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Dear Fellow Conservative: In the first bill being rushed through the 110th Congress, liberal House Democrats are attempting to surrender a key aspect of our homeland security to the United Nations. H.R. 1, Mrs. Pelosi and her ultra-liberal pal’s first attempt to draft legislation to make America safe since 9/11, contains language that would subject our country's most effective counter proliferation initiative to limitations imposed by the UN Security Council. The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a four year-old program, created and led by the United States that allows America and our allies to interdict the transfer of banned weapons...

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea said Thursday it will ban the entry of North Korean officials who fall under a U.N. travel restriction — Seoul's first concrete move to enforce sanctions imposed after the North's nuclear test. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok also said Seoul will control transactions and remittances relating to inter-Korean trade and investment with the North Korean officials, Yonhap news agency reported. A U.N. committee on the sanctions, passed in response to North Korea's Oct. 9 nuclear test, has been working to outline how they will be implemented. Meanwhile, Japan's foreign ministry on Thursday denied a news...

North Korea tell South sanctions could mean war SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) -- North Korea warned South Korea on Wednesday against joining U.S.-led sanctions against Pyongyang and said it would take action after any such move by Seoul. South Korea's participation in sanctions would be seen as a serious provocation leading to a "crisis of war" on the Korean peninsula, a North Korean spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. The North issued a similar warning in September shortly before it conducted a nuclear test,...

MSDF set to monitor 2 sea-lanes / To check ships near Okinawa, Tsushima Strait The Yomiuri Shimbun The government intends to conduct inspections of cargo to and from North Korea in the Tsushima Strait and in waters northwest of Okinawa, in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution, sources said Saturday. As part of sanctions imposed in response to North Korea's nuclear test, the government is considering deploying several destroyers and P-3C patrol aircraft of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the two sea areas and airspace. According to the outline of the government's action plan on possible inspections of cargo...

Cyprus halts Syria-bound ship A ship suspected of carrying illicit cargo from North Korea to Syria has been impounded by port authorities in Cyprus and its crew arrested while police search the cargo, the head of maritime security at the port of Limassol said on Thursday. "It was stopped because it was initially suspected of carrying weapons for Syria ... We had information from Interpol and action was taken on it," Fokas Riris, head of port facility security in Limassol said by telephone from Cyprus. "All 15 crew have been arrested and are being questioned by police, all government agencies...

N. Korean Missile Export... Blocked by China [MBC TV 2006-09-04 21:30]     (Translator's Note: This is the transcript of an evening news segment)[News Desk] Anchor: N. Korea's missile export is being blocked. After shipment by sea had been blocked, N. Korea has been trying to use air shipment, but China is blocking it, according to what we have found. Sino-N. Korean relation is not what it used to be. Correspondent Shin Kyung-min will be reporting.  Correspondent: S. Korean government confirmed to us that N. Korean planes carrying missile components have been blocked by China from using Chinese airspace on many occasions since 2005. U.S. intelligence monitoring...

Asia's WMD Laggards July 24, 2006; Page A14 The Wall Street Journal In the wake of Pyongyang's missile tests this month, the U.N. Security Council passed a unanimous resolution that "requires" member states to work to halt the proliferation of WMD and missile technology to or from North Korea. As it happens, there's a multilateral operation already up and running if more nations would join the effort. Since its creation three years ago, the Proliferation Security Initiative has quickly become the world's most effective check (short of regime change) against WMD traffickers. A U.S.-led initiative, PSI is a new, flexible...

A program of clandestine action against nuclear and missile traffic to North Korea and Iran is to be intensified after last week's missile tests by the Pyongyang regime. Intelligence agencies, navies and air forces from at least 13 nations are quietly co-operating in a secret war against Pyongyang and Tehran. It has so far involved interceptions of North Korean ships at sea, US agents prowling the waterfronts in Taiwan, multinational naval and air surveillance missions out of Singapore, investigators poring over the books of dubious banks in the former Portuguese colony of Macau and a fleet of planes and...

What do China’s President, Sandy Berger and US Port Security have in common? More importantly, why should they have anything in common! Sandy Berger is a confessed thief of national security information which he claims he destroyed using scissors in his office (was the shredder not working?). China is not an ally of the form or nature of The UAE - not even close. So what is this all about [hat tip to our reader SBD for the comment/lead]? Port Security International (PSI) is an international partner’s network composed of an array of financial, strategic, technological and in-country port industry...

