FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
President Explains Syria Decision in Weekly Address
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2013 - President Barack Obama today used his weekly address to explain his decisions to take military action against Bashar Assad's regime in Syria for using chemical weapons against its own people and to seek congressional approval for that action.
More than 1,000 innocent people – including hundreds of children – were murdered Aug. 21 in the worst chemical weapons attack of the 21st century, the president said, and the United States has presented a powerful case to the world that the Syrian government was responsible.
"This was not only a direct attack on human dignity; it is a serious threat to our national security," Obama said. "There's a reason governments representing 98 percent of the world's people have agreed to ban the use of chemical weapons. Not only because they cause death and destruction in the most indiscriminate and inhumane way possible – but because they can also fall into the hands of terrorist groups who wish to do us harm."
Last weekend, he said, he announced that as commander in chief he had decided the United States should take military action against the Syrian regime. "This is not a decision I made lightly," the president added. "Deciding to use military force is the most solemn decision we can make as a nation."
Obama also explained why he sought authorization from Congress for military action.
"As the leader of the world's oldest constitutional democracy, I also know that our country will be stronger if we act together, and our actions will be more effective," he said. "That's why I asked members of Congress to debate this issue and vote on authorizing the use of force."
The president emphasized that the pending military action is not an open-ended intervention. "This would not be another Iraq or Afghanistan," he said. "There would be no American boots on the ground. Any action we take would be limited, both in time and scope – designed to deter the Syrian government from gassing its own people again and degrade its ability to do so."
Obama acknowledged that the American people are weary after a decade of war. "That's why we're not putting our troops in the middle of somebody else's war," he said.
"But we are the United States of America," he added. "We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria. Failing to respond to this outrageous attack would increase the risk that chemical weapons could be used again [and] that they would fall into the hands of terrorists who might use them against us, and it would send a horrible signal to other nations that there would be no consequences for their use of these weapons -- all of which would pose a serious threat to our national security.
"That's why we can't ignore chemical weapons attacks like this one – even if they happen halfway around the world," he continued. "And that's why I call on members of Congress from both parties to come together and stand up for the kind of world we want to live in -- the kind of world we want to leave our children and future generations."
Saturday, September 7, 2013
U.S. REP TO UN WARNS OF INACTION REGARDING SYRIAN REGIMES USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.N. Rep: Inaction Would Be More Risky Than Action in Syria
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2013 - The risks of inaction in response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons against its own people would be greater than the risks of military action, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations said here today.
Speaking to an audience at the Center for American Progress, Ambassador Samantha Power characterized Syria as lying at the heart of a region critical to U.S. security -- a region that is home to friends and partners and one of the closest U.S. allies.
The Bashar Assad regime, Power said, has stores of chemical weapons that it recently used on a large scale and that the United States can't allow to fall into terrorists' hands. The regime also collaborates with Iran and works with thousands of extremist fighters from the militant group Hezbollah.
The ambassador acknowledged that questions are being raised about why the United States should be the world's police in such brutal situations and how the nation can afford another war in the Middle East.
"Notwithstanding these complexities, notwithstanding the various concerns that we all share," Power said, "I'm here today to explain why the costs of not taking targeted, limited military action are far greater than the risks of going forward in the manner that President [Barack] Obama has outlined."
The chemical weapons attack in Damascus on Aug. 21 killed more than 1,400 Syrian men, women and children, she said, and the U.N. assessed that although Assad used more chemical weapons on Aug. 21 than he had before, he's barely put a dent in his large stockpile.
"Obama, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and many members of Congress have spelled out the consequences of failing to meet this threat, Power said. "If there are more chemical attacks," she added, "we will see an inevitable spike in the flow of refugees on top of the already 2 million in the region, possibly pushing Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey or Iraq past their breaking points."
The Zaatari refugee camp is now the fourth-largest city in Jordan, she said, adding that half of Syria's refugees are children and that such camps are known to become fertile recruiting grounds for violent extremists.
Beyond Syria, the ambassador said, if violating a universal agreement to ban chemical weapons is not met with a meaningful response, other regimes will try to acquire or use them to protect or extend their power, increasing risks to American troops in the future.
"We cannot afford to signal to North Korea and Iran that the international community is unwilling to act to prevent proliferation or willing to tolerate the use of weapons of mass destruction," Power told the audience.
"People will draw lessons," she added, "if the world proves unwilling to enforce the norms against chemical weapons use that we have worked so diligently to construct."
Moving from discussing the risks of inaction to the risks of taking action, Power said the reason nonmilitary tools can't be used to achieve the same end in Syria is that the alternatives are exhausted.
"For more than a year," Power said, "we have pursued countless policy tools short of military force to try to dissuade Assad from using chemical weapons."
The ambassador explained how she and others engaged the Syrians directly and asked the Russians, the U.N. and the Iranians to send similar messages, but when Scud missiles and other weapons didn't stop the Syrian rebels, Assad used chemical weapons on a small scale several times, as the United States reported in June.
Her group then redoubled its efforts, backing the U.N. diplomatic process and trying to get the parties back to the negotiating table, she said. They provided more humanitarian assistance and on chemical weapons they went public with evidence of the regime's use.
"We worked with the U.N. to create a group of inspectors and then worked for more than 6 months to get them access to the country on the logic that perhaps the presence of an investigative team in the country might deter future attacks. ... We expanded and accelerated our assistance to the Syrian opposition. We supported the U.N. Commission of Inquiry," the ambassador said.
She noted that Russia, often backed by China, blocked every relevant action in the U.N. Security Council, even mild condemnations of the use of chemical weapons that ascribed blame to no particular party. "And on Aug. 21, [Assad] staged the largest chemical weapons attack in a quarter-century while U.N. inspectors were sitting on the other side of town," Power said.
It was only after the United States pursued such nonmilitary options without deterring chemical weapons use in Syria that Obama concluded that a limited military strike is the only way to prevent Assad from using chemical weapons as if they are a conventional weapon of war, the ambassador added.
"From the start of the Syrian conflict, the president has consistently demonstrated that he will not put American boots on the ground to fight another war in the Middle East," Power said. "The draft resolution before Congress makes this clear."
The president is seeking public support to use limited military means to degrade Assad's capacity to use these weapons again and deter others in the world who might seek to use them, the ambassador said. "And the United States has the discipline as a country to maintain these limits," she added.
Limited military action will not solve the entire Syria problem, Power noted, but the action should reinforce the larger strategy for addressing the crisis in Syria.
"This operation, combined with ongoing efforts to upgrade the military capabilities of the moderate opposition, should reduce the regime's faith that they can kill their way to victory," the ambassador said.
"We should agree that there are lines in this world that cannot be crossed and limits on murderous behavior -- especially with weapons of mass destruction -- that must be enforced," Power said. "If we cannot summon the courage to act when the evidence is clear and when the action being contemplated is limited, then our ability to lead in the world is compromised."
U.N. Rep: Inaction Would Be More Risky Than Action in Syria
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2013 - The risks of inaction in response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons against its own people would be greater than the risks of military action, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations said here today.
Speaking to an audience at the Center for American Progress, Ambassador Samantha Power characterized Syria as lying at the heart of a region critical to U.S. security -- a region that is home to friends and partners and one of the closest U.S. allies.
The Bashar Assad regime, Power said, has stores of chemical weapons that it recently used on a large scale and that the United States can't allow to fall into terrorists' hands. The regime also collaborates with Iran and works with thousands of extremist fighters from the militant group Hezbollah.
The ambassador acknowledged that questions are being raised about why the United States should be the world's police in such brutal situations and how the nation can afford another war in the Middle East.
"Notwithstanding these complexities, notwithstanding the various concerns that we all share," Power said, "I'm here today to explain why the costs of not taking targeted, limited military action are far greater than the risks of going forward in the manner that President [Barack] Obama has outlined."
The chemical weapons attack in Damascus on Aug. 21 killed more than 1,400 Syrian men, women and children, she said, and the U.N. assessed that although Assad used more chemical weapons on Aug. 21 than he had before, he's barely put a dent in his large stockpile.
"Obama, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and many members of Congress have spelled out the consequences of failing to meet this threat, Power said. "If there are more chemical attacks," she added, "we will see an inevitable spike in the flow of refugees on top of the already 2 million in the region, possibly pushing Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey or Iraq past their breaking points."
The Zaatari refugee camp is now the fourth-largest city in Jordan, she said, adding that half of Syria's refugees are children and that such camps are known to become fertile recruiting grounds for violent extremists.
Beyond Syria, the ambassador said, if violating a universal agreement to ban chemical weapons is not met with a meaningful response, other regimes will try to acquire or use them to protect or extend their power, increasing risks to American troops in the future.
"We cannot afford to signal to North Korea and Iran that the international community is unwilling to act to prevent proliferation or willing to tolerate the use of weapons of mass destruction," Power told the audience.
"People will draw lessons," she added, "if the world proves unwilling to enforce the norms against chemical weapons use that we have worked so diligently to construct."
Moving from discussing the risks of inaction to the risks of taking action, Power said the reason nonmilitary tools can't be used to achieve the same end in Syria is that the alternatives are exhausted.
"For more than a year," Power said, "we have pursued countless policy tools short of military force to try to dissuade Assad from using chemical weapons."
The ambassador explained how she and others engaged the Syrians directly and asked the Russians, the U.N. and the Iranians to send similar messages, but when Scud missiles and other weapons didn't stop the Syrian rebels, Assad used chemical weapons on a small scale several times, as the United States reported in June.
Her group then redoubled its efforts, backing the U.N. diplomatic process and trying to get the parties back to the negotiating table, she said. They provided more humanitarian assistance and on chemical weapons they went public with evidence of the regime's use.
"We worked with the U.N. to create a group of inspectors and then worked for more than 6 months to get them access to the country on the logic that perhaps the presence of an investigative team in the country might deter future attacks. ... We expanded and accelerated our assistance to the Syrian opposition. We supported the U.N. Commission of Inquiry," the ambassador said.
She noted that Russia, often backed by China, blocked every relevant action in the U.N. Security Council, even mild condemnations of the use of chemical weapons that ascribed blame to no particular party. "And on Aug. 21, [Assad] staged the largest chemical weapons attack in a quarter-century while U.N. inspectors were sitting on the other side of town," Power said.
It was only after the United States pursued such nonmilitary options without deterring chemical weapons use in Syria that Obama concluded that a limited military strike is the only way to prevent Assad from using chemical weapons as if they are a conventional weapon of war, the ambassador added.
"From the start of the Syrian conflict, the president has consistently demonstrated that he will not put American boots on the ground to fight another war in the Middle East," Power said. "The draft resolution before Congress makes this clear."
The president is seeking public support to use limited military means to degrade Assad's capacity to use these weapons again and deter others in the world who might seek to use them, the ambassador said. "And the United States has the discipline as a country to maintain these limits," she added.
Limited military action will not solve the entire Syria problem, Power noted, but the action should reinforce the larger strategy for addressing the crisis in Syria.
