Showing posts with label Hillary Rodham Clinton. Show all posts

Friday, December 10, 2010

WikiLeaks: Fears Myanmar building nuclear program

Pakistan media retract fake WikiLeaks story lambasting IndiaIslamabad (AFP) Dec 10, 2010 - Leading Pakistani newspapers on Friday retracted an explosive story that used fake US diplomatic cables to brand Indian generals "genocidal" and accuse New Delhi of sponsoring militants. The News claimed on Thursday that cables released by WikiLeaks showed Indian spies were supporting Islamist militants in Pakistan's northwest tribal region of Waziristan and the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Datelined from Washington, the newspaper told how US diplomats thought of one Indian general as "incompetent" and a "geek", and of another as "self-obsessed, petulant and idiosyncratic" and "barely tolerated" by subordinates. It likened another to late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic "with regard to butchering Muslims through war crimes" in Indian-held Kashmir.

But on Friday The News wrote that "on further inquiries, we learnt from our sources that the story was dubious and may have been planted." The News said the report originated from some local websites "known for their close connections with certain intelligence agencies". A variety of Pakistani newspapers carried the report on Thursday, crediting the story to the Islamabad-based Online news agency, where a receptionist on Friday refused to put through telephone calls from AFP to senior editors. English-language newspaper The Express Tribune also published a front-page retraction, saying it "deeply regrets publishing this story without due verification and apologises profusely for any inconvenience". India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and Pakistan's powerful military establishment continues to see India as its primary threat, despite a Taliban insurgency along the Afghan border.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/WikiLeaks_Fears_Myanmar_building_nuclear_program_999.html Washington (AFP) Dec 9, 2010 Dockworkers and foreign businessmen have seen evidence of alleged secret nuclear and missiles weapons sites being built deep in the Myanmar jungle, a leaked US diplomatic cable said Thursday. "The North Koreans, aided by Burmese workers, are constructing a concrete-reinforced underground facility that is '500ft from the top of the cave to the top of the hill above'," according to the cable, published by the British daily The Guardian.
The cable from the US embassy in Rangoon was among those released Thursday by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, and quoted a Myanmar officer who said he had witnessed the North Korean technicians helping the construction work.
One foreign businessman told the embassy that he had seen reinforced steel bar, larger than for just a factory project, being shipped on a barge. While dockworkers also told of seeing suspicious cargo.
A cable dating from August 2004 revealed information from a Myanmar officer in an engineering unit who said surface-to-air missiles were being built at a site in a town called Minbu in west-central Myanmar.
He said some 300 North Koreans were working at the site, although the US cable noted this was improbably high, The Guardian said.
The military junta in Myanmar has dismissed reports of its nuclear intentions and brushed aside Western concerns about possible cooperation with North Korea.
But in July US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed worries about military ties between the two countries saying a ship from Pyongyang had recently delivered military equipment to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
"We continue to be concerned by the reports that Burma may be seeking assistance from North Korea with regard to a nuclear program," she said.
A June documentary by the Norwegian-based news group Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) said Myanmar was trying to develop nuclear weapons, citing a senior army defector and years of "top secret material."
The DVB documentary gathered thousands of photos and defector testimony, some regarding Myanmar's network of secret underground bunkers and tunnels, which were allegedly built with the help of North Korean expertise.
According to another leaked US cable from 2009, a well-placed source in the Myanmar military government said General Thura Shwe Mann had visited North Korea in 2008.
But the source backtracked later insisting the talks were only exploratory.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Belarus to eliminate highly-enriched uranium stocks