Forget Dubai-based DP World poised to run commercial operations in six leading American ports, it’s the players in the chess game called Port Security that Congress members should be losing the most sleep over. While it’s true that port security falls under the jurisdiction of Coast Guard and U.S. customs officials, agents of both entities will need a program just to recognize all the players. Port Security International (PSI) is an international partner’s network composed of an array of financial, strategic, technological and in-country port industry related companies. PSI has an alliance with the China-based Nuctech, a company that "possesses...

Sixty years ago today, an atom bomb exploded over Hiroshima, killing 80,000 people, mostly civilians. Tens of thousands more died from radiation sickness in the years that followed. The memory of that day offers a horrific reminder of what is at stake when the nuclear non-proliferation regime comes under attack as it is today. The direct challenge comes from the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. Both expose serious shortcomings in the non-proliferation treaty (NPT). It permits non-weapons states to develop nuclear fuel cycles, allowing them legitimately to proceed to the brink of weaponisation. If Iran and North Korea...

(via North KoreaZone) The United States and its allies have intercepted two deliveries of materials useful in making nuclear and chemical weapons by North Korea, the State Department said Tuesday. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher made the disclosure in remarks to reporters, citing 11 successful efforts in the past nine months by the United States and its allies in an anti-proliferation campaign, called the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). `I have cited two cases involving North Korea. I¡¯ve cited several cases involving countries of proliferation concern, including Iran,¡¯¡¯ Boucher said in a press briefing. ``In addition, we worked to impede the...

On 11 occasions over the past nine months, the U.S. and allies cooperating in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) have successfully prevented the spread of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or related items. At least two of those incidents involved Iran, two involved North Korea and another involved an unidentified third country, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed. Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the PSI, a project launched by President Bush during a 2003 visit to Krakow, Poland. With a focus on stopping and searching ships, planes, trains or trucks, the PSI aims to prevent terrorists and rogue states...

Rice warns N. Korea against nuke proliferation, eyes PSI, UNSC (Kyodo) _ U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned North Korea against its nuclear ambitions and possible proliferation, citing an ongoing multilateral interdiction initiative and the possibility of referring the case to the U.N. Security Council. While reiterating the United States remains committed to peacefully resolving the nuclear issue through six-party talks, Rice made the warning in a press briefing en route to Brazil on Monday, according to a transcript of her remarks made available Tuesday by the State Department. "The Proliferation Security Initiative is always there. It does...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Drug Addiction On the Rapid Rise Last Year [Analysis By Lee Young-hwa] [Japanese Expert Analysis: Part I] Overseas sale blocked by PSI; outfits such as N. Korean security now resorting to domestic sale [ 2005-04-11 16:20 ] N. Korean spy ship sunk in Japanese water in Dec., 2002 <photo: Yonhap News> Recently, drug addicts in N. Korea are rapidly increasing. According to some experts, the  drug addction in some border area (with China)  is so widespread that it reminds them of waning days of Ching Dynasty(translator's note: late 19th century China.)N. Korea is the only country...

When experts from the US and the IAEA came upon blueprints for a 10-kiloton atomic bomb in the files of the Libyan weapons program earlier this year, they found themselves caught between gravity and pettiness. The discovery gave the experts a new appreciation of the audacity of the rogue nuclear network led by A. Q. Khan, a chief architect of Pakistan's bomb. Intelligence officials had watched Dr. Khan for years and suspected that he was trafficking in machinery for enriching uranium to make fuel for warheads. But the detailed design represented a new level of danger, particularly since the Libyans...

It is playing a key role in curbing and caging North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. It played a key role in disarming Libya, discovering and rolling up the Pakistani A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network, and has become a framework for international military and police exercises organized by the United States. Its membership includes most of the world's largest economic powers, most of the world's largest military powers, and most of the most influential states on earth. The United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Australia and Germany are among its 15 member states, and it is one...

Kerry Spot BUNKER-BUSTER DEBUNKER. . . . John Kerry seems to misfire.. . . . 06/02 09:04 AM The presidential campaign focused on containing nuclear weapons Tuesday, as President Bush touted his Proliferation Security Initiative and Senator Kerry outlined his plans to keep nukes out of the hands of terrorists. The clearest distinction between the two candidates is their perspective on whether America needs "bunker-buster" nuclear weapons. The lesson the rest of the world took from the first Persian Gulf war was that the U.S. military can target any site, anytime, anywhere — provided it is above ground. Beyond several...