"This operation, combined with ongoing efforts to upgrade the military capabilities of the moderate opposition, should reduce the regime's faith that they can kill their way to victory," the ambassador said.
"We should agree that there are lines in this world that cannot be crossed and limits on murderous behavior -- especially with weapons of mass destruction -- that must be enforced," Power said. "If we cannot summon the courage to act when the evidence is clear and when the action being contemplated is limited, then our ability to lead in the world is compromised."
PRESIDENT OBAMA WARNS OF SYRIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS THREAT
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Obama: Syrian Chemical Attacks Threaten Region, Globe
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2013 - Chemical weapons attacks in Syria are not just a tragedy in that country, but also pose a threat to regional and global peace and stability, President Barack Obama said in St. Petersburg, Russia, today.
At a news conference following the G-20 summit, Obama said the Syrian regime's chemical attack on its own people threatens to unravel the almost century-old ban against using such weapons.
The president said the Syrian government's attack killed civilians, making this more than an esoteric subject. "Over 1,400 people were gassed. Over 400 of them were children," Obama said. "This is not something we've fabricated. This is not something that we are ... using as an excuse for military action."
The Syrian attack threatens Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel, and threatens to further destabilize the Middle East, the president said. The actions also increase the likelihood that these weapons of mass destruction could fall into the hands of terror groups, he added.
"Failing to respond to this breach of this international norm would send a signal to rogue nations, authoritarian regimes and terrorist organizations, that they can develop and use weapons of mass destruction and not pay a consequence," Obama said. "That's not the world that we want to live in."
G-20 leaders were unanimous that there was a chemical weapons attack in Syria on Aug. 21, Obama said, and also were unanimous that the chemical weapons ban is important. Where there is a division in the G-20 has to do with the United Nations, he added.
"You know, there are number of countries that just as a matter of principle believe that if military action is to be taken, it needs to go through the U.N. Security Council," he said. "It is my view ... that given Security Council paralysis on this issue, if we are serious about upholding a ban on chemical weapons use, then an international response is required, and that will not come through Security Council action."
In a joint statement released today, the leaders of Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom joined with the United States in calling for "a strong international response to this grave violation of the world's rules and conscience that will send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated. Those who perpetrated these crimes must be held accountable."
Obama said he was elected to end wars, not to start them. "I've spent the last four and a half years doing everything I can to reduce our reliance on military power as a means of meeting our international obligations and protecting the American people," he said. "But what I also know is that there are times where we have to make hard choices if we're going to stand up for the things that we care about. And I believe that this is one of those times."
The president announced he will address the American people from the White House about Syria on Sept. 10.
Obama: Syrian Chemical Attacks Threaten Region, Globe
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2013 - Chemical weapons attacks in Syria are not just a tragedy in that country, but also pose a threat to regional and global peace and stability, President Barack Obama said in St. Petersburg, Russia, today.
At a news conference following the G-20 summit, Obama said the Syrian regime's chemical attack on its own people threatens to unravel the almost century-old ban against using such weapons.
The president said the Syrian government's attack killed civilians, making this more than an esoteric subject. "Over 1,400 people were gassed. Over 400 of them were children," Obama said. "This is not something we've fabricated. This is not something that we are ... using as an excuse for military action."
The Syrian attack threatens Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel, and threatens to further destabilize the Middle East, the president said. The actions also increase the likelihood that these weapons of mass destruction could fall into the hands of terror groups, he added.
"Failing to respond to this breach of this international norm would send a signal to rogue nations, authoritarian regimes and terrorist organizations, that they can develop and use weapons of mass destruction and not pay a consequence," Obama said. "That's not the world that we want to live in."
G-20 leaders were unanimous that there was a chemical weapons attack in Syria on Aug. 21, Obama said, and also were unanimous that the chemical weapons ban is important. Where there is a division in the G-20 has to do with the United Nations, he added.
"You know, there are number of countries that just as a matter of principle believe that if military action is to be taken, it needs to go through the U.N. Security Council," he said. "It is my view ... that given Security Council paralysis on this issue, if we are serious about upholding a ban on chemical weapons use, then an international response is required, and that will not come through Security Council action."
In a joint statement released today, the leaders of Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom joined with the United States in calling for "a strong international response to this grave violation of the world's rules and conscience that will send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated. Those who perpetrated these crimes must be held accountable."
Obama said he was elected to end wars, not to start them. "I've spent the last four and a half years doing everything I can to reduce our reliance on military power as a means of meeting our international obligations and protecting the American people," he said. "But what I also know is that there are times where we have to make hard choices if we're going to stand up for the things that we care about. And I believe that this is one of those times."
The president announced he will address the American people from the White House about Syria on Sept. 10.
DOD SAYS CHANGES IN AFGHANISTAN HELP AFGHAN GOVERNMENT
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Societal, Security Changes Give Afghan Government Momentum
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2013 - Societal and security changes in Afghanistan have shifted momentum in the country increasingly in the government's favor, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command and U.S. Army's 3rd Corps said Wednesday
Army Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley spoke to Pentagon reporters via satellite from his headquarters in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
The changes in Afghanistan have been stunning, he said. Milley, who first served in Afghanistan in 2001, said the country had no hope at that time. "If you flash forward to today, you've got a significantly ... much more positive situation on your hands," he said.
From the security standpoint, the general said, the progress has been incredible, as Afghanistan now has more than 350,000 trained and ready security personnel. These forces, "are out there fighting the fight and carrying the load every single day," he said.
"They are capable at the tactical level, every day, day in and day out, and they're proving it over and over and over again in this summer's fighting season – the first summer that they've really and legitimately been in the lead," he added.
The bottom line is the Afghan police and army has been effective in combating insurgents throughout the country, Milley said.
A few reverses took place along the way, the general said, but they were small and short-lived. Afghan security personnel are in the lead throughout the country, Milley told reporters, and are effectively protecting the vast majority of the population.
Afghan forces are planning, coordinating, synchronizing and then executing combat operations every day, Milley said. Afghans lead about 1,000 patrols a day, and just this week led 35 named operations at kandak – battalion – level or above.
U.S., NATO and partner forces do provide support – advisors, close air support, medical evacuation and logistics, Milley said.
The enemy is quantitatively and qualitatively different from the enemy he has seen in previous tours, the general said. "They go by the same names -- Haqqani, Taliban, etc. -- but their capabilities are different," he added.
Enemy tactics are aimed at Afghan forces this fighting season, he said. The enemy relies on roadside bombs, suicide bombings, intimidation and some small-arms attacks. "What they can't do is they can't build," Milley said. "They can't provide an alternative form of governance. They don't have a political agenda that's acceptable to the vast majority of the people of Afghanistan."
That, he said, is because of the societal changes that have occurred in Afghanistan since 2001.
One societal change is communications. Under the Taliban, communications were squashed, and Afghanistan had no free or independent outlets. "Today, there is a press corps here," the general said. "There are 75 TV stations. There are 175 or 180 radio stations throughout this country."
In addition to these sources, Milley said, progress is evident in the explosion of high-speed technologies and what that means to the Afghan people. Millions of Afghans have access to cellphones, high-speed Internet, text messaging and the like, said he noted. "That communication explosion in Afghanistan, in a country of 30 million, is making a difference day in and day out," he added.
Roads are a lifeline in Afghanistan, and more than 24,000 kilometers of road have been built in the nation since 2001. Air transport also has grown, with 52 international airlines now flying in to Kabul, Milley said.
This infrastructure growth is fueled – in part – by a hothouse growth in education, the general told reporters. About 10 million Afghans are enrolled in schools. The literacy rate rose from less than 10 percent in 2001 to more than 28 percent today.
This is not good if you are a member of the Taliban and affiliated groups, Milley said.
"In this country, with this explosion of information, time is on the side of the government of Afghanistan [and] the people that are supporting a progressive Afghanistan, and not on the side of the Taliban," he said.
Almost 70 percent of Afghanistan's population is under 25 years of age, Milley noted, adding that those young people soon will come into positions of significant influence and power. "And I think the days of the Taliban are going to be behind them when that educated group of young people that are in existence today -- that are learning the sciences, the math, and all the social sciences, etc. -- assume positions of responsibility."
Milley said he is optimistic about the future in Afghanistan as long as Afghan forces continue their job of providing security. "If they continue to do that next year and the year after and so on, then I think things will turn out OK in Afghanistan," he said.
Societal, Security Changes Give Afghan Government Momentum
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2013 - Societal and security changes in Afghanistan have shifted momentum in the country increasingly in the government's favor, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command and U.S. Army's 3rd Corps said Wednesday
Army Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley spoke to Pentagon reporters via satellite from his headquarters in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
The changes in Afghanistan have been stunning, he said. Milley, who first served in Afghanistan in 2001, said the country had no hope at that time. "If you flash forward to today, you've got a significantly ... much more positive situation on your hands," he said.
From the security standpoint, the general said, the progress has been incredible, as Afghanistan now has more than 350,000 trained and ready security personnel. These forces, "are out there fighting the fight and carrying the load every single day," he said.
"They are capable at the tactical level, every day, day in and day out, and they're proving it over and over and over again in this summer's fighting season – the first summer that they've really and legitimately been in the lead," he added.
The bottom line is the Afghan police and army has been effective in combating insurgents throughout the country, Milley said.
A few reverses took place along the way, the general said, but they were small and short-lived. Afghan security personnel are in the lead throughout the country, Milley told reporters, and are effectively protecting the vast majority of the population.
Afghan forces are planning, coordinating, synchronizing and then executing combat operations every day, Milley said. Afghans lead about 1,000 patrols a day, and just this week led 35 named operations at kandak – battalion – level or above.
U.S., NATO and partner forces do provide support – advisors, close air support, medical evacuation and logistics, Milley said.
The enemy is quantitatively and qualitatively different from the enemy he has seen in previous tours, the general said. "They go by the same names -- Haqqani, Taliban, etc. -- but their capabilities are different," he added.
Enemy tactics are aimed at Afghan forces this fighting season, he said. The enemy relies on roadside bombs, suicide bombings, intimidation and some small-arms attacks. "What they can't do is they can't build," Milley said. "They can't provide an alternative form of governance. They don't have a political agenda that's acceptable to the vast majority of the people of Afghanistan."
That, he said, is because of the societal changes that have occurred in Afghanistan since 2001.
One societal change is communications. Under the Taliban, communications were squashed, and Afghanistan had no free or independent outlets. "Today, there is a press corps here," the general said. "There are 75 TV stations. There are 175 or 180 radio stations throughout this country."
In addition to these sources, Milley said, progress is evident in the explosion of high-speed technologies and what that means to the Afghan people. Millions of Afghans have access to cellphones, high-speed Internet, text messaging and the like, said he noted. "That communication explosion in Afghanistan, in a country of 30 million, is making a difference day in and day out," he added.
Roads are a lifeline in Afghanistan, and more than 24,000 kilometers of road have been built in the nation since 2001. Air transport also has grown, with 52 international airlines now flying in to Kabul, Milley said.
