Obama to Fill WMD Post Bush Ignored

Dem has long focused on stopping proliferation of nuclear, chemical arms
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:24 PM CST
Obama to Fill WMD Post Bush Ignored
The bigger worry, experts say, is not that bioterrorists will become scientists, but that scientists will become terrorists.   (Getty Images)

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. (More terrorism stories.)

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