(CNSNews.com) - One year after President Bush launched a global drive aimed at preventing weapons of mass destruction from reaching rogue states and terrorists, the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) has been boosted by Russia's agreement to join. The announcement came shortly before Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry charged in a campaign address that the U.S. had done "too little, often too late" in efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear weapons. Speaking in Florida Tuesday, Kerry said he wanted the U.S. to "launch a new mission ... to prevent the world's deadliest weapons from falling into the world's most dangerous...

KRAKOW, Poland (AFP) - Up to 80 nations gathered in southern Poland to mark the first anniversary of a Washington-sponsored pact aimed at stemming the spread of weapons of massive destruction, hailing Russia's decision to come aboard. John Bolton, US under secretary of state for arms control, described Russia's announcement earlier Monday that it would sign up to the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) as a "major development", which should close off valuable lanes to traffickers of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). "This is a major development, a very welcome decision," Bolton told a news conference, after Russia's foreign ministry announced...

Russia is expected to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international program to stamp out proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including ballistic missiles, possibly before a Group of Eight summit meeting scheduled for June in Sea Island, Ga., a government source said Thursday. The PSI currently comprises 14 countries including Australia, Britain, Japan and the United States. The members currently are coordinating over whether to formally admit Moscow to the PSI at a meeting to mark the first anniversary of the group's founding in late May, according to the source. Russia would be the last country among the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. The recent attacks on the USS Cole (DDG-67) and the French supertanker MV Limburg offer a stark illustration of terrorist interest in maritime targets. U.S. intelligence officials have identified between 12 and 300 ships possibly owned and/or operated by al Qaeda. Upon his capture, the alleged al Qaeda mastermind behind the USS Cole attack, Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein Abda Al-Nasheri, reportedly confessed to planning future attacks against U.S. and British warships in the Straits of Gibraltar. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence agencies have described an increase in terrorist "chatter" regarding ships, port facilities,...

Story Number: NNS040310-05 Release Date: 3/11/2004 3:00:00 PM By Fire Controlman 2nd Class Joseph W. Lovett, USS Port Royal, and Lt. Chris Davis, ESG 1 Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- USS Port Royal (CG 73) returned home to Pearl Harbor March 11 following a six-and-a-half month deployment with Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1. The 350 crew members assigned to Port Royal returned to “the Navy’s best homeport” following operations in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Port Royal deployed Sept. 2 with ESG 1, supporting a Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps-sanctioned...

How high are the stakes in the war on terror? We are working to prevent the detonation of a nuclear device in an American city some day. That has made weapons proliferation — hitherto the obscure province of arms-control experts and international lawyers — an issue of the utmost priority. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton is a Bush administration point man on proliferation, promoting a policy that — like much else having to do with President Bush — is under harsh attack. John Kerry, citing Bush's alleged inability to work with other countries,...

Corruption in Indonesia's maritime law enforcement agencies was blamed yesterday for a rapid increase in piracy in south-east Asia, where concern is also growing about a link between piracy and terrorism. A detailed analysis of the growing dangers facing shipping in the region, released yesterday by the UK-based World Markets Research Centre (WMRC), blames coastguard and naval forces for the failure to confront the threat. "It is not pure coincidence that ships passing through [adjoining] Malaysian waters - mere miles away - suffer a fraction of the pirate attacks that occur in Indonesian waters. Corruption also helps to explain why...

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - U.S. Navy sailors may board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States and Liberia, the world's No. 2 shipping registry. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed Friday that the United States is seeking similar deals with other nations, but he declined to identify them. Wednesday's accord - the first of its kind, Boucher said - comes amid fears that terror networks would use ships for attacks, taking advantage of comparatively lax security on the waters after crackdowns in the skies....

Moscow (CNSNews.com) - The Russian Foreign Ministry described non-proliferation talks with the United States on Friday as "serious, businesslike and pragmatic," but Moscow has so far refrained from a clear commitment to join the U.S.-backed Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton traveled to Russia this week for talks aimed largely at urging Russia to join the PSI, which is designed to further curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Bolton met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak, who is in charge of non-proliferation issues; Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, and other officials. So far,...