This infrastructure growth is fueled – in part – by a hothouse growth in education, the general told reporters. About 10 million Afghans are enrolled in schools. The literacy rate rose from less than 10 percent in 2001 to more than 28 percent today.
This is not good if you are a member of the Taliban and affiliated groups, Milley said.
"In this country, with this explosion of information, time is on the side of the government of Afghanistan [and] the people that are supporting a progressive Afghanistan, and not on the side of the Taliban," he said.
Almost 70 percent of Afghanistan's population is under 25 years of age, Milley noted, adding that those young people soon will come into positions of significant influence and power. "And I think the days of the Taliban are going to be behind them when that educated group of young people that are in existence today -- that are learning the sciences, the math, and all the social sciences, etc. -- assume positions of responsibility."
Milley said he is optimistic about the future in Afghanistan as long as Afghan forces continue their job of providing security. "If they continue to do that next year and the year after and so on, then I think things will turn out OK in Afghanistan," he said.
READOUT OF SECRETARY HAGEL'S MEETING WITH SPAIN'S MINISTER OF DEFENSE PEDRO MORENÉS
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little provided the following readout:
"Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Spain's Minister of Defense Pedro Morenés met today at the Pentagon.
"Secretary Hagel and Minister Morenés spoke at length about the violence in Syria. The two leaders discussed Spain's support of a joint statement issued at the G-20 in St. Petersburg condemning the horrific weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus and supporting the efforts undertaken by the United States and other countries to reinforce the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons. Secretary Hagel praised Minister Morenés for Spain's support on the issue and the leaders agreed to remain in close coordination as the situation evolves.
"Secretary Hagel thanked Minister Morenés for Spain's support of U.S. forces, specifically at Morón Air Base and Naval Station Rota. The two leaders discussed Africa and the continent's security challenges including piracy, illicit trafficking, and terrorism.
"The two leaders also discussed the importance of supporting security and stability in Afghanistan post 2014. Secretary Hagel thanked Spain for being a valued ally, and conveyed the United States' appreciation for Spain's steadfast commitment to Afghanistan."
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little provided the following readout:
"Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Spain's Minister of Defense Pedro Morenés met today at the Pentagon.
"Secretary Hagel and Minister Morenés spoke at length about the violence in Syria. The two leaders discussed Spain's support of a joint statement issued at the G-20 in St. Petersburg condemning the horrific weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus and supporting the efforts undertaken by the United States and other countries to reinforce the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons. Secretary Hagel praised Minister Morenés for Spain's support on the issue and the leaders agreed to remain in close coordination as the situation evolves.
"Secretary Hagel thanked Minister Morenés for Spain's support of U.S. forces, specifically at Morón Air Base and Naval Station Rota. The two leaders discussed Africa and the continent's security challenges including piracy, illicit trafficking, and terrorism.
"The two leaders also discussed the importance of supporting security and stability in Afghanistan post 2014. Secretary Hagel thanked Spain for being a valued ally, and conveyed the United States' appreciation for Spain's steadfast commitment to Afghanistan."
VETERANS, AGENT ORANGE AND PROSTRATE CANCER
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Diseases Associated with Agent Orange » Prostate Cancer
Veterans who develop prostate cancer and were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service do not have to prove a connection between their prostate cancer and military service to be eligible to receive VA health care and disability compensation.
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate, a small gland in the male reproductive system.
Some men may have urinary problems, but some men don't have symptoms early on. If you have any health concerns, talk with your health care provider.
The greatest risk factor for prostate cancer is increasing age. Other risk factors include having a father or brother with the disease and being African American.
Prostate cancer is often first detected with a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test or digital rectal exam. Talk with your health care provider about your risk and the pros and cons of screening.
Visit Medline Plus to learn about treatment for prostate cancer, the latest medical research, and more from the National Institutes of Health
Diseases Associated with Agent Orange » Prostate Cancer
Veterans who develop prostate cancer and were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service do not have to prove a connection between their prostate cancer and military service to be eligible to receive VA health care and disability compensation.
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate, a small gland in the male reproductive system.
Some men may have urinary problems, but some men don't have symptoms early on. If you have any health concerns, talk with your health care provider.
The greatest risk factor for prostate cancer is increasing age. Other risk factors include having a father or brother with the disease and being African American.
Prostate cancer is often first detected with a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test or digital rectal exam. Talk with your health care provider about your risk and the pros and cons of screening.
Visit Medline Plus to learn about treatment for prostate cancer, the latest medical research, and more from the National Institutes of Health
Friday, September 6, 2013
DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL CALLS EGYPT'S DEFENSE MINISTER REGARDING SYRIAN SITUATION
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Hagel Discusses Security With Egypt's Defense Minister
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi yesterday to discuss the U.S.-Egyptian security relationship, the current security situation in Egypt and progress on the political roadmap, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.
In a statement summarizing the call, Little said the Egyptian defense leader updated Hagel on security developments, including the Sinai Peninsula, and stressed the importance of the U.S.-Egyptian partnership against violent extremists.
Hagel acknowledged Egyptian accomplishments in providing security in the Sinai and declared that the United States stands with Egypt and all nations against terrorism worldwide, the press secretary said.
The two defense leaders also discussed the situation in Syria and its implications for security and stability in the region, Little said, and Hagel expressed appreciation for the defense minister's insights.
Hagel Discusses Security With Egypt's Defense Minister
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi yesterday to discuss the U.S.-Egyptian security relationship, the current security situation in Egypt and progress on the political roadmap, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.
In a statement summarizing the call, Little said the Egyptian defense leader updated Hagel on security developments, including the Sinai Peninsula, and stressed the importance of the U.S.-Egyptian partnership against violent extremists.
Hagel acknowledged Egyptian accomplishments in providing security in the Sinai and declared that the United States stands with Egypt and all nations against terrorism worldwide, the press secretary said.
The two defense leaders also discussed the situation in Syria and its implications for security and stability in the region, Little said, and Hagel expressed appreciation for the defense minister's insights.
QUESTION: WHAT DOES U.S. THINK ABOUT KENYAN VOTE TO LEAVE ICC?
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Kenya: ICC Membership (Taken Question)
Taken Question
Washington, DC
Question: What is the U.S. position on the Kenyan vote to remove itself from the ICC?
Answer: The United States is dedicated to supporting the rule of law and working to ensure accountability for crimes against humanity. We urge the government of Kenya to fulfill its commitments to seek justice for the victims of the 2007-2008 post-election violence. In that regard, we note President Kenyatta’s recent statements affirming his commitment to ensure that Kenya meets its international obligations as a party to the Rome Statute.
Kenya: ICC Membership (Taken Question)
Taken Question
Washington, DC
Question: What is the U.S. position on the Kenyan vote to remove itself from the ICC?
Answer: The United States is dedicated to supporting the rule of law and working to ensure accountability for crimes against humanity. We urge the government of Kenya to fulfill its commitments to seek justice for the victims of the 2007-2008 post-election violence. In that regard, we note President Kenyatta’s recent statements affirming his commitment to ensure that Kenya meets its international obligations as a party to the Rome Statute.
OFFICIAL PREDICTS MILITARY WILL HAVE A "BLEAK BUDGET" FOR FISCAL 2014
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Official Predicts Bleak Budget Picture for Fiscal 2014
By NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2013 - Budget pressures mean defense acquisition workers' lives "are going to stay difficult for a while," their chief told the workforce here this week, but he reminded them that they have a critical mission for the country.
Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, visited here Sept. 3 to discuss the Pentagon's Better Buying Power 2.0 initiative and listen to workforce feedback after what he acknowledged has been a challenging summer.
"Pax River," as it's commonly known, is home to Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division headquarters, as well as more than 50 tenant activities. Staffs here provide the full spectrum of acquisition management, research and development capabilities, air and ground test and evaluation, aircraft logistics and maintenance management. The installation supports land-based and maritime aircraft and engineering, test, evaluation, integration, and life cycle support for ship and shore electronics.
Kendall told workers the now-completed civilian furloughs, which cut workers' hours and pay by one day a week for six weeks, were a last resort in the face of steep sequestration-mandated spending cuts that might otherwise have left the military in a dangerously low state of readiness.
"I'm sorry we had to do it," he said, emphasizing that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other Pentagon leaders exhausted all other possibilities before reluctantly approving what amounted to short-term layoffs.
Kendall said he can't predict what the new fiscal year will bring to the Defense Department when it begins Oct. 1.
"The budget situation we're in is pretty much unprecedented," he said. "I have not [before] seen this kind of gridlock on Capitol Hill."
Kendall said he doubts that sequestration, the provision in budget law that imposes across-the-board spending cuts to counteract budget deficits, will go away this year. Congress can de-trigger the automatic cuts, he said, but he added that he sees no appetite for doing so.
"The impact of sequestration, while it is very real, is also very distributed," Kendall said. He noted that wholesale program cancellations, which people might expect to see, have been avoided so far, "because we're trying to do our jobs."
Sequester will cut about $52 billion from the 2014 defense budget, he said, and leaders will begin implementing those cuts in October. While the Office of Management and Budget hasn't issued guidance yet for fiscal year 2014, Kendall said, "my expectation is we will start assuming sequestration from Day One."
Military personnel cuts take time, he explained, and military pay is likely to be exempt, so the burden of those cuts essentially falls on the civilian workforce and contractors, along with investment accounts -- his area of acquisition, technology and logistics.
The military culture is to "put your head down and get the job done" no matter the circumstances, he said, and the acquisition workforce continues its push to get the best value for taxpayer dollars.
"I do think we have to be vocal about what's going on, though. ... And I think it's going to be a lot worse going into [fiscal 2014]," he said.
Kendall said he hopes furloughs will not be repeated, but that while he also hopes DOD can avoid a reduction in force of the civilian workforce, it may be necessary.
"The odds of a [reduction in force] not happening are not so good," he acknowledged, though he added that defense leaders are researching alternatives.
"I don't see us getting to a time soon where we get out of the mess," Kendall said. "But I do think that as the damage becomes more visible, Congress will have to act and de-trigger [sequestration.] I just don't know how long it's going to take."
Official Predicts Bleak Budget Picture for Fiscal 2014
By NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2013 - Budget pressures mean defense acquisition workers' lives "are going to stay difficult for a while," their chief told the workforce here this week, but he reminded them that they have a critical mission for the country.
Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, visited here Sept. 3 to discuss the Pentagon's Better Buying Power 2.0 initiative and listen to workforce feedback after what he acknowledged has been a challenging summer.
"Pax River," as it's commonly known, is home to Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division headquarters, as well as more than 50 tenant activities. Staffs here provide the full spectrum of acquisition management, research and development capabilities, air and ground test and evaluation, aircraft logistics and maintenance management. The installation supports land-based and maritime aircraft and engineering, test, evaluation, integration, and life cycle support for ship and shore electronics.
Kendall told workers the now-completed civilian furloughs, which cut workers' hours and pay by one day a week for six weeks, were a last resort in the face of steep sequestration-mandated spending cuts that might otherwise have left the military in a dangerously low state of readiness.
