From: Monterey Institute Sent: Monday, February 28, 2000 7:55 AM To: chembio-terror@miis.edu Subject: ChemBio Weapons and WMD Terrorism News - February 28, 2000

******************************************************* ChemBio Weapons and WMD Terrorism News - February 28, 2000 *******************************************************

1) CBW - PREPAREDNESS http://www.canoe.com:80/TopStories/chemical_feb28.html

2) CW DESTRUCTION CONTRACT http://library.northernlight.com/FB20000224950000034.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#do c

3) GULF WAR VETERANS - UK http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid%5F658000/658165.stm

4) BW PREPAREDNESS ASSESSMENT http://www.latimes.com:80/news/comment/20000227/t000018820.html

5) MONITORING WMD PROLIFERATION http://www.space.com:80/space/launches/weapon_monitor_preview_000226.html

6) BOOK REVIEW http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-02/27/022l-022700-idx.html

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-------------------------------- CBW - PREPAREDNESS -------------------------------- 1) U.S. military recalls defective gas-warfare suits CANOE/Associated Press February 28, 2000 John M. Donnelly

http://www.canoe.com:80/TopStories/chemical_feb28.html

"The Pentagon has alerted U.S. facilities around the world that hundreds of thousands of protective suits meant to shield GIs from gas and germ attack may have holes and other critical defects, according to military officials and documents. The Pentagon learned about the flaws five years ago but did not consider the problems crucial and needed the gear for U.S. peacekeeping troops in Bosnia, criminal investigators say. Not until late last year did a second study on the same suits judge identical flaws grave enough to warrant a global warning, the investigators said in an interview."

-------------------------------------------- CW DESTRUCTION CONTRACT -------------------------------------------- 2) ELI ECO LOGIC INC - Receives Contract From US Department Of Defense Northern Light/Market News Publishing via COMTEX February 24, 2000

http://library.northernlight.com/FB20000224950000034.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#do c

"ELI Eco Logic Inc. ('Eco Logic' or the 'Company') announced that it was awarded a prime contract from the US Department of Defense to test its proprietary Gas Phase Chemical Reduction (GPCR) technology for destruction of the US Army's assembled chemical weapons. The contract, which will be completed this year, provides for payment to the Company of approximately Cdn$4.85 million in 2000. This contract finalizes the initial long lead procurement authority of Cdn$1.85 million, which was announced on February 7, 2000."

--------------------------------------- GULF WAR VETERANS - UK --------------------------------------- 3) Veterans demand Gulf illness probe BBC February 26, 2000

http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid%5F658000/658165.stm

"Gulf War veterans have marked the ninth anniversary of the end of the conflict by calling for a public inquiry into the illnesses many of them have developed. Former servicemen and women, together with families and friends, marched on Downing Street to hand in a petition. They delivered the message that after more than 400 deaths an inquiry was long overdue?. The Gulf War veterans are demanding a full public inquiry into Gulf War Illness - the controversial variety of symptoms suffered by some of those involved in the fighting. They range from chronic fatigue syndrome to chest pains, stomach cramps, depression and arthritis."

------------------------------------------------ BW PREPAREDNESS ASSESSMENT ------------------------------------------------ 4) U.S. a Sitting Duck for Bioterrorism Los Angeles Times February 27, 2000 Stephen L. Cohen

http://www.latimes.com:80/news/comment/20000227/t000018820.html

"The United States was recently reminded again that it is woefully ill-prepared to deal with the threat of biological terrorism. The General Accounting Office, an investigative branch of Congress, charged that the government has failed to properly manage the medical stockpiles developed to protect the public from the scourge of potentially devastating biological weapons. In its report, the GAO criticized multiple government agencies for managing the stockpiles so poorly that they might be unavailable in the event of attack. It found both shortages of vital drugs and deficiencies in the amount of emergency supplies supposed to be on hand. The Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, a Marine Corps unit created in 1996 to treat civilian victims of a biological attack, was cited for glaring shortcomings: The GAO discovered that more than a quarter of the Corps' stockpile was plagued by inventory discrepancies and record-keeping errors. The Department of Veterans Affairs was also cited for its failure to manage emergency supplies."

---------------------------------------------------- MONITORING WMD PROLIFERATION ---------------------------------------------------- 5) Launch Postponed for Weapons-Monitoring Satellite SPACE.com February 26, 2000 Andrew Bridges

http://www.space.com:80/space/launches/weapon_monitor_preview_000226.html

"A U.S. government launch of a defense and science satellite that was set for Monday has been postponed for at least five days due to a conflict related to the rocket's planned path after lift-off. The Dept. of Energy was to launch the satellite to test the government's ability to remotely monitor the production of nuclear and chemical weapons around the globe."

--------------------- BOOK REVIEW --------------------- 6) Cassidy's Run: The Secret Spy War Over Nerve Gas, by David Wise Washington Post Book Review February 27, 2000 Robert Sherrill

http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-02/27/022l-022700-idx.html

"Next to the atomic bomb, the scariest weapon developed last century was nerve gas, the brainchild of Nazi scientists in the late 1930s. Germany stockpiled 250,000 tons of the material - just in case - during World War II. Among spoils of that war, the United States and the Soviet Union got the Nazis' formulas for very efficient gases that make people 'forget to breathe,' as one expert put it, and kill within two to 10 minutes. Not content with that speed, scientists on both sides of the Iron Curtain began competing to develop deadlier stuff."

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CNS ChemBio-Terror News is prepared by the Washington, DC office of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical and biological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.

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