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - The United States is leading a military exercise in the Arabian Sea this weekend that will further test the ability of a new security coalition to prevent rogue states and terrorists from transferring non-conventional weapons by sea. The air and sea maneuver involves naval forces from Australia, Singapore, Spain, Britain and Italy, with several other countries sending observers. The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), launched by President Bush last year, aims to prevent the illicit buying or selling of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and related technology by stopping and searching suspect ships or planes. The...

<p>The media have barely noticed, but the Bush Administration has embarked on a burst of "multilateral" cooperation. It's called the Proliferation Security Initiative, and in only a few months of existence it has already had more success than the United Nations in controlling weapons of mass destruction.</p>

Officials have confirmed that a German-flagged ship was carrying parts to build a nuclear bomb from a Persian Gulf country to Libya in October. Investigators seized the shipment before it reached its destination. Just a few months before Libya declared it would cease its efforts to create weapons of mass destruction, American and British agents seized a German freighter ship loaded with centrifuges and other parts that are used to create enriched uranium, the material needed to build nuclear bombs. The seizure is believed to have influenced Tripoli’s decision to suspend its weapons program last month. On Wednesday, U.S. State...

<p>The United States intercepted an illegal shipment of thousands of parts of uranium-enrichment equipment bound for Libya in October, leading to Tripoli agreeing to cap its weapons program, U.S. officials confirmed yesterday.</p> <p>Senior State Department official John R. Bolton plans to fly to London today to make plans with Britain for holding Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to his pledge to dismantle his nuclear-weapons program.</p>

U.S. and British intelligence in late September discovered a secret shipment bound for Libya that contained thousands of parts for centrifuges, a key component for producing nuclear weapons, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday. Officials said the interception of the cargo was a critical factor in squeezing Libya to give up its deadliest weapons programs. The shipment was headed from a Persian Gulf port aboard a German ship. With help from the German government and the German shipping company, the United States was able to get the freighter BBC China diverted to a southern Italian port in early October, when it...

While many analysts are crediting the U.S.'s capture of Saddam Hussein for the decision by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi to change his ways, it was actually the discovery by U.S. intelligence of a cache of Libya's WMDs that convinced the duplicitous dictator that the jig was up. According to Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, "One thing that pushed Gadhafi over the top in making this deal was that we intercepted a ship on the high seas sometime in the summer or early fall that had weapons of mass destruction components being shipped to Libya." Kristol told Fox News Sunday that...

Libya's promise to surrender its weapons of mass destruction was forced by Britain and America's seizure of physical evidence of Col Muammar Gaddafi's illegal weapons programme, the Telegraph can reveal. United States officials say that America's hand was strengthened in negotiations with Col Gaddafi after a successful operation, previously undisclosed, to intercept transport suspected of carrying banned weapons. The operation is said to have been carried out under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international, American-led scheme to halt the spread of WMD by seizing them in transit. The PSI was first mooted by President George W Bush in May...

 U.S. may down aircraft thought to carry WMD Takao Hishinuma / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent The U.S. government is considering shooting down any aircraft suspected of transporting weapons of mass destruction as a last resort under the United States' proposed Proliferation Security Initiative, U.S. government sources said Wednesday. The sources said planes could be shot down if they refuse to land and be searched under the proposed international initiative aimed at preventing proliferation of WMD by North Korea and Iran. The consideration of the use of force indicates the determination of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, which considers...

Secret U.S. Trips to Libya Led to Weapons Pledge 2 hours, 18 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secret trips by American intelligence officers, late night meetings with Muammar Gaddafi (news - web sites) and disclosures that the United States knew about Libya's arms programs led to Tripoli's pledge to give up its unconventional weapons, senior intelligence officials said on Saturday. A team of American and British intelligence officers flew to Libya clandestinely in October and December for stretches of about two weeks, visiting sites where they were shown parts...

Revealed: the real reason for Gaddafi's WMD surrender By Julian Coman and Colin Brown (Filed: 21/12/2003) Libya's promise to surrender its weapons of mass destruction was forced by Britain and America's seizure of physical evidence of Col Muammar Gaddafi's illegal weapons programme, the Telegraph can reveal. United States officials say that America's hand was strengthened in negotiations with Col Gaddafi after a successful operation, previously undisclosed, to intercept transport suspected of carrying banned weapons. Col Muammar Gaddafi The operation is said to have been carried out under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international, American-led scheme to halt the spread...