"I'm sorry we had to do it," he said, emphasizing that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other Pentagon leaders exhausted all other possibilities before reluctantly approving what amounted to short-term layoffs.
Kendall said he can't predict what the new fiscal year will bring to the Defense Department when it begins Oct. 1.
"The budget situation we're in is pretty much unprecedented," he said. "I have not [before] seen this kind of gridlock on Capitol Hill."
Kendall said he doubts that sequestration, the provision in budget law that imposes across-the-board spending cuts to counteract budget deficits, will go away this year. Congress can de-trigger the automatic cuts, he said, but he added that he sees no appetite for doing so.
"The impact of sequestration, while it is very real, is also very distributed," Kendall said. He noted that wholesale program cancellations, which people might expect to see, have been avoided so far, "because we're trying to do our jobs."
Sequester will cut about $52 billion from the 2014 defense budget, he said, and leaders will begin implementing those cuts in October. While the Office of Management and Budget hasn't issued guidance yet for fiscal year 2014, Kendall said, "my expectation is we will start assuming sequestration from Day One."
Military personnel cuts take time, he explained, and military pay is likely to be exempt, so the burden of those cuts essentially falls on the civilian workforce and contractors, along with investment accounts -- his area of acquisition, technology and logistics.
The military culture is to "put your head down and get the job done" no matter the circumstances, he said, and the acquisition workforce continues its push to get the best value for taxpayer dollars.
"I do think we have to be vocal about what's going on, though. ... And I think it's going to be a lot worse going into [fiscal 2014]," he said.
Kendall said he hopes furloughs will not be repeated, but that while he also hopes DOD can avoid a reduction in force of the civilian workforce, it may be necessary.
"The odds of a [reduction in force] not happening are not so good," he acknowledged, though he added that defense leaders are researching alternatives.
"I don't see us getting to a time soon where we get out of the mess," Kendall said. "But I do think that as the damage becomes more visible, Congress will have to act and de-trigger [sequestration.] I just don't know how long it's going to take."
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE EMPLOYEES AND DOCTORS ARRESTED IN WORKERS' COMPENSATION FRAUD CASE
FROM: U.S. POSTAL SERVICE
Date: September 5, 2013
ARREST AND INDICTMENT OF TEN CURRENT AND FORMER
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE EMPLOYEES AND TWO DOCTORS FOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION FRAUD
Defendants face a combined forfeiture allegation of over $620,000.00
SAN JUAN, P.R. - On August 30, 2013 a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned twelve separate Indictments charging ten current and former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees and two doctors, Luis E. Faura-Clavell and Alfonso A. Madrid-Guzmán, with fraud associated with Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). This program provides wage loss and medical benefits to employees who have become injured in the course of their official capacity within the USPS and are unable to work due to disability, announced United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez.
A two year investigation led by the USPS-Office of Inspector General (OIG), with assistance from the FBI, Social Security Administration-OIG, Health and Human Services-OIG, the DOL-OIG and the Puerto Rico Police Department targeted fraud associated with OWCP claims.
Postal Service employees are covered by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), which provides tax-free benefits to civilian federal employees who sustain injuries or anoccupational disease as a result of their employment. Postal employees can receive up to 75
percent if there is at least one dependent. The Postal Service is the largest FECA participant, paying more than $1 billion in benefits and $60 million in administrative fees annually.
Pursuant to OWCP guidelines, a claimant must prove that he or she is disabled by furnishing medical documentation and other evidence with their work related claim. The employee’s claim and supporting medical evidence is then evaluated by the OWCP to determine the claimant’s medical impairments and the effect of the impairment on the claimant’s ability to work on a sustained basis. Employees and Two Doctors for Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Date: September 5, 2013
ARREST AND INDICTMENT OF TEN CURRENT AND FORMER
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE EMPLOYEES AND TWO DOCTORS FOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION FRAUD
Defendants face a combined forfeiture allegation of over $620,000.00
SAN JUAN, P.R. - On August 30, 2013 a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned twelve separate Indictments charging ten current and former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees and two doctors, Luis E. Faura-Clavell and Alfonso A. Madrid-Guzmán, with fraud associated with Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). This program provides wage loss and medical benefits to employees who have become injured in the course of their official capacity within the USPS and are unable to work due to disability, announced United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez.
A two year investigation led by the USPS-Office of Inspector General (OIG), with assistance from the FBI, Social Security Administration-OIG, Health and Human Services-OIG, the DOL-OIG and the Puerto Rico Police Department targeted fraud associated with OWCP claims.
Postal Service employees are covered by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), which provides tax-free benefits to civilian federal employees who sustain injuries or anoccupational disease as a result of their employment. Postal employees can receive up to 75
percent if there is at least one dependent. The Postal Service is the largest FECA participant, paying more than $1 billion in benefits and $60 million in administrative fees annually.
Pursuant to OWCP guidelines, a claimant must prove that he or she is disabled by furnishing medical documentation and other evidence with their work related claim. The employee’s claim and supporting medical evidence is then evaluated by the OWCP to determine the claimant’s medical impairments and the effect of the impairment on the claimant’s ability to work on a sustained basis. Employees and Two Doctors for Workers’ Compensation Fraud
STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL'S REMARKS ON GLOBAL WATER SECURITY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks on Global Water Security
Remarks
E. William Colglazier
Science and Technology Adviser
46th Session of the Erice International Seminars: Role of Science in the Third Millennium
Erice, Sicily
August 19, 2013
It is my pleasure to talk to you today about “global water security” at the Erice International Seminars 46th Session focused on “The Role of Science in the Third Millennium.” The growing importance of water security can be framed in two ways. First, water resources should be protected so that, on a reliable basis, there is sufficient, safe water to sustain the health and livelihoods of populations, while also increasing their resilience to water-related hazards such as floods and droughts. Second, the geopolitical dimensions of water security should be addressed by considering how water shortages, poor water quality, or floods might impact the stability or failure of states, increase regional tensions, and pose a risk to global public health and food markets, thus hobbling economic growth.
Challenges
We face Global Water Challenges across many sectors because water has many uses. At the household level, humans need sufficient, safe water for drinking and cooking; and, at larger scales, we use it for agriculture, sewage treatment, navigation, hydropower and other energy production, and industry. In the natural world, water sustains healthy ecosystems that protect biodiversity and provide a wide range of ecosystem services.
Clean water is essential for human health. Few issues are more important to economic development, environmental well-being, and human security than water and sanitation. Yet today, nearly 800 million people -- one in nine -- lack access to an improved drinking water source, and more than 1.5 billion people still lack access to improved sanitation facilities. Each year, more than four billion cases of diarrhea cause 2.2 million deaths—most are in children under the age of five. In addition to the lives lost, the total economic losses associated with inadequate clean water supply and sanitation is estimated at more than $250 billion annually.
These issues disproportionately affect women and children.The burden of tending to family members sickened by water-borne disease falls primarily on women and girls, who are also more likely to stop attending school when appropriate sanitation facilities are not available. Women and girls often bear the primary responsibility for meeting the water needs of the family. Collecting water can consume up to five hours per day and involve walking more than three kilometers, carrying over 18 kilograms of water. It is estimated that, across sub-Saharan Africa, women spend some 40 billion hours per year collecting water, hours that could be spent going to school, improving their livelihoods, and becoming the future entrepreneurs that solve water security challenges.
The challenges of water extend beyond health and impact agriculture and food security. More than 70 percent of the water used globally goes towards agriculture; in some developing countries, it’s over 90 percent. As overall food demand increases with a growing population and as countries shift to foodstuffs that require more water – such as beef – already scarce water resources will be under greater pressure. To feed a growing world population, the United Nations Environment Programme estimated that 14-17% more fresh water will be needed for irrigation by 2030. And it’s not just water resources under pressure – soil erosion, increasing soil salinity, nutrient depletion and the increasing affects of climate change add further complexity.
Many agrarian-based economies in the developing world are rain-fed: when it rains, lands produce and economies can grow; when it does not, countries that lack the capacity to store and save water face economic decline and food insecurity, even famine. And fish from freshwater and coastal ecosystems are a significant source of protein for more than 2.5 billion people in the developing countries. Overfishing, pollution (including agricultural run-off) and poor management have led to a decline in many freshwater fish populations and a reduction in freshwater fish species.
For the energy sector, it is clear that water and energy are inextricably linked resources that are in high demand. Water is required for energy production, and energy is necessary to convey and treat water. Shortages of one can limit the availability of the other. Water can be a source of clean, renewable, energy. In many regions of the world there is significant untapped hydropower potential. Dams can play a key role in meeting future energy needs and along with natural infrastructure can be critical to managing and mitigating the impacts of floods and droughts.
Decisions about water are not to be taken lightly. Dams can have profound and often irreversible impacts on people and the environment. Other forms of new energy development can also have effects on existing water resources. For example, growing crops for biofuels could impact the land and water available for food production within a region. Alternatively, energy generated from renewable, lower-carbon emitting sources like wind requires little to no water.
These are the types of issues at the “water-food-energy nexus,” which has been the focus of much international discussion. In fact, the U.S. National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds” report predicted that the growing water-food-energy nexus would be one of the four overarching megatrends that will shape the world in the year 2030.(1) Sound science and deliberative evidence-based decision-making that integrates across all three domains and includes all stakeholders will be essential to ensuring the long-term interests of people and the environment are protected.
Across all sectors, by the year 2025, experts predict that nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will be living under water-stressed conditions as a result of increasing demand and our changing climate, including roughly a billion people facing absolute water scarcity, a level that threatens economic development as well as human health.
Major Drivers of Water Quantity and Quality and Their Vulnerabilities
The first is biophysical and refers to the natural supply of water above and below ground, in lakes and rivers, and in rainfall. The variability (e.g., seasonal and annual rainfall and snowmelt) and extremes (e.g., heavy rainfall, floods, and droughts) of these biophysical drivers are a key aspect of water security. We have long records of this variability and we know that these can be influenced, for example, by large-scale climate phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña patterns.
Climate change could greatly exacerbate the variability and extremes around the biophysical drivers. Some regions will get wetter; others drier; glaciers will recede; snow-packs may decline (reducing natural water storage for many regions of the world) and sea levels will rise. Rising sea levels, storm surges, flood damage, and saltwater intrusion will threaten freshwater supplies.
Greater water run-off from more frequent and more intense precipitation events is likely to carry more pollutants into water systems. Greater variability in rainfall will increase the likelihood of extreme weather (floods and droughts), threatening both people and economies. Floods, droughts, famine, and water-related epidemics now account for over 90 percent of water-related natural disasters world-wide – often with profound humanitarian and economic consequences; with climate change such impacts are likely to increase.
The second driver of water quantity and quality is the set of human actions in the water sphere that include agriculture, industry, and water infrastructure like dams and irrigation systems. The threats to stability of this set of drivers are many – and include population growth, poverty, environmental degradation via such phenomena as urbanization, pollution, increased soil salinity, overutilization of groundwater. Another set of threats includes ineffectual leadership and weak policy frameworks and political institutions.
