WASHINGTON: Terrorists are “likely” to use nuclear or biological weapons in the next five years, a US commission warned, highlighting Pakistan as the weakest link in world security.
Without urgent action, “it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013,” the bi-partisan commission said in its report “World at Risk.”
The report, ordered by Congress and based on six months of research, warned the incoming US administration of Barack Obama: “America’s margin of safety is shrinking.”
The report was due to be presented to President George W. Bush on Wednesday, the White House said, and also to vice president-elect Joseph Biden, according to officials from Obama’s transition team.
The main dangers highlighted by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism are the rapid spread of atomic technology in countries such as Pakistan and Iran and poor security in biotech industries worldwide.
Although Pakistan is a close US ally, its inability to control swaths of territory, violent political instability, and a nuclear standoff with neighboring India make the nation the most lethal tinderbox of all.
“There is a grave danger it could also be an unwitting source of a terrorist attack on the United States, possibly with weapons of mass destruction,” the report said.
The commission said terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain biological than nuclear weapons, with anthrax a particular danger, and warned that threats are “evolving faster than our multi-layered response.”
But despite the message in “World at Risk” that the United States is unprepared, the White House welcomed what it said was proof of Bush’s strong security record.
“Under President Bush’s leadership, extensive progress has been made on securing the world’s weapons of mass destruction and protecting our citizens from a WMD attack,” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
Congresswoman Jane Harman, the Democrat heading the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Terrorism Risk Assessment, also downplayed the warnings.
The commission was led by Graham, a Democrat, and former congressman James Talent, a Republican.
The main recommendations of the commission, aimed principally at the incoming Obama White House, include better safeguard uranium and plutonium stockpiles and step up measures against nuclear smuggling rings and prevent new nuclear equipped countries, including Iran and North Korea, from possessing uranium enrichment or plutonium reprocessing capabilities.
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