Did you know we have a NSOI? Neither did I. But thanks to this September 30 US State Department press release, I do now.
Evidently Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ednan Karabayev signed the Program of Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on Combating the Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials.
Another noteworthy comment by David Albright in the course of his testimony was on the challenges governments and international organizations face in addressing illicit trade. For example, he wrote:
Let us consider serendipity, the aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. As I've previously noted, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade held a hearing on June 27 titled, 'AQ Khan's Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under New Management?' Click here to watch the hearing.
This Indian blogger has, not surprisingly, had some past interest in the actions of Dr Khan, or as he likes to refer to him, the Centrifugist.
It is safe to say that in the course of his career, Dr Khan has affected the lives of many people, some positively, some negatively. One of the latter is former US intelligence analyst Richard Barlow.
As this July 7 Washington Post article recounted, Barlow is not a happy camper, even though he lives in one.
To excerpt briefly:
A National Defense University report released earlier this month makes a connection between Khan-like networks and nuclear terrorism.
The report from the NDU's Center for Technology and National Security Policy found that global cooperation between law enforcement agencies and a coordinated nuclear detection network is needed if the world hopes to prevent terrorists from acquiring WMD material.
For those of you who were away on vacation in the summer, I'd like to remind you about this hearing that took place on June 27. It took place shortly after IISS rolled out its Nuclear Black Markets strategic dossier edited by Mark Fitzpatrick.
Specifically, it was joint hearing of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, House Foreign Affairs Committee. The subject was 'AQ Khan's Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under New Management?'
As you may have noted from previous posts I am, among other things, mightily impressed by the accomplishments of Dr Khan. In fact, to some degree I might even qualify as a fan, if not a groupie. There are times when it is hard waiting for the next Google news alert about him.
Still, I recognize that not everyone is as enamored by his history as I am. In fact, hard as it may be to believe, some people out there don't even know who he is. Gasp, the horror!