It is beyond the scope of my talk to address all of these issues – my point here is to acknowledge the myriad of complex human factors that combine to threaten global water security.
Scientific and Geopolitical Sides of Water Security
One of the unusual parts of my position at the Department of State is that I have the chance to see both the scientific and the geopolitical sides of many issues. From where I sit and what I read, it is clear that water issues are likely to become an increasing threat to peace and security.
In late 2011, in response to a request from the Secretary of State, the U.S. intelligence community undertook an analysis of water security and issued a National Intelligence Estimate titled “Global Water Security and Its Implications for U.S. National Security.”(2) One of the report’s conclusions was that, “…during the next ten years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems – shortages, poor water quality, or floods – that will risk instability and state failure, increase tensions, and distract them from working with the United States on important policy objectives.”
The report also concludes that as water shortages become more acute beyond the next 10 years, water in shared basins will increasingly be used as leverage over neighbors to preserve water interests. Over the next 10 years depletion of groundwater in some agricultural areas will cause food productivity to decline, resulting in food shortages that pose a risk to national and global food markets. Shortages of water from now to 2040 were predicted to harm economic output where countries do not have sufficient clean water supplies to generate electrical power or to maintain and expand their manufacturing and resource extraction sectors.
Solutions To Ameliorate Global Water Challenges
I believe that Diplomatic and Development approaches hold great promise. I’ll start with Diplomacyapproaches. Disagreements over water are inevitable. The key is to keep these disagreements from escalating into violent conflict. Historically, countries have trended towards cooperation over water rather than conflict. This makes water a useful diplomatic tool for building trust and cooperation.
The United States and many other nations are now engaged in “Water Diplomacy.” This is essential both to ensure water issues are getting the appropriate attention at the national, regional, and global levels and to bring countries together in cases where water is, or may become, a source of tension.
One approach to water diplomacy is through multilateral partnerships – such as United States efforts with the G8 and Sanitation and Water for All activity – to focus global attention and hold countries accountable to their commitments.
Diplomatic engagement can also help pave the way for cooperation – rather than conflict – over water. These are tricky issues. Water is seen as a sovereign issue, and there are many cases where outside intervention is not wanted; these problems are often embedded within a much broader set of environment, development, political, and financial challenges.
There are times where diplomatic engagement can make a meaningful difference. This could be capacity building or technical assistance so that the parties have a common understanding of the challenges and potential solutions; it could be legal or facilitation support; and – in some cases – it could be putting forward solutions together that no party could risk putting forward on its own.
An example of a diplomatic effort being led by the State Department is the U.S. Water Partnership. In 2012, the Department of State, along with 27 other U.S. Government agencies and nongovernmental partners launched the U.S. Water Partnership to mobilize U.S. knowledge, expertise, and resources to improve water security throughout the world – particularly in developing countries.
The partnership, which now has over 60 members and has leveraged $600 million in project commitments, aims to improve service for water, sanitation and hygiene, advance integrated water resource management, increase efficiency of water use, and improve governance via stronger public and private institutions, policies and processes.
For addressing development challenges, I see a tremendous amount of promise. In May of 2013, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) formally launched its first ever, five year (2013-2018) Water and Development Strategy. The Strategy aims to save lives and advance development through improvements in water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs and through sound management and use of water for food security. By integrating all of its considerable water investments (which totaled $558M in 2011) within these two overlapping strategic objectives, USAID hopes to increase its already significant impact in the water area.
USAID’s water portfolio has a richness of activities that are all adapted to the unique needs of each country, and all told, a set of programs that is improving the lives of tens of millions of people. Three overarching themes in USAID’s Water and Development Strategy are using a resiliency approach, leveraging partnerships, and harnessing the power of science, technology, and innovation.
Sustainable management of water resources is a key component of USAID’s efforts to build resilience at household and community levels in developing countries. Resilient communities, in the face of stresses and shocks, can take anticipatory action to sustain access to sufficient, quality water for health and food security. Resilient communities are able to anticipate droughts or floods and so reduce the risks of water-related disaster, and they employ science, technology, and good governance to manage climate change effects on water supply and use. And in the event of a water crisis, such communities are able to respond effectively and build back better than before.
Resiliency and effective governance of water resources are also essential aspects of conflict mitigation, particularly in arid areas where conflict over water resources can contribute to instability and exacerbate chronic vulnerability.
Another key strategy for USAID in the water sector has been to build partnerships. Over the past five years, in the International H2O Alliance with Rotary International, USAID and Rotary have worked with local organizations to complete more than 15,000 interventions in nearly 500 urban and rural communities in the Dominican Republic, Ghana, and the Philippines, ranging from hygiene training and rural water systems to urban wastewater treatment.
A new exciting partnershipis the Securing Water for Food: Grand Challenge for Developmentto be launched by USAID and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency in early September during World Water Week in Stockholm. The two agencies have offered this challenge to identify and accelerate science and technology innovations and market-driven approaches that improve water sustainability to boost food security. The focus of this effort will be on three areas, water efficiency and reuse, water capture and storage and salt water intrusion.
Science, Technology, and Innovation
And this brings me to the overarching theme of the role of science, technology, and innovation in development. USAID has embraced science, technology, and innovation as key drivers of identifying scalable solutions. Recognizing that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, the Water and Development Strategy calls for demand-driven, locally grown approaches and technologies in order to accelerate achievement of USAID objectives in the water sector. This work, often undertaken in partnership, is already well underway, and includes:
The WASH for Life Initiative is a four-year, $17 million partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which uses USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures program to identify, test, and help transition to scale evidence-based approaches for effective WASH services in developing countries. One innovative example is a one-year pilot by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team to build a network of 60 low-cost latrines for residents of a slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The program collects waste daily and processes it as fertilizer and biogas. It aims to expand 50-fold to reach more than one half million slum dwellers – creating jobs and profit, while aiming to reduce diarrhea by 40 percent in target areas.
Another example is the University of Colorado Boulder/USAID Research Partnershipthat assesses snow and glacier contributions to water resources originating in the high mountains of Asia that straddle ten countries. They use remote-sensing satellite data from NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Japanese Space Agency to develop time-series maps of seasonal snowfall amounts and recent changes in glaciers.
Such science and technology-related development efforts are being made worldwide, not just by the United States Government, and involve a wide range of different partners. For example, a partnership between World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Coca-Cola Company has brought high-resolution water availability data into the public domain.
After recognizing that water shortages could threaten its access to clean water, the life-blood of its business, Coca-Cola spent years building a comprehensive global data set on water availability around the world. This data includes sophisticated hydrological models of where water stress is most acute now and projections for water risks in the future. Coca-Cola released its water data to WRI when it realized that its water information could have a greater impact as a comprehensive, public platform than when only used internally.
Moving beyond diplomacy and development solutions, it is clear that the growing human demand for water will put increased pressure on managing water holistically across a broad range of competing needs. The National Intelligence Estimate on Global Water Security concluded that from now until 2040, improved water management (e.g., pricing, allocations) and investments in water-related sectors (e.g., agriculture, power, water treatment, water storage, and delivery) will afford the best solutions for addressing water problems.
Managing water requires hardware, be it a community tap, a drip irrigation system, a pit latrine, desalination, or a wastewater treatment plant. As we build capacity, we need to invest in basic infrastructure to meet needs and better manage water resources.
To this end, the State Department launched the Nexus Dialogue on Water Infrastructure with the International Union for Conservation and Natural Resources and the International Water Association. The goal is to change the way in which the global community manages physical and natural infrastructure for greater economic, social, and environmental benefits and to improve food and energy security. Regional dialogues are happening in Nairobi, Bogota, and Bangkok and a rich collection of best practices and lessons learned being developed that can help guide future water-related infrastructure development.
Sound water resources planning and management, multi-purpose infrastructure (e.g., dams that both produce power and offer flood protection), better management of natural systems (e.g., flood plains), and improved water monitoring, prediction, and early warning systems can help people prepare and mitigate the impacts of many water-related disasters.
Science and Engineering Solutions
The U.S. National Intelligence Council also issued a 2011 report entitled “Impacts of Technology on Freshwater Availability to 2040.” While the report did not identify a “silver bullet” technology that would greatly reduce water shortages in the near term, it did identify likely science and technology advances in the area.
Since 70% of world’s water use is in agriculture – the greatest potential for relief from shortages comes from this sector. Advances in large-scale drip agriculture are the most likely means to relieve water shortages for agriculture. Drip agriculture delivers water directly to the crop plant and can be a great improvement over conventional irrigation where much of the water goes to evaporation and to weeds.Another promising approach in agriculture will be developing drought-resistance and salt-resistance in crop plants, which has been the focus of much research and could yield commercialization within the next three decades.
Technological advances may also help increase the supply of freshwater. Chief among these is likely to be the membrane technology involved in desalination and water purification. Reverse osmosis membrane desalination requires less energy than distillation and so has come to dominate. The report found that the greatest promise lay at the intersection of several rapidly developing technologies: nanotechnology (e.g., carbon nanotube membranes), biotechnology (e.g., biomimetic membranes), electrochemistry (e.g., to reduce membrane fouling), and renewable energy technologies (e.g., to reduce energy cost of desalination by using waste or low-grade heat or wind, tidal or solar-powered systems).
The report indicated approximately 20 percent of the global water supply is used by industry in power plants (hydroelectric and thermoelectric), oil refineries, mines, and by other industries that use water as a solvent or for steam generation.
I am an optimist about the role of science and technology in addressing our global challenges and helping to build a peaceful, secure, and prosperous world. I believe large-scale research investments will make a difference. I am also encouraged by some of the newer approaches to finding solutions. Here are a few illustrative examples:
a. The U.S. National Science Foundation has partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for several years on BREAD (Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development), funding grants to support innovative basic scientific research designed to address key constraints to smallholder agriculture in the developing world. Numerous grants have been made in the area of drought resistance of crop plants. This year they held a new type of open competition – a BREAD Ideas Challenge – to stimulate new thinking by making cash prizes of $10,000 each for the best ideas.
One of the winners is Matthew Wallenstein, a scientist at Colorado State University who studies soil microbes. Drought is a well-known and frequent challenge faced by smallholder farmers across the developing world. Considerable efforts have gone toward developing drought-tolerant crops, but the drought tolerance of microbes living in the soil, which supply nutrients, prevent pathogens, and promote crop health, has not yet received much attention. Wallenstein’s challenge is to develop knowledge, methods, and tools to identify drought-productive microbiomes and facilitate their use by smallholder farmers.
b. In 2011, the World Bank, NASA, and several information technology partners teamed up for a Water Hackathon in 12 cities around the world, to help bring safe water to the hundreds of millions who lack it. The Hackathon teamed up software engineers, development experts, philanthropists, and environmental engineers – who identified 103 specific challenges, then generated more than 60 possible solutions. Some of those solutions received start-up funding and are being field-tested now.
c. Blue Planet Network’s goal is to solve critical unmet water sector challenges by helping organizations and individuals that are working to end the global safe drinking water crisis. It does this via its funding platform, connecting the public, funders (individuals, companies, foundations, and governments), and project implementers who work to provide clean water around the world. Their technology platform strengthens collaboration, monitoring, and analysis so impact can be measured and solutions shared.
