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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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Obama to Fill WMD Post Bush Ignored

Dem has long focused on stopping proliferation of nuclear, chemical arms

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(Newser) – President-elect Obama will hire an official to oversee efforts to stop terrorists from gaining nuclear and biological weapons, the Boston Globe reports, a position the Bush administration approved but left unfilled. Such efforts are currently spread among many agencies, and a report predicting a deadly attack within 5 years using weapons of mass destruction gives them new urgency.

“America’s margin of safety is shrinking, not growing,” says the report on global terror threats; VP-elect Joe Biden and Homeland Security nominee Janet Napolitano will be briefed today on the commission’s findings. The priority: Stop Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, and take greater pains to keep dangerous materials out of the wrong hands.

The bigger worry, experts say, is not that bioterrorists will become scientists, but that scientists will become terrorists.
The bigger worry, experts say, is not that bioterrorists will become scientists, but that scientists will become terrorists.   (Getty Images)
With instructions on how to build a nuclear bomb available on the internet, the main preventative measure will have to be keeping nuclear material out of the wrong hands.
With instructions on how to build a nuclear bomb available on the internet, the main preventative measure will have to be keeping nuclear material out of the wrong hands.   (©hill.josh)
A bipartisan report recommends the next US administration derail the nuclear programs of Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
A bipartisan report recommends the next US administration derail the nuclear programs of Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.   (AP Photo)
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Neither the Clinton administration, the Bush administration, nor the Congress ... has given preventive nonproliferation programs the priority they deserve. - Brian Finlay, associate at Washington think tank Henry L. Stimson Center

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3 comments
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Shannonals
Dec 3, 08 2:28 PM CST
Isn't this a United Nations function? Reply
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Nagual
Dec 3, 08 3:17 PM CST
United Nations. I lol'ed.
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petepenguin
Dec 3, 08 9:40 PM CST
No mention of you either but there you are. What happened to the supreme court case peon boy? It's Dec 3rd now.A little overdue now,ain't it? Reply
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