The ex-Soviet state of Belarus announced Wednesday it would eliminate its stocks of highly-enriched uranium by 2012, following talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Clinton won the pledge from Belarus Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov after talks on the sidelines of the OSCE summit in the Kazakhstan capital Astana.
"Foreign Minister Martynov announced that Belarus has decided to eliminate all of its stocks of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and intends to do so by the next nuclear security summit in 2012," said a joint statement.
"The United States intends to provide technical and financial assistance to support the completion of this effort as expeditiously as possible."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the move "a significant step forward" and Clinton praised "a sign of progress in efforts to advance nuclear security and non-proliferation."
"This removal represents a significant, as I said, step for President (Barack) Obama's worldwide effort to secure nuclear material," Gibbs said More at: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Belarus_to_eliminate_highly-enriched_uranium_stocks_999.html

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Experts say rare earths headed for 2011 supply crunch

Sydney (AFP) Nov 17, 2010 Global demand for the increasingly important "rare earth" minerals that power a range of digital products could outstrip supply by next year as dominant producer China slashes exports, analysts warn. Australian experts say the world must find new technologies or prioritise use of the glowing or highly magnetic metals behind iPhones and flat-screen TVs, as well as eco-friendly hybrid cars, solar panels and wind turbines.
"We have a classic supply and demand crisis. Under normal conditions the global demand exceeds supply in about 2011," Professor Brent McInnes from Curtin University in Western Australia told an online briefing last week.
"In 2016, it's quite evident that the Chinese demand itself will exceed the global supply of rare earth elements."
Demand for rare earths has soared with the popularity of smartphones and low-power light bulbs, at the same time that China, which produces 95 percent of the world's total, is limiting exports to feed its domestic market.
Trade tensions flared in September when buyers in Japan accused China of a targeted embargo in retaliation for a territorial dispute.
China gave assurances it would be a "reliable supplier" during a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month. But Japan, the United States and other top consumers are scrambling to find new sources.
"There is a whole range of economies out there... that are building high-tech industries that are dependent at the moment on a very narrow source," said John Cole, director of the Australian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development.
But McInnes said China's actions were driven more by a need to support its growing high-tech sector rather than a desire to exert market clout.
"China sees a point in time when they will need all the rare earth elements they produce," he said.
Rare earth prices remained static for decades due to plentiful supplies, lulling the high-tech industry into a false sense of security.
But McInnes said "it's quite evident this is no longer going to be viable," with a 300 percent spike in prices over the past year alone.
"In normal economic circumstances, whenever the price of an element gets so high, you look to develop new technologies that don't need that element, or you find a new element that is more abundant," said McInnes.
Dwindling supply and increasing costs underscored the need to develop alternatives such as bio- or nano-technology, he added.
"We are at the moment looking at a phenomenon that perhaps gives us some insights into where the future might be in terms of the high-tech and particularly the green-tech sector because some of the technologies that are at risk ... largely exist in the green-tech area," McInnes said.
Cole said scarce supplies of rare earths were being routinely used on "low-value" applications such as plasma screen TVs, indicating a lack of appreciation of the resource and its potential applications.
"Health, defence, and communications applications indicate that there are "a hierarchy of technologies here that could be developed, not least of which are the green technologies," said Cole.
With an average Australian producing six kilos (12 pounds) of electronic waste each year, vast quantities of rare earth -- also used in glass, fibre optic cables and magnets -- find their way into rubbish tips, raising the possibility of recycling as a key source of the minerals.
"The optimisation of our use of rare earth demands that we fully recover the material and re-use it, and that includes even going to the extent of land-fill mining," said Cole.
Australia's Lynas Corp is on track to start producing rare earths by the third quarter of next year, with the resource-rich country expected to become one of the world's leading producers within just a few years.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Experts_say_rare_earths_headed_for_2011_supply_crunch_999.html

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Top US officials urged START treaty ratification

