggest political meeting in decades gathered in the country's capital amid speculation that leader Kim Jong Il will appoint a son and other family members to key positions as part of a succession plan.
• The widely anticipated meeting will be the party's first major gathering since a landmark congress in 1980 where then 38-year-old Kim Jong Il made his political debut. That appearance confirmed he was in line to succeed his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
• Now 68 and reportedly in poor health two years after suffering a stroke, Kim is believed to be prepping his third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, for a similar father-to-son power transition.
• The country's military has already thrown their support behind Kim Jong Un, according to a South Korean newspaper, which is seen as vital in a smooth power transition.

View From the Dark Side

A new START for the DeMint Treatment on National Security by James Carafano in The Examiner [link]

• Senator DeMint doesn’t mind playing the maverick when national security is on the line.
• “The nuclear-weapons treaty President Obama has negotiated with the Russians may help him make America’s erstwhile Cold War adversary happy,” [DeMint] declared, “but it won’t help protect us from the rogue nations that threaten the United States today.” He proceeded to offer some hard-hitting amendments to try fix the treaty’s flaws.
• DeMint appears determined to do his best to keep the treaty from being added to the Administration’s “achievement” list. But he has work cut out for him.
• Some time between now and the end of post-election “lame duck” session, the Administration hopes to bring the treaty to the Senate floor for a final approval. It will be interesting to watch between now and then how much of a national security maverick DeMint plans to make of himself, and if he’ll try to force more debate.