US 'dangerously vulnerable'

2008-09-09 09:41

Washington - The United States remains "dangerously vulnerable" to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks seven years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, a forthcoming independent study concludes.

And a House Democrats' report says the Bush administration has missed one opportunity after another to improve the nation's security.

The recent political rupture between Russia and the US only makes matters worse, said Lee Hamilton, the former Indiana Democratic congressman who helped lead the 9/11 Commission and now chairs the independent group's latest study.

Efforts to reduce access to nuclear technology and bomb-making materials have slowed, thousands of US chemical plants remain unprotected, and the US government continues to oppose strengthening an international treaty to prevent bioterrorism, according to the report produced by the bipartisan Partnership for a Secure America.

The group includes leaders of the disbanded 9/11 Commission, the bipartisan panel that investigated government missteps before the 2001 terror attacks on the US.

Harsh criticism of Bush administration

"The threat of a new, major terrorist attack on the United States is still very real," concludes the report to be released on Wednesday, the same day a congressional commission will hold a hearing in New York on nuclear and biological terrorism threats.

"A nuclear, chemical or biological weapon in the hands of terrorists remains the single greatest threat to our nation. While progress has been made in securing these weapons and materials, we are still dangerously vulnerable," the report said.

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, had harsher criticism of the Bush administration's efforts. Their report, written by the staffs of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees, found little or no progress across the board on national security initiatives.

"The Bush administration has not delivered on a myriad of critical homeland and national security mandates," the Democrats' report states. That report was being released on Tuesday.

The independent report focuses narrowly on weapons of mass destruction.

The report and supporting studies describe the failure of international cooperation to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, which they call a major problem.

Many countries continue to ignore a UN mandate to prevent the spread of such weapons; the ability of many countries to monitor potential bioterrorism is "essentially non-existent," and dangerous chemical weapons stockpiles remain in some countries, including Russia and Libya.

Russia has been a significant player in US efforts to secure nuclear weapons and to eliminate inventories of chemical weapons in the former Soviet region. That cooperation could be jeopardised as the two countries face off over the Russian invasion of Georgia and concerns about a US missile defence base in Poland, Hamilton said.

Bush on Monday cancelled a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Russia.

"The things we do to penalise Russia will make it more difficult for us to deal with Russia on other matters," Hamilton said.

State department spokesperson Robert Wood said he has not seen the report. But he said there have been a number of successes in recent years, including negotiations to dismantle North Korea's nuclear programme and Libya's agreement to end its nuclear and chemical weapons programme.

- SAPA