My talk has just covered the tip of the iceberg on the myriad of issues associated with global water security. I want to leave you with my two main points. First, water security poses great and complex challenges to us all at local, regional, and global scales. And second, the tools of diplomacy and science hold great potential to ameliorate these challenges and so give me optimism for the future.
Note: I wish to thank Elizabeth Lyons, Aaron Salzberg, and Carol Lynn MacCurdy of the U.S. Department of State for their invaluable help in preparing this talk.
Remarks on Global Water Security
Remarks
E. William Colglazier
Science and Technology Adviser
46th Session of the Erice International Seminars: Role of Science in the Third Millennium
Erice, Sicily
August 19, 2013
It is my pleasure to talk to you today about “global water security” at the Erice International Seminars 46th Session focused on “The Role of Science in the Third Millennium.” The growing importance of water security can be framed in two ways. First, water resources should be protected so that, on a reliable basis, there is sufficient, safe water to sustain the health and livelihoods of populations, while also increasing their resilience to water-related hazards such as floods and droughts. Second, the geopolitical dimensions of water security should be addressed by considering how water shortages, poor water quality, or floods might impact the stability or failure of states, increase regional tensions, and pose a risk to global public health and food markets, thus hobbling economic growth.
Challenges
We face Global Water Challenges across many sectors because water has many uses. At the household level, humans need sufficient, safe water for drinking and cooking; and, at larger scales, we use it for agriculture, sewage treatment, navigation, hydropower and other energy production, and industry. In the natural world, water sustains healthy ecosystems that protect biodiversity and provide a wide range of ecosystem services.
Clean water is essential for human health. Few issues are more important to economic development, environmental well-being, and human security than water and sanitation. Yet today, nearly 800 million people -- one in nine -- lack access to an improved drinking water source, and more than 1.5 billion people still lack access to improved sanitation facilities. Each year, more than four billion cases of diarrhea cause 2.2 million deaths—most are in children under the age of five. In addition to the lives lost, the total economic losses associated with inadequate clean water supply and sanitation is estimated at more than $250 billion annually.
These issues disproportionately affect women and children.The burden of tending to family members sickened by water-borne disease falls primarily on women and girls, who are also more likely to stop attending school when appropriate sanitation facilities are not available. Women and girls often bear the primary responsibility for meeting the water needs of the family. Collecting water can consume up to five hours per day and involve walking more than three kilometers, carrying over 18 kilograms of water. It is estimated that, across sub-Saharan Africa, women spend some 40 billion hours per year collecting water, hours that could be spent going to school, improving their livelihoods, and becoming the future entrepreneurs that solve water security challenges.
The challenges of water extend beyond health and impact agriculture and food security. More than 70 percent of the water used globally goes towards agriculture; in some developing countries, it’s over 90 percent. As overall food demand increases with a growing population and as countries shift to foodstuffs that require more water – such as beef – already scarce water resources will be under greater pressure. To feed a growing world population, the United Nations Environment Programme estimated that 14-17% more fresh water will be needed for irrigation by 2030. And it’s not just water resources under pressure – soil erosion, increasing soil salinity, nutrient depletion and the increasing affects of climate change add further complexity.
Many agrarian-based economies in the developing world are rain-fed: when it rains, lands produce and economies can grow; when it does not, countries that lack the capacity to store and save water face economic decline and food insecurity, even famine. And fish from freshwater and coastal ecosystems are a significant source of protein for more than 2.5 billion people in the developing countries. Overfishing, pollution (including agricultural run-off) and poor management have led to a decline in many freshwater fish populations and a reduction in freshwater fish species.
For the energy sector, it is clear that water and energy are inextricably linked resources that are in high demand. Water is required for energy production, and energy is necessary to convey and treat water. Shortages of one can limit the availability of the other. Water can be a source of clean, renewable, energy. In many regions of the world there is significant untapped hydropower potential. Dams can play a key role in meeting future energy needs and along with natural infrastructure can be critical to managing and mitigating the impacts of floods and droughts.
Decisions about water are not to be taken lightly. Dams can have profound and often irreversible impacts on people and the environment. Other forms of new energy development can also have effects on existing water resources. For example, growing crops for biofuels could impact the land and water available for food production within a region. Alternatively, energy generated from renewable, lower-carbon emitting sources like wind requires little to no water.
These are the types of issues at the “water-food-energy nexus,” which has been the focus of much international discussion. In fact, the U.S. National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds” report predicted that the growing water-food-energy nexus would be one of the four overarching megatrends that will shape the world in the year 2030.(1) Sound science and deliberative evidence-based decision-making that integrates across all three domains and includes all stakeholders will be essential to ensuring the long-term interests of people and the environment are protected.
Across all sectors, by the year 2025, experts predict that nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will be living under water-stressed conditions as a result of increasing demand and our changing climate, including roughly a billion people facing absolute water scarcity, a level that threatens economic development as well as human health.
Major Drivers of Water Quantity and Quality and Their Vulnerabilities
The first is biophysical and refers to the natural supply of water above and below ground, in lakes and rivers, and in rainfall. The variability (e.g., seasonal and annual rainfall and snowmelt) and extremes (e.g., heavy rainfall, floods, and droughts) of these biophysical drivers are a key aspect of water security. We have long records of this variability and we know that these can be influenced, for example, by large-scale climate phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña patterns.
Climate change could greatly exacerbate the variability and extremes around the biophysical drivers. Some regions will get wetter; others drier; glaciers will recede; snow-packs may decline (reducing natural water storage for many regions of the world) and sea levels will rise. Rising sea levels, storm surges, flood damage, and saltwater intrusion will threaten freshwater supplies.
Greater water run-off from more frequent and more intense precipitation events is likely to carry more pollutants into water systems. Greater variability in rainfall will increase the likelihood of extreme weather (floods and droughts), threatening both people and economies. Floods, droughts, famine, and water-related epidemics now account for over 90 percent of water-related natural disasters world-wide – often with profound humanitarian and economic consequences; with climate change such impacts are likely to increase.
The second driver of water quantity and quality is the set of human actions in the water sphere that include agriculture, industry, and water infrastructure like dams and irrigation systems. The threats to stability of this set of drivers are many – and include population growth, poverty, environmental degradation via such phenomena as urbanization, pollution, increased soil salinity, overutilization of groundwater. Another set of threats includes ineffectual leadership and weak policy frameworks and political institutions.
It is beyond the scope of my talk to address all of these issues – my point here is to acknowledge the myriad of complex human factors that combine to threaten global water security.
Scientific and Geopolitical Sides of Water Security
One of the unusual parts of my position at the Department of State is that I have the chance to see both the scientific and the geopolitical sides of many issues. From where I sit and what I read, it is clear that water issues are likely to become an increasing threat to peace and security.
In late 2011, in response to a request from the Secretary of State, the U.S. intelligence community undertook an analysis of water security and issued a National Intelligence Estimate titled “Global Water Security and Its Implications for U.S. National Security.”(2) One of the report’s conclusions was that, “…during the next ten years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems – shortages, poor water quality, or floods – that will risk instability and state failure, increase tensions, and distract them from working with the United States on important policy objectives.”
The report also concludes that as water shortages become more acute beyond the next 10 years, water in shared basins will increasingly be used as leverage over neighbors to preserve water interests. Over the next 10 years depletion of groundwater in some agricultural areas will cause food productivity to decline, resulting in food shortages that pose a risk to national and global food markets. Shortages of water from now to 2040 were predicted to harm economic output where countries do not have sufficient clean water supplies to generate electrical power or to maintain and expand their manufacturing and resource extraction sectors.
Solutions To Ameliorate Global Water Challenges
I believe that Diplomatic and Development approaches hold great promise. I’ll start with Diplomacyapproaches. Disagreements over water are inevitable. The key is to keep these disagreements from escalating into violent conflict. Historically, countries have trended towards cooperation over water rather than conflict. This makes water a useful diplomatic tool for building trust and cooperation.
The United States and many other nations are now engaged in “Water Diplomacy.” This is essential both to ensure water issues are getting the appropriate attention at the national, regional, and global levels and to bring countries together in cases where water is, or may become, a source of tension.
One approach to water diplomacy is through multilateral partnerships – such as United States efforts with the G8 and Sanitation and Water for All activity – to focus global attention and hold countries accountable to their commitments.
Diplomatic engagement can also help pave the way for cooperation – rather than conflict – over water. These are tricky issues. Water is seen as a sovereign issue, and there are many cases where outside intervention is not wanted; these problems are often embedded within a much broader set of environment, development, political, and financial challenges.
There are times where diplomatic engagement can make a meaningful difference. This could be capacity building or technical assistance so that the parties have a common understanding of the challenges and potential solutions; it could be legal or facilitation support; and – in some cases – it could be putting forward solutions together that no party could risk putting forward on its own.
An example of a diplomatic effort being led by the State Department is the U.S. Water Partnership. In 2012, the Department of State, along with 27 other U.S. Government agencies and nongovernmental partners launched the U.S. Water Partnership to mobilize U.S. knowledge, expertise, and resources to improve water security throughout the world – particularly in developing countries.
The partnership, which now has over 60 members and has leveraged $600 million in project commitments, aims to improve service for water, sanitation and hygiene, advance integrated water resource management, increase efficiency of water use, and improve governance via stronger public and private institutions, policies and processes.
For addressing development challenges, I see a tremendous amount of promise. In May of 2013, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) formally launched its first ever, five year (2013-2018) Water and Development Strategy. The Strategy aims to save lives and advance development through improvements in water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs and through sound management and use of water for food security. By integrating all of its considerable water investments (which totaled $558M in 2011) within these two overlapping strategic objectives, USAID hopes to increase its already significant impact in the water area.
USAID’s water portfolio has a richness of activities that are all adapted to the unique needs of each country, and all told, a set of programs that is improving the lives of tens of millions of people. Three overarching themes in USAID’s Water and Development Strategy are using a resiliency approach, leveraging partnerships, and harnessing the power of science, technology, and innovation.
Sustainable management of water resources is a key component of USAID’s efforts to build resilience at household and community levels in developing countries. Resilient communities, in the face of stresses and shocks, can take anticipatory action to sustain access to sufficient, quality water for health and food security. Resilient communities are able to anticipate droughts or floods and so reduce the risks of water-related disaster, and they employ science, technology, and good governance to manage climate change effects on water supply and use. And in the event of a water crisis, such communities are able to respond effectively and build back better than before.
Resiliency and effective governance of water resources are also essential aspects of conflict mitigation, particularly in arid areas where conflict over water resources can contribute to instability and exacerbate chronic vulnerability.
