USAF COUNTERPROLIFERATION CENTER CPC OUTREACH JOURNAL Maxwell AFB, Alabama Issue No. 708, 01 May 2009 Articles & Other Documents: Obama Action Expected Soon on UAE Nuclear Pact Extremists said to be Eyeing Somalia as New Base Torture Tape Delays U.S.-UAE Nuclear Deal, say U.S. Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri calls the Shots, says Officials State Department US Can Make Sure Pak Nukes are Secure: Obama US Fears Over al-Qaeda in Pakistan Safety of Pak Nukes: Obama does not Rule out U.S. Steps Up Effort on Digital Defenses Intervention The Cyber Defense Perimeter China Rejects Japan's Accusation over Its Nuclear Policy Swine Flu Vaccine may be Available in 6 Months - Russian Expert China: Open about Nuclear Swine Flu: Virus may be on Decline in Mexico N. Korea Raps Japan over Stalled Nuclear Talks Many States Do Not Meet Readiness Standards North Korea Threatens New Nuclear, Ballistic Missile Tests A Vaccine Needed for Bad Statistics: Eric Auchard N. Korea Reaffirms Boycott of Nuclear Talks Bin Laden is Dead, Again N. Korea Issues Threat on Uranium Welcome to the CPC Outreach Journal. As part of USAF Counterproliferation Center’s mission to counter weapons of mass destruction through education and research, we’re providing our government and civilian community a source for timely counterproliferation information. This information includes articles, papers and other documents addressing issues pertinent to US military response options for dealing with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats and countermeasures. It’s our hope this information resource will help enhance your counterproliferation issue awareness. Established in 1998, the USAF/CPC provides education and research to present and future leaders of the Air Force, as well as to members of other branches of the armed services and Department of Defense. Our purpose is to help those agencies better prepare to counter the threat from weapons of mass destruction. Please feel free to visit our web site at http://cpc.au.af.mil/ for in-depth information and specific points of contact. The following articles, papers or documents do not necessarily reflect official endorsement of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or other US government agencies. Reproduction for private use or commercial gain is subject to original copyright restrictions. All rights are reserved. Forbes.com Thomson Reuters April 29, 2009 Obama Action Expected Soon on UAE Nuclear Pact By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is expected to soon certify a nuclear energy agreement with the United Arab Emirates, setting the stage for action in Congress on a pact that could be worth billions of dollars to U.S. companies, a U.S. business official said on Wednesday. Danny Sebright, president of the U.S.-UAE Business Council, told Reuters he expected Obama to issue a presidential determination that the agreement, signed in the last days of the administration of former President George W. Bush, is in the best interests of the United States. That would set the stage for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to formally notify Congress of the United States' intention to enter into the nuclear energy cooperation deal with one of Iran's neighbors, giving lawmakers 90 days to vote down the pact if they choose, he said. 'No vote of approval is required. It's just required to sit there 90 days,' Sebright said. The UAE is best known in the United States for the furor that erupted in Congress several years ago when state- owned Dubai Ports World acquired several U.S. port assets as part of its purchase of British company P&O. DPW ultimately agreed to sell the assets when many Republicans and Democrats objected to an Arab-owned company operating U.S. port facilities. The incident derailed efforts between the United States and the UAE to negotiated a free trade agreement. Even so, the UAE last year surpassed Israel as the United States' largest export market in the Middle East. TIES WITH IRAN UAE's trade ties with Iran and a gruesome video that appears to show a member of the Gulf Arab state's ruling family torturing an Afghan grains trader could color the debate in Congress over the nuclear deal. The video, aired last week by U.S. network ABC, shows the Afghan being abused with an electric cattle prod, beaten with whips and a plank of wood with a nail in it, and driven over by a car in a desert location in 2004. The Abu Dhabi Justice Department said on Wednesday it had launched an investigation and 'unequivocally condemns the actions depicted on the video.' The UAE was the world's third largest oil exporter in 2007, and Iran the fifth, according to U.S. government figures. Sebright said the UAE wants U.S. assistance in building a number of nuclear reactors to meet an expected need for an additional 40,000 megawatts of electricity by 2017. U.S. nuclear reactor builders, GE and Westinghouse Electric Co, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp, stand to get a big share of the expected $40 billion market if Congress does not block the deal. Representative Howard Berman, chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said in January Congress would carefully examine the agreement to make sure it would not help Iran develop a nuclear bomb. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, also is expected to raise concerns about past problems with illegal transshipment from UAE to Iran. Sebright said he believed those concerns could be addressed because the UAE, by renouncing uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent fuels, has made clear 'they have no intention of ever wanting a nuclear weapon.' When the UAE embarked on plans to develop a nuclear energy program, they set out 'to create a clear alternative to the path Iran is taking in the region' and a number of safeguards to prevent spent nuclear fuel from being used to build weapons are part of the pact with the United States, he said. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham) http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/04/29/afx6357821.html (Return to Articles and Documents List) CNN.com 29 April 2009 Torture Tape Delays U.S.-UAE Nuclear Deal, say U.S. Officials By Elise Labott CNN State Department Producer WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A videotape of a heinous torture session is delaying the ratification of a civil nuclear deal between the United Arab Emirates and the United States, senior U.S. officials familiar with the case said. In the tape, an Afghan grain dealer is seen being tortured by a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, one of the UAE's seven emirates. The senior U.S. officials said the administration has held off on the ratification process because it believes sensitivities over the story can hurt its passage. The tape emerged in a federal civil lawsuit filed in Houston, Texas, by Bassam Nabulsi, a U.S. citizen, against Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan. Former business partners, the men had a falling out, in part over the tape. In a statement to CNN, the sheikh's U.S. attorney said Nabulsi is using the videotape to influence the court over a business dispute. The civil nuclear agreement was signed in January between the United Arab Emirates and the Bush administration, but after the new administration took office, the deal had to be recertified. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently signed the document and sent it to President Obama for his signature. It should have reached Capitol Hill by now, the senior U.S. officials say, but Obama hasn't yet signed it. And officials say it deliberately has not yet been sent to Congress for ratification. "It's being temporarily held up because of that tape," one senior official said. The senior U.S. officials say they are worried that lawmakers critical of the deal could use the videotape to undermine the agreement. The officials say lawmakers could argue the United States should not have such nuclear cooperation with a country where the rule of law is not respected and human rights violations are tolerated. Nabulsi's lawyer, Anthony Buzbee, told CNN he sent letters and excerpts of the tape to lawmakers. The case reflects the complexities of U.S. foreign policy and may represent a test of the Obama administration's commitment to human rights as it marks its 100th day. The State Department had little to say publicly on the torture tape incident, but its 2008 human rights report about the United Arab Emirates refers to "reports that a royal family member tortured a foreign national who had allegedly overcharged him in a grain deal." When asked about the case, Acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said only, "We urge all governments to fully investigate allegations of criminal acts. " On Wednesday, an Abu Dhabi government agency issued a statement deploring the video and promising a full investigation. "The Government of Abu Dhabi unequivocally condemns the actions depicted on the video and will conduct a comprehensive review of the matter immediately," said the statement issued by the Judicial Department's Human Rights Office, which promised to make its findings public. U.S. Rep. James McGovern -- the Massachusetts Democrat who co-chairs the congressional Human Rights Commission -- wrote Secretary Clinton expressing "outrage and concern" over the tape and asked her to take a "lead role" in investigating the case, including whether a Department of Homeland Security official working out of the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi failed to bring the case to the attention higher ranking U.S. officials for action after being shown the tape by Nabulsi.