US Deploys Anti-Satellite Weapon
The Rocky Mountain News reported today that Air Force Brigadier General Larry James announced that Air Force Space Command has deployed a new weapon to attack enemy satellite communications at the 76th Space Control Squadron in Colorado Springs. James did not say how the anti-satellite weapon works, whether it destroys the offending satellite or just interferes with it. Depending on how it works, it could create questions about space arms control, which probably don't interest the Bush administration, or if arms control is out of the question, could trigger some sort of arms race in space, particularly with the Russians, but perhaps also with the Chinese.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Cyber Security Chief Abruptly Resigns
The abrupt resignation of Amit Yoran, Richard Clarke's replacement (once removed) as cyber security chief in the Homeland Security Department, indicates that all is not well in Homeland Security. This tends to support Kerry's contention that Bush has focused too exclusively on Iraq and ignored other, more pressing threats to the US.
This abrupt resignation tends to reinforce the impression that Tom Ridge has been a failure as Homeland Security Secretary. His main activities seem to have been changing the color of the alert level, and recommending that people buy duct tape, while cargo security at ports and airports largely remains at pre-9/11 levels. Could Homeland Security find one of those atomic bombs that A.Q. Khan may have helped Osama bin Laden build?
The abrupt resignation of Amit Yoran, Richard Clarke's replacement (once removed) as cyber security chief in the Homeland Security Department, indicates that all is not well in Homeland Security. This tends to support Kerry's contention that Bush has focused too exclusively on Iraq and ignored other, more pressing threats to the US.
This abrupt resignation tends to reinforce the impression that Tom Ridge has been a failure as Homeland Security Secretary. His main activities seem to have been changing the color of the alert level, and recommending that people buy duct tape, while cargo security at ports and airports largely remains at pre-9/11 levels. Could Homeland Security find one of those atomic bombs that A.Q. Khan may have helped Osama bin Laden build?
Does Bush Think Pakistan's A.Q. Khan Has Been Brought to Justice?
Last night in his first debate with Senator Kerry, President Bush said, "The A.Q. Khan network has been brought to justice." He later said, "We busted the A.Q. Khan network. This was a proliferator out of Pakistan that was selling secrets to places like North Korea and Libya." They (various people and organizations -- the US, the British, the IAEA) did catch A.Q. Khan mainly because they stumbled over his activities in Libya when Libya renounced its WMD activities. Did Libya renounce its WMD because of US pressure. We'll probably never know exactly what motivated Qadhafi, but it's likely that he was motivated more by trying to settle Lockerbie-PanAm bombing under pressure from the British than because of any American breakthroughs.
So, what about A.Q. Khan? After the debate, CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Karen Hughes about Bush's statement. He asked, "Do you believe that A.Q. Khan, who delivered nuclear materials to North Korea, to Libya, to other countries, has been a brought to justice?" Karen Hughes replied, "Wolf, his ability to trade on the black market nuclear materials has been severely damaged and compromised, yes." Wolf followed up, "But I get back to A.Q. Khan. He's a free man in Pakistan, he was pardoned by President Musharraf. Does that mean he has been brought to justice, after all that he did in circulating banned nuclear equipment around the world?" Karen Hughes replied "Well, again, Wolf, what I can tell you about A.Q. Khan is that his ability -- the president has made anti-proliferation a centerpiece of his initiative. The A.Q. Khan network's ability to deliver and trade in nuclear materials on the black market has been shattered."
So, A.Q. Khan is not selling nuclear materials at the moment, but he's walking around a free man, with millions of dollars in the bank from his past activities. And, we don't know exactly what he was doing before we stumbled on his operation, because Pakistan's president won't let US agents talk to him, and Bush won't pressure Musharraf to let them. Did Khan help Al-Qaida with nuclear weapons? We don't know.
Last night in his first debate with Senator Kerry, President Bush said, "The A.Q. Khan network has been brought to justice." He later said, "We busted the A.Q. Khan network. This was a proliferator out of Pakistan that was selling secrets to places like North Korea and Libya." They (various people and organizations -- the US, the British, the IAEA) did catch A.Q. Khan mainly because they stumbled over his activities in Libya when Libya renounced its WMD activities. Did Libya renounce its WMD because of US pressure. We'll probably never know exactly what motivated Qadhafi, but it's likely that he was motivated more by trying to settle Lockerbie-PanAm bombing under pressure from the British than because of any American breakthroughs.
So, what about A.Q. Khan? After the debate, CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Karen Hughes about Bush's statement. He asked, "Do you believe that A.Q. Khan, who delivered nuclear materials to North Korea, to Libya, to other countries, has been a brought to justice?" Karen Hughes replied, "Wolf, his ability to trade on the black market nuclear materials has been severely damaged and compromised, yes." Wolf followed up, "But I get back to A.Q. Khan. He's a free man in Pakistan, he was pardoned by President Musharraf. Does that mean he has been brought to justice, after all that he did in circulating banned nuclear equipment around the world?" Karen Hughes replied "Well, again, Wolf, what I can tell you about A.Q. Khan is that his ability -- the president has made anti-proliferation a centerpiece of his initiative. The A.Q. Khan network's ability to deliver and trade in nuclear materials on the black market has been shattered."
So, A.Q. Khan is not selling nuclear materials at the moment, but he's walking around a free man, with millions of dollars in the bank from his past activities. And, we don't know exactly what he was doing before we stumbled on his operation, because Pakistan's president won't let US agents talk to him, and Bush won't pressure Musharraf to let them. Did Khan help Al-Qaida with nuclear weapons? We don't know.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Pakistan Stiffs the IAEA
According to a recent AFP report of a BBC interview, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that Pakistan has refused to let the UN atomic watchdog IAEA interview disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, ringleader of the Pakistani nuclear smuggling network. The AFP report continued, "Asked why Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf reportedly said that nobody had asked to question Khan, ElBaradei said: 'I can tell my Pakistani friends that I will be happy to send a team tomorrow to talk to him if we can, absolutely.'"
If there was any doubt that Bush's friend Musharraf was stonewalling about what A.Q. Khan was up to before he was caught providing nuclear assistance to Libya, this comment by ElBaradei should eliminate it. The big question, of course, is whether he was talking to terrorists like Osama bin Laden. And, if so, what sort of help did he provide them. This could be of greater importance than the help we know he provided to Iran and North Korea.
According to a recent AFP report of a BBC interview, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that Pakistan has refused to let the UN atomic watchdog IAEA interview disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, ringleader of the Pakistani nuclear smuggling network. The AFP report continued, "Asked why Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf reportedly said that nobody had asked to question Khan, ElBaradei said: 'I can tell my Pakistani friends that I will be happy to send a team tomorrow to talk to him if we can, absolutely.'"
If there was any doubt that Bush's friend Musharraf was stonewalling about what A.Q. Khan was up to before he was caught providing nuclear assistance to Libya, this comment by ElBaradei should eliminate it. The big question, of course, is whether he was talking to terrorists like Osama bin Laden. And, if so, what sort of help did he provide them. This could be of greater importance than the help we know he provided to Iran and North Korea.
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