Another key strategy for USAID in the water sector has been to build partnerships. Over the past five years, in the International H2O Alliance with Rotary International, USAID and Rotary have worked with local organizations to complete more than 15,000 interventions in nearly 500 urban and rural communities in the Dominican Republic, Ghana, and the Philippines, ranging from hygiene training and rural water systems to urban wastewater treatment.
A new exciting partnershipis the Securing Water for Food: Grand Challenge for Developmentto be launched by USAID and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency in early September during World Water Week in Stockholm. The two agencies have offered this challenge to identify and accelerate science and technology innovations and market-driven approaches that improve water sustainability to boost food security. The focus of this effort will be on three areas, water efficiency and reuse, water capture and storage and salt water intrusion.
Science, Technology, and Innovation
And this brings me to the overarching theme of the role of science, technology, and innovation in development. USAID has embraced science, technology, and innovation as key drivers of identifying scalable solutions. Recognizing that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, the Water and Development Strategy calls for demand-driven, locally grown approaches and technologies in order to accelerate achievement of USAID objectives in the water sector. This work, often undertaken in partnership, is already well underway, and includes:
The WASH for Life Initiative is a four-year, $17 million partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which uses USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures program to identify, test, and help transition to scale evidence-based approaches for effective WASH services in developing countries. One innovative example is a one-year pilot by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team to build a network of 60 low-cost latrines for residents of a slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The program collects waste daily and processes it as fertilizer and biogas. It aims to expand 50-fold to reach more than one half million slum dwellers – creating jobs and profit, while aiming to reduce diarrhea by 40 percent in target areas.
Another example is the University of Colorado Boulder/USAID Research Partnershipthat assesses snow and glacier contributions to water resources originating in the high mountains of Asia that straddle ten countries. They use remote-sensing satellite data from NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Japanese Space Agency to develop time-series maps of seasonal snowfall amounts and recent changes in glaciers.
Such science and technology-related development efforts are being made worldwide, not just by the United States Government, and involve a wide range of different partners. For example, a partnership between World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Coca-Cola Company has brought high-resolution water availability data into the public domain.
After recognizing that water shortages could threaten its access to clean water, the life-blood of its business, Coca-Cola spent years building a comprehensive global data set on water availability around the world. This data includes sophisticated hydrological models of where water stress is most acute now and projections for water risks in the future. Coca-Cola released its water data to WRI when it realized that its water information could have a greater impact as a comprehensive, public platform than when only used internally.
Moving beyond diplomacy and development solutions, it is clear that the growing human demand for water will put increased pressure on managing water holistically across a broad range of competing needs. The National Intelligence Estimate on Global Water Security concluded that from now until 2040, improved water management (e.g., pricing, allocations) and investments in water-related sectors (e.g., agriculture, power, water treatment, water storage, and delivery) will afford the best solutions for addressing water problems.
Managing water requires hardware, be it a community tap, a drip irrigation system, a pit latrine, desalination, or a wastewater treatment plant. As we build capacity, we need to invest in basic infrastructure to meet needs and better manage water resources.
To this end, the State Department launched the Nexus Dialogue on Water Infrastructure with the International Union for Conservation and Natural Resources and the International Water Association. The goal is to change the way in which the global community manages physical and natural infrastructure for greater economic, social, and environmental benefits and to improve food and energy security. Regional dialogues are happening in Nairobi, Bogota, and Bangkok and a rich collection of best practices and lessons learned being developed that can help guide future water-related infrastructure development.
Sound water resources planning and management, multi-purpose infrastructure (e.g., dams that both produce power and offer flood protection), better management of natural systems (e.g., flood plains), and improved water monitoring, prediction, and early warning systems can help people prepare and mitigate the impacts of many water-related disasters.
Science and Engineering Solutions
The U.S. National Intelligence Council also issued a 2011 report entitled “Impacts of Technology on Freshwater Availability to 2040.” While the report did not identify a “silver bullet” technology that would greatly reduce water shortages in the near term, it did identify likely science and technology advances in the area.
Since 70% of world’s water use is in agriculture – the greatest potential for relief from shortages comes from this sector. Advances in large-scale drip agriculture are the most likely means to relieve water shortages for agriculture. Drip agriculture delivers water directly to the crop plant and can be a great improvement over conventional irrigation where much of the water goes to evaporation and to weeds.Another promising approach in agriculture will be developing drought-resistance and salt-resistance in crop plants, which has been the focus of much research and could yield commercialization within the next three decades.
Technological advances may also help increase the supply of freshwater. Chief among these is likely to be the membrane technology involved in desalination and water purification. Reverse osmosis membrane desalination requires less energy than distillation and so has come to dominate. The report found that the greatest promise lay at the intersection of several rapidly developing technologies: nanotechnology (e.g., carbon nanotube membranes), biotechnology (e.g., biomimetic membranes), electrochemistry (e.g., to reduce membrane fouling), and renewable energy technologies (e.g., to reduce energy cost of desalination by using waste or low-grade heat or wind, tidal or solar-powered systems).
The report indicated approximately 20 percent of the global water supply is used by industry in power plants (hydroelectric and thermoelectric), oil refineries, mines, and by other industries that use water as a solvent or for steam generation.
I am an optimist about the role of science and technology in addressing our global challenges and helping to build a peaceful, secure, and prosperous world. I believe large-scale research investments will make a difference. I am also encouraged by some of the newer approaches to finding solutions. Here are a few illustrative examples:
a. The U.S. National Science Foundation has partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for several years on BREAD (Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development), funding grants to support innovative basic scientific research designed to address key constraints to smallholder agriculture in the developing world. Numerous grants have been made in the area of drought resistance of crop plants. This year they held a new type of open competition – a BREAD Ideas Challenge – to stimulate new thinking by making cash prizes of $10,000 each for the best ideas.
One of the winners is Matthew Wallenstein, a scientist at Colorado State University who studies soil microbes. Drought is a well-known and frequent challenge faced by smallholder farmers across the developing world. Considerable efforts have gone toward developing drought-tolerant crops, but the drought tolerance of microbes living in the soil, which supply nutrients, prevent pathogens, and promote crop health, has not yet received much attention. Wallenstein’s challenge is to develop knowledge, methods, and tools to identify drought-productive microbiomes and facilitate their use by smallholder farmers.
b. In 2011, the World Bank, NASA, and several information technology partners teamed up for a Water Hackathon in 12 cities around the world, to help bring safe water to the hundreds of millions who lack it. The Hackathon teamed up software engineers, development experts, philanthropists, and environmental engineers – who identified 103 specific challenges, then generated more than 60 possible solutions. Some of those solutions received start-up funding and are being field-tested now.
c. Blue Planet Network’s goal is to solve critical unmet water sector challenges by helping organizations and individuals that are working to end the global safe drinking water crisis. It does this via its funding platform, connecting the public, funders (individuals, companies, foundations, and governments), and project implementers who work to provide clean water around the world. Their technology platform strengthens collaboration, monitoring, and analysis so impact can be measured and solutions shared.
My talk has just covered the tip of the iceberg on the myriad of issues associated with global water security. I want to leave you with my two main points. First, water security poses great and complex challenges to us all at local, regional, and global scales. And second, the tools of diplomacy and science hold great potential to ameliorate these challenges and so give me optimism for the future.
Note: I wish to thank Elizabeth Lyons, Aaron Salzberg, and Carol Lynn MacCurdy of the U.S. Department of State for their invaluable help in preparing this talk.
CDC SAYS 200,000 HEART DISEASE, STROKE DEATHS COULD BE PREVENTED
FROM: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
New CDC Vital Signs: CDC finds 200,000 heart disease and stroke deaths could be prevented
More than 200,000 preventable deaths from heart disease and stroke occurred in the United States in 2010, according to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of these deaths happened to people younger than 65 years of age, and the overall rate of preventable deaths from heart disease and stroke went down nearly 30 percent between 2001 and 2010, with the declines varying by age. Lack of access to preventive screenings and early treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol could explain the differences among age groups.
Age: Death rates in 2010 were highest among adults aged 65-74 years (401.5 per 100,000 population). But preventable deaths have declined faster in those aged 65–74 years compared to those under age 65.
Race/ethnicity: Blacks are twice as likely—and Hispanics are slightly less likely—as whites to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.
Sex: Avoidable deaths from heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure were higher among males (83.7 per 100,000) than females (39.6 per 100,000). Black men have the highest risk. Hispanic men are twice as likely as Hispanic women to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.
Location: By state, avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease ranged from a rate of 36.3 deaths per 100,000 population in Minnesota to 99.6 deaths per 100,000 in the District of Columbia. By county, the highest avoidable death rates in 2010 were concentrated primarily in the southern Appalachian region and much of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The lowest rates were in the West, Midwest, and Northeast regions.
To save more lives from these preventable deaths, doctors, nurses, and other health care providers can encourage healthy habits at every patient visit, including not smoking, increasing physical activity, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking medicines as directed. Communities and health departments can help by promoting healthier living spaces, including tobacco-free areas and safe walking areas. Local communities also can ensure access to healthy food options, including those with lower sodium. Health care systems can adopt and use electronic health records to identify patients who smoke or who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol and help providers follow and support patient progress
New CDC Vital Signs: CDC finds 200,000 heart disease and stroke deaths could be prevented
More than 200,000 preventable deaths from heart disease and stroke occurred in the United States in 2010, according to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of these deaths happened to people younger than 65 years of age, and the overall rate of preventable deaths from heart disease and stroke went down nearly 30 percent between 2001 and 2010, with the declines varying by age. Lack of access to preventive screenings and early treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol could explain the differences among age groups.
Age: Death rates in 2010 were highest among adults aged 65-74 years (401.5 per 100,000 population). But preventable deaths have declined faster in those aged 65–74 years compared to those under age 65.
Race/ethnicity: Blacks are twice as likely—and Hispanics are slightly less likely—as whites to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.
Sex: Avoidable deaths from heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure were higher among males (83.7 per 100,000) than females (39.6 per 100,000). Black men have the highest risk. Hispanic men are twice as likely as Hispanic women to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.
Location: By state, avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease ranged from a rate of 36.3 deaths per 100,000 population in Minnesota to 99.6 deaths per 100,000 in the District of Columbia. By county, the highest avoidable death rates in 2010 were concentrated primarily in the southern Appalachian region and much of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The lowest rates were in the West, Midwest, and Northeast regions.
