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December 3, 2008 By News Report
A congressionally appointed commission is calling on the president-elect and the next Congress to immediately initiate several concrete actions, unilaterally and with the international community, to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that pose the greatest peril: nuclear and biological weapons.
The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism released its report, "World at Risk" today, and is briefing Vice President-elect Biden, President Bush and congressional leaders.
"Ours remains a world at risk and our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing. The Commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is likely that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013," said former Sen. Bob Graham, the Commission chairman. Graham said the Commission reached this sobering conclusion following six months of deliberations, site visits and interviews with more than 250 government officials and non-governmental experts in the United States and abroad.
"The report covers a lot of important ground but probably the most important is its assessment: the risk is growing, not because we're making no progress but because the enemy is adapting and we must constantly anticipate and adapt as well across a broad front," former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, the Commission's vice chairman said.
The Commission centered its findings on several areas where it determined the risks to the United States are increasing: the crossroads of terrorism and proliferation in the poorly governed parts of Pakistan, the prevention of biological and nuclear terrorism, and the potential erosion of international nuclear security, treaties and norms as we enter a nuclear energy renaissance.
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