Two top officials from the administration of President Barack Obama urged members of the US Senate to ratify the START treaty with Russia, saying US national security depended on it. "The New START Treaty also deserves prompt ratification. Our national security depends on it," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in The Washington Post.
The treaty -- signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Obama at an elaborate ceremony in Prague in April -- restricts each nation to a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads, a cut of about 30 percent from a limit set in 2002.
The agreement, a top Obama foreign policy initiative, replaces a previous accord that lapsed in December 2009 and also requires ratification by Russia's lower house, the Duma.
Republicans have said they need to be sure that the US nuclear arsenal will be modernized and that the treaty will not hamper US missile defense efforts -- but some acknowledged privately that they did not want to hand Obama a major diplomatic victory before the elections.
Clinton and Gates said the treaty would create a more stable, predictable and cooperative relationship between the world's two leading nuclear powers.
"We will be able to count the number of deployed strategic weapons more accurately, because we will exchange more data on weapons and their movement than in the past," Clinton and Gates wrote.
"New START will also set the stage for future arms reductions, including negotiations on tactical nuclear weapons," they argued.
"It will help solidify the 'reset' of U.S. relations with Russia, which has allowed us to cooperate in pursuit of our strategic interests."http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Top_US_officiald_urged_START_treaty_ratification_999.html

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Future For “New START” Murky After Election -- Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration appears to face an even more daunting challenge in convincing the Senate to ratify a U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty in the wake of this week's election results. How GOP gains in the chamber will impact the pact's chances, though, might not be known for weeks or months (see GSN, Nov. 4).

Proponents of "New START" urged the Senate to quickly bring the treaty to a vote, while skeptics argued for caution and more deliberation.

Read more ....

More News On Calls To Ratify The New Start Treaty

With Republicans gaining Senate seats, arms control advocates worried about nuclear weapons treaty -- CTNow
White House Pushes START Ratification Before New Congress Arrives -- Radio Free Europe
Obama urges Congress to vote on new START treaty by year end -- Xinhuanet
Obama hopes START treaty will pass Congress soon -- AFP
Obama: Hopes Russia arms pact ratified this year -- Reuters
Midterms 2010: Hillary Clinton wants 'lame-duck’ Congress to pass Start treaty -- The Telegraph
Kerry urges START ratification by end of year -- Politico
Russia Fears ‘Reset’ of Relations With U.S. -- Wall Street Journal
Abroad, Fear That Midterm Result May Turn U.S. Inward -- New York Times
National Review: Off To A Lame START -- NPR

Thursday, October 28, 2010

U.S. Will Address Rare Earths at Asia Summit from the CFR

U.S. Will Address Rare Earths at Asia Summit

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she will urge China to clarify its policy (WSJ) on the export of rare-earth minerals this week at a regional Asia summit amid concerns China could use the exports as a political tool. China's recent restrictions on the commercial inputs--used to produce computers and other electronic parts--have raised alarm about shortages of the materials in Japan, the United States, and the EU. China controls roughly 97 percent of the supply of rare earths. It announced curbs on the minerals' export quotas in July amid rising tensions between China and Japan over islands jointly claimed by the two countries. A spokesman for China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Thursday China would not use (Reuters) rare earths as a bargaining chip. "Instead, we hope to cooperate with other countries in the use of rare earths on the basis of win-win outcomes and jointly protecting this unrenewable resource," he said. But a recent article published by China's ministry of commerce urged China to stand strong (Telegraph) in the "rare earth wars" and resist calls from the "big powers" to relax quota restrictions. The issue is expected to feature prominently at next month's G20 leader's summit, but Japanese media reported that China already cancelled a meeting of trade ministers from China, Japan, and South Korea in order to avoid the issue.

Analysis:

In the China Post, Frank Ching says the recent rise in Sino-Japan tensions has pushed Japan closer to the United States and strengthened their security alliance.

In the New York Times, Paul Krugman says China's restriction of rare earths shows its government is "dangerously trigger-happy, willing to wage economic warfare on the slightest provocation."

On CFR's Asia Unbound blog, Elizabeth Economy writes the official reason China has severely capped rare-earths exports is concern about its environment and its own future supply. "It estimates that if it doesn't take action, it won't have any rare earths left in twenty years," she says.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Clinton: US has no problem with Bushehr atomic plant

The United States does not see Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor as a threat, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday, on the day that the Islamic Republic began fueling the core of the power plant.

