*EPF308 01/10/01
DOD Proliferation Report Updates Threat From Nuclear, Bio, Weapons
(U.S. conventional strength dictates asymmetrical attacks) (680)
By Susan Ellis
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- At least 24 countries, including Iraq and North Korea, either possess weapons of mass destruction or are in the process of acquiring them, Defense Secretary Cohen told a National Press Club audience January 10.

Cohen emphasized the threat from the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons as he announced the release of a Defense Department report entitled "Proliferation: Threat and Response," a report that updates the nature of the security challenge posed by the proliferation of these weapons and the Defense Department's response to the challenge.

The secretary spoke of "the kind of grave new world that we're going to face - indirect, but highly lethal, attacks on our forces and our citizens, not only from nations but from individuals and from independent groups."

He cautioned the audience against believing that this was "some kind of scare tactic" generated by the Pentagon to secure more resources. "This is reality. This is what's taking place. This is what our intelligence tells us is going on," he said.

The terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center, Cohen said, "were gathering the ingredients for a chemical weapons blast. It did not take place, but had it taken place with chemical weapons, thousands of people would have been killed."

He said North Korea, Iran and Iraq "train to use these weapons on the battlefield," and "the followers of Usama bin Ladin have already trained with the use of toxic chemicals."

Addressing the issue of DOD support to U.S. civil authorities in managing the consequences of an NBC attack in the United States, raised in the report, Cohen warned that "an attack on American citizens here at home involving these horror weapons is not a question of if but of when it's going to happen.

"So the next administration is going to have to continue these important efforts to reduce the flow of terror weapons going into the global arms bazaar," the secretary said. "It's going to have to improve the readiness of our forces to protect themselves and survive and fight on one of these contaminated battlefields. It's going to have to direct additional billions of dollars to these efforts; continue with the new joint task force (and) special teams of National Guardsmen. They're both designed to assist communities in the event of an attack on U.S. soil."

People in this first line of defense must be trained to identify toxic agents and know whether they are contagious. In the case of a biological agent that's been released, if it's contagious, the people first on the site must be protected in treating the victims because moving them to a hospital would infect the whole facility, Cohen said.

The report describes DOD's efforts since the end of the Gulf War to ensure that U.S. forces are equipped and trained to fight and win in NBC-contaminated environments, including the department's increased investments and reorganization in this area since the last Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). It discusses DOD's contributions to international arms control and nonproliferation efforts and to enhancing the NBC defense preparedness of our allies and coalition partners.

Cohen observed that he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were the first to be inoculated with an anthrax vaccine he had mandated troops in high-risk areas to receive. He said he wanted to send the signal to all the men and women in uniform that the vaccine was "reliable, was potent and we need it, because you're likely to come into contact with this (anthrax) if a war breaks out in the areas where we think it's most probable."

The report also addresses, for the first time, threats to livestock and agriculture. The last previous report was released in November, 1997. The full report may be viewed on the web at http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/ptr20010110.pdf

(The Washington File is distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. http://usinfo.state.gov)
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