Bush's WMD Interception Initiative 'Accelerating' By Patrick Goodenough CNSNews.com Pacific Rim Bureau Chief December 18, 2003 Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - President Bush's initiative aimed at intercepting and seizing non-conventional weapons in transit is steadily winning more international support, with another five countries in Asia and the West joining the original line-up of 11. Two days of talks on the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) in Washington ended with participating nations agreeing to hold six more joint exercises during the first half of next year. Joining the 11-nation core group at the "operational experts" meeting were Turkey, Singapore, Canada, Denmark and...

RUSSIA has hurt efforts to stop North Korea's trade in weapons of mass destruction and missile technology by rejecting a global plan to intercept suspect cargoes. But 50 other countries have added their support to the 11-nation US-led Proliferation Security Initiative following a flurry of diplomatic activity by Australia and other member countries in the past month. The PSI was founded by US President George W.Bush in May to stop weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists. Its first maritime interception exercise was held off the Queensland coast in September, drawing claims from North Korea that it...

SEOUL, Sept 14 (AFP) - North Korea on Saturday condemned US-led exercises aimed at stemming the trade in weapons of mass destruction as a "blatant military provocation". The United States, Japan, Australia and France took part in the simulated pursuit and boarding of a vessel carrying illicit weapons in the Coral Sea off Australia's east coast this weekend. The manoeuvre has been interpreted as a veiled warning to North Korea, which is believed to make about a billion dollars a year in arms trading to prop up its collapsed economy. "Such moves of the United States are blatant military provocations...

Allies Show Off Maritime Security Skills Sunday September 14, 2003 1:09 AM By MIKE CORDER Associated Press Writer ON BOARD HMAS SUCCESS (AP) - Japanese coast guardsmen slid down ropes from a helicopter to a cargo ship Saturday, during a high seas exercise showing rogue nations that the world is serious about preventing the transport of weapons of mass destruction. The maneuvers on the Coral Sea allowed the United States, Japan and Australia to fine tune moves to intercept ships suspected of carrying the deadly armaments. The exercises served as a special warning to North Korea and Iran because of...

<p>WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The United States, Australia, Japan and France will send ships to the western Pacific next week for an exercise simulating an interception of weapons.</p> <p>According to a report in Asia Times, some 11 industrialized nations decided last week in Paris to step up plans to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction. While the Proliferation Security Initiative group is not specifically aimed at North Korea, there is no doubt that Pyongyang, which Washington and others accuse of making clandestine shipments of drugs, counterfeit cash and missiles, is the primary target.</p>

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - The first international air and naval exercise in a U.S.-led plan to stamp out global trade in weapons of mass destruction began Saturday off Australia's northeast coast, as North Korea branded the drill a "military provocation." The 11-nation operation, dubbed Exercise Pacific Protector, is the first by the signatories to the Proliferation Security Initiative proposed by President Bush in May to stop illegal weapons shipments by air, land or sea. About 800 military and security personnel - as well as aircraft and ships - from Australia, the United States, Japan and France are involved in the...

Exercise Focuses on WMD Traffickers By Donna Miles American Forces Information Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2003 -- A Japanese-flagged commercial merchant vessel is suspected of carrying items related to weapons of mass destruction. Military and law enforcement assets from Australia, France, Japan and the United States trail the vessel. The Japan coast guard, working with its French, U.S. and Australian law enforcement counterparts, boards the vessel on the high seas and conducts a search. This is the scenario for Pacific Protector, a three-day exercise now under way in international waters off northeastern Australia. The exercise, which began Sept. 12...

Exercise Aimed at Intercepting the North`s WMD Takes Place on Sep. 13 and 14 SEPTEMBER 05, 2003 23:24 by Jei-Gyoon Park (phark@donga.com) The first joint maritime exercise which aims to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction will be staged on September 13 and 14 in the Coral Sea off Australia`s northeast coast. The United States and 10 nations that participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) that U.S. President George W. Bush initiated reached an agreement on the exercise after two days of their third round of talks Wednesday and Thursday in Paris, France. The exercise, however, will...