Clinton said that the US is more concerned with other Iranian sites where they believe the Islamic Republic may be attempting to create nuclear weapons.

"Our problem is not with their reactor at Bushehr, our problem is with their facilities at places like Natanz and their secret facility at Qom and other places where we believe they are conducting their weapons program," Clinton stated while addressing reporters at a meeting with Austria's foreign minister.
RELATED:
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Arab World: Ahmadinejad’s recipe for success
'Iranian power has swung from mullahs to Ahmadinejad'

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=192871

Friday, October 22, 2010

Senators Taking Seats in November Could Affect "New START" Vote from GSN Daily News

Several Democratic senators are expected to vacate their seats right after next month's midterm election, enabling their replacements to potentially ensnare an Obama administration bid to win Senate approval of a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia before other newly elected lawmakers take their seats in January, Foreign Policy reported (see GSN, Oct. 20).
President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April signed "New START," which requires their nations to each cut deployed strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 warheads, down from the maximum of 2,200 allowed by 2012 under an earlier agreement. They must both also restrict their active nuclear delivery vehicles to 700, with another 100 platforms allowed in reserve.
The pact is awaiting a ratification vote in the Senate, where the 67 votes required for passage must include at least eight Republicans in this Congress. A significant number of Republicans have expressed reservations over the treaty, and anticipated party gains could raise the number of required GOP supporters to between 16 and 18 in the next Congress if the ratification process dragged into 2011, according to Foreign Policy.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for a vote during the current Congress's "lame-duck" session between the Nov. 2 election and Christmas; however, lawmakers elected in Delaware, Illinois and West Virgina are set to take seats immediately after next month's vote, making their positions on the treaty key to its ratification prospects.
Democrat Chris Coons, now the leading Senate candidate in Delaware, has not taken a public stance on the arms pact. Republican rival Christine O'Donnell, though, pledged in an e-mail statement to "look very carefully at any treaty before the U.S. Senate."
"There is nothing wrong in principle with reducing nuclear weapons as long as it is verifiable and we ensure that we can meet all of our defense requirements. There are several concerns with New START treaty as it stands before the U.S. Senate right now," O'Donnell wrote in the statement, referring to missile defense language in the pact, Russian efforts to curb Iranian atomic activities and the Obama administration's commitment to refurbishing U.S. nuclear weapons. "Before I could vote in support of New START, each of these concerns would have to be fully addressed," she said.
Representative Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who showed a slight lead in a recent poll, has not taken a stance on the treaty, according to a statement by his office. Kirk has worked with Democrats in the past on security matters, suggesting he could support the agreement's ratification, according to Foreign Policy. Illinois Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias in an e-mail said he would endorse the pact.
West Virginia Democrat Joseph Manchin, who polled ahead of his Republican competitor by a thin margin, would consider the positions of "our commanders and generals on the ground" in formulating his position on the treaty, according to a statement by his office. Republican candidate John Raese opposes the treaty, a spokesman said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) probably would not allow a vote on New START to proceed unless the White House verified 67 senators were in favor of ratification, Foreign Policy reported. Such a vote was one of a number of "possible" items the Senate could take up during the lame-duck period, according to one Senate leadership staffer.
"We're taking nothing for granted and we're addressing every concern and giving every reassurance where we can," an Obama administration official said. "That's where we are" (Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy, Oct. 21).
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday denied allegations that it had negotiated an undisclosed deal with the United States linked to New START, RIA Novosti reported.
"No secret arrangements beyond the limits of what is written in the document and its appendixes exist," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said (RIA Novosti, Oct. 22).
"I can only tell you one thing: everything we had agreed on is fixed in the treaty and in the ample appendixes to this treaty. This is an open document," the Xinhua News Agency quoted him as saying (Xinhua News
http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101022_8525.phpAgency, Oct. 21).

Friday, October 15, 2010

Pakistan to Push for Nuclear Deal With U.S.

Pakistan still keen on securing U.S. nuclear deal

Pakistan officials say they may propose a nuclear-cooperation pact with the U.S. when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi meets with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton next week in Washington, D.C. The Pakistani officials, however, said that "expectations are very low" for such a deal, given rival India's close ties with the U.S. The Wall Street Journal

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Iran to press for recognition of 'nuclear rights' in talks

Iran will press to have its "nuclear rights" recognised in talks with world
powerswho accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons, a foreign
ministry spokesman told reporters on Tuesday. "Iran has announced
its view points and readiness for talks with the P5+1. We are seeking
to have Iran's nuclear rights recognised in these talks," Ramin
Mehmanparast said at his weekly press briefing. He said Iran's
chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was seeking to set "a date
and venue" to meet EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton,
who represents permanent UN Security Council members and
Germany -- known as the P5+1. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
last week said an Iranian official may meet with Ashton in

October "for preparatory work" in a new bid to open

negotiations on Iran's contested nuclear drive
More at:
.http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_to_press_for_recognition_of_nuclear_

Friday, September 24, 2010

Is Nuclear Proliferation Contagious? Authors: William Potter, CNS Director Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, Research Associate

James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

The spread of nuclear weapons is a danger, but if one nation should decide to disavow its nonproliferation commitments, there is little reason to expect an epidemic.

Judging by the comments of most political figures, scholars and media pundits, regardless of political orientation, the future of nuclear proliferation is bleak.
This time, the sky is surely falling. At the very least, the world is at a "tipping point" in the direction of a nuclear armed crowd with far more countries actively pursuing and acquiring nuclear weapons. On this point, Hillary Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ban Ki-moon and John McCain all agree.
This proliferation pessimism often finds expression in metaphors about nuclear dominoes, chains, cascades and waves. In most cases the gloomy scenario anticipates a reactive process in which Iran's "going nuclear" leads to decisions by other states in the region and possibly elsewhere to follow suit in quick succession.
Such prognoses are often cited in support of arguments for urgent action to stop Iran's nuclear program. And yet, as was the case with the "domino theory" of the spread of Communism, little evidence is marshaled to support assertions about reactive proliferation.
A review of declassified U.S. national intelligence estimates (NIEs), as well as scholarly prognoses, shows that nuclear alarmism has been a feature of U.S. threat assessments throughout most of the nuclear age.
The catalysts for projections of rapid proliferation and the characteristics of "threshold states" have changed over time, but past forecasts have routinely overestimated the pace of proliferation.

More at link:http://cns.miis.edu/stories/100923_contagious_iht.htm

Monday, September 20, 2010

Russia, US Request IAEA to Verify Weapons-Grade Plutonium’s Disposition

from IAEA Top News RSS Feed

On 16 September 2010, the IAEA´s Director General Yukiya Amano received a jointly signed letter from the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, and the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, requesting that the IAEA undertake “an important verification role under the amended Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the United States of America Concerning the Management and Disposition of Plutonium Designated as No Longer Required for Defense Purposes and Related Cooperation”.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

US watches 'leadership process' in North Korea

US watches 'leadership process' in North Korea
Washington (AFP) Sept 8, 2010 - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday the United States is watching the "leadership process" in North Korea but hoped whoever is in power in Pyongyang will scrap nuclear weapons. Speaking before US envoys tour Asia to discuss North Korea, Clinton said Washington is making clear to the North Koreans what they must do and what they would gain if they "seriously discuss denuclear ... more

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Clinton urges Senate to move quickly on nuclear treaty

Official portrait of Secretary of State Hillar...

Image via Wikipedia

Washington (AFP) Aug 11, 2010 - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged the Senate to move quickly to pass the new US-Russian nuclear arms reduction treaty when it resumes debate next month. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week delayed until mid-September its vote on approving the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the successor to one that expired in December. Committee chairm ... more

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