To save more lives from these preventable deaths, doctors, nurses, and other health care providers can encourage healthy habits at every patient visit, including not smoking, increasing physical activity, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking medicines as directed. Communities and health departments can help by promoting healthier living spaces, including tobacco-free areas and safe walking areas. Local communities also can ensure access to healthy food options, including those with lower sodium. Health care systems can adopt and use electronic health records to identify patients who smoke or who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol and help providers follow and support patient progress
SOLAR ECLIPSE OBSERVED FROM MARS
FROM: NASA
Annular Eclipse of the Sun by Phobos, as Seen by Curiosity
This set of three images shows views three seconds apart as the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passed directly in front of the sun as seen by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. Curiosity photographed this annular, or ring, eclipse with the telephoto-lens camera of the rover's Mast Camera pair (right Mastcam) on Aug. 17, 2013, the 369th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. Curiosity paused during its drive that sol for a set of observations that the camera team carefully calculated to record this celestial event. The rover's observations of Phobos help make researchers' knowledge of the moon's orbit even more precise. Because this eclipse occurred near mid-day at Curiosity's location on Mars, Phobos was nearly overhead loser to the rover than it would have been earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon. This timing made Phobos' silhouette larger against the sun -- as close to a total eclipse of the sun as is possible from Mars. › Related release Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
DOD SAYS US.-RUSSIAN RELATIONS CAN COOPERATE IN MANY AREAS
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
U.S., Russia Can Make Bilateral Progress, DOD Official Says
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2013 - The United States and Russia disagree on some aspects of their bilateral relations, but there are many areas where the countries can and do cooperate, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia told the Heritage Foundation yesterday.
The relationship has been marked by ups and downs, Evelyn N. Farkas said, and that is normal. The idea, she added, is to work through these disagreements.
"We will continue to work with Russia to find mutually acceptable solutions," Farkas said in her prepared remarks. "We've been managing a significant disagreement with the Russians over Syria."
Still, Farkas said, American officials want to bolster defense cooperation. The United States wants to work on counterproliferation issues with Iran, North Korea, and on counterterrorism and counternarcotics in regions adjacent to Russia.
"Our level of interaction with Russia has increased substantially with the establishment of the Defense Relations Working Group in September 2010," she said. "The working group is intended to create mechanisms for discussion and exchange at the policy level between defense professionals on a range of issues, including defense reform and modernization, missile defense cooperation, defense technology cooperation, and global and regional security issues of mutual interest."
Increased cooperation on Afghanistan tops the U.S. wish list, Farkas said. "Working to bring improved stability to Afghanistan is clearly in U.S. and Russian interests, and Russia continues to be supportive by expanding the Northern Distribution Network and allowing for diversification in the types of cargo that can pass through its territory," she explained. "The U.S. and Russia continue working together to disrupt al-Qaida's and other terrorist groups' operational networks and undermine their access to financial resources."
Continued cooperation to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa also is a U.S. goal, Farkas said.
Even in areas of disagreement there must be conversations, Farkas said. Both Russia and the United States agree that the civil war in Syria should end, she noted, but Russia supports the regime of Bashar Assad. "Both of our countries have been adamant that we remain committed to working with each other to bring the parties together to negotiate a political settlement," she said.
Russia continues to express concern that U.S. and NATO missile defenses could pose a threat to Russia's strategic deterrent, Farkas said, and Russian leaders also question whether Iran really poses a threat.
"We continue to assure Russia that our missile defense efforts are not directed against Russia, nor do they pose a threat to its strategic nuclear deterrent," she said. "And we continue to make the case that the transparency and cooperation we are offering are the best way for Russia to gain the confidence it seeks that our missile defenses do not threaten Russia's strategic deterrent."
Continuing talks on nuclear arms reductions also is important, Farkas said. "We have made clear our willingness to discuss the full range of strategic stability issues of concern to both our countries, and we will continue to seek opportunities to make progress on this agenda," she added.
Farkas echoed a statement President Barack Obama made yesterday in Stockholm on U.S.-Russian relations, citing areas in which U.S. and Russian interests overlap.
The president pointed to progress the two nations have made in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, in Russia joining the World Trade Organization, and in close cooperation on counterterrorism issues. Russia has also provided logistical support to U.S. and NATO forces based in Afghanistan.
Still, the president acknowledged, relations have cooled recently over Syria and over Russia granting asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. "But I have not written off the idea that the United States and Russia are going to continue to have common interests even as we have some very profound differences on some other issues," Obama said. "And where our interests overlap, we should pursue common action. Where we've got differences, we should be candid about them --try to manage those differences, but not sugarcoat them."
U.S., Russia Can Make Bilateral Progress, DOD Official Says
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2013 - The United States and Russia disagree on some aspects of their bilateral relations, but there are many areas where the countries can and do cooperate, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia told the Heritage Foundation yesterday.
The relationship has been marked by ups and downs, Evelyn N. Farkas said, and that is normal. The idea, she added, is to work through these disagreements.
"We will continue to work with Russia to find mutually acceptable solutions," Farkas said in her prepared remarks. "We've been managing a significant disagreement with the Russians over Syria."
Still, Farkas said, American officials want to bolster defense cooperation. The United States wants to work on counterproliferation issues with Iran, North Korea, and on counterterrorism and counternarcotics in regions adjacent to Russia.
"Our level of interaction with Russia has increased substantially with the establishment of the Defense Relations Working Group in September 2010," she said. "The working group is intended to create mechanisms for discussion and exchange at the policy level between defense professionals on a range of issues, including defense reform and modernization, missile defense cooperation, defense technology cooperation, and global and regional security issues of mutual interest."
Increased cooperation on Afghanistan tops the U.S. wish list, Farkas said. "Working to bring improved stability to Afghanistan is clearly in U.S. and Russian interests, and Russia continues to be supportive by expanding the Northern Distribution Network and allowing for diversification in the types of cargo that can pass through its territory," she explained. "The U.S. and Russia continue working together to disrupt al-Qaida's and other terrorist groups' operational networks and undermine their access to financial resources."
Continued cooperation to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa also is a U.S. goal, Farkas said.
Even in areas of disagreement there must be conversations, Farkas said. Both Russia and the United States agree that the civil war in Syria should end, she noted, but Russia supports the regime of Bashar Assad. "Both of our countries have been adamant that we remain committed to working with each other to bring the parties together to negotiate a political settlement," she said.
Russia continues to express concern that U.S. and NATO missile defenses could pose a threat to Russia's strategic deterrent, Farkas said, and Russian leaders also question whether Iran really poses a threat.
"We continue to assure Russia that our missile defense efforts are not directed against Russia, nor do they pose a threat to its strategic nuclear deterrent," she said. "And we continue to make the case that the transparency and cooperation we are offering are the best way for Russia to gain the confidence it seeks that our missile defenses do not threaten Russia's strategic deterrent."
Continuing talks on nuclear arms reductions also is important, Farkas said. "We have made clear our willingness to discuss the full range of strategic stability issues of concern to both our countries, and we will continue to seek opportunities to make progress on this agenda," she added.
Farkas echoed a statement President Barack Obama made yesterday in Stockholm on U.S.-Russian relations, citing areas in which U.S. and Russian interests overlap.
The president pointed to progress the two nations have made in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, in Russia joining the World Trade Organization, and in close cooperation on counterterrorism issues. Russia has also provided logistical support to U.S. and NATO forces based in Afghanistan.
Still, the president acknowledged, relations have cooled recently over Syria and over Russia granting asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. "But I have not written off the idea that the United States and Russia are going to continue to have common interests even as we have some very profound differences on some other issues," Obama said. "And where our interests overlap, we should pursue common action. Where we've got differences, we should be candid about them --try to manage those differences, but not sugarcoat them."
DEFENSE OFFICIAL SAYS MORE SPENDING CUTS COMING NEXT YEAR
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Official Warns of Continued Spending Cuts in Next Fiscal Year
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2013 - With the new fiscal year less than a month away, a senior Defense Department official delivered a warning today at a defense cooperation conference here: expect the current spending cuts triggered by sequestration to be part of the budget landscape for the foreseeable future.
Elana Broitman, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy, told an audience of defense industry and government officials -- including those from some of America's closest allies -- that there's no indication Congress is prepared to pass a new budget that would end sequestration when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
"You know the sequestration story will largely not go away in the coming fiscal year," she said in her prepared remarks, an indication of more belt tightening likely to affect defense contractors and the industrial base. "In [fiscal year 2014], we don't have a choice but to take a hard look at investments as well."
Senior leaders in the military and the office of the secretary of defense "will continue to take an unsparing look across their portfolios to uncover ways to cut or trim programs that have become bloated, no longer serve their original purpose or have become such an exquisite option they no longer fit with either fiscal or strategic realities," Broitman said.
She cautioned however, that if not carefully considered, cuts to defense-related research and development risk affecting more than just jobs and contracts within the defense establishment.
"If we get it wrong, we jeopardize lives, and the longer-term national security interests of over 300 million fellow citizens as well as the hundreds of millions more around the globe who depend upon our unique and storied institutions," she said.
Broitman warned that the Pentagon "won't have the luxury of continuing every program, or starting every new one," and said she is concerned that the continued cutbacks rippling through the defense industry could mean companies that the department relies upon, especially medium and small suppliers, won't invest in research and development, and therefore would leave the defense establishment with vulnerabilities in the supply chain.
That could be especially pernicious, she suggested, given the kinds of challenges the Pentagon is facing, not only geopolitically, but from the likelihood of continually shrinking budgets.
"We cannot afford to sleepwalk through a period of tighter fiscal belts, and wake up to a lack of new and advanced systems in a few years," Broitman said. "International security and the fiscal realities the United States faces in the years to come [are] quite different and much more difficult than many past eras." This, she added, leads to hard choices for the foreseeable future.
Official Warns of Continued Spending Cuts in Next Fiscal Year
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2013 - With the new fiscal year less than a month away, a senior Defense Department official delivered a warning today at a defense cooperation conference here: expect the current spending cuts triggered by sequestration to be part of the budget landscape for the foreseeable future.
Elana Broitman, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy, told an audience of defense industry and government officials -- including those from some of America's closest allies -- that there's no indication Congress is prepared to pass a new budget that would end sequestration when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
"You know the sequestration story will largely not go away in the coming fiscal year," she said in her prepared remarks, an indication of more belt tightening likely to affect defense contractors and the industrial base. "In [fiscal year 2014], we don't have a choice but to take a hard look at investments as well."
Senior leaders in the military and the office of the secretary of defense "will continue to take an unsparing look across their portfolios to uncover ways to cut or trim programs that have become bloated, no longer serve their original purpose or have become such an exquisite option they no longer fit with either fiscal or strategic realities," Broitman said.
She cautioned however, that if not carefully considered, cuts to defense-related research and development risk affecting more than just jobs and contracts within the defense establishment.
"If we get it wrong, we jeopardize lives, and the longer-term national security interests of over 300 million fellow citizens as well as the hundreds of millions more around the globe who depend upon our unique and storied institutions," she said.
Broitman warned that the Pentagon "won't have the luxury of continuing every program, or starting every new one," and said she is concerned that the continued cutbacks rippling through the defense industry could mean companies that the department relies upon, especially medium and small suppliers, won't invest in research and development, and therefore would leave the defense establishment with vulnerabilities in the supply chain.
That could be especially pernicious, she suggested, given the kinds of challenges the Pentagon is facing, not only geopolitically, but from the likelihood of continually shrinking budgets.
"We cannot afford to sleepwalk through a period of tighter fiscal belts, and wake up to a lack of new and advanced systems in a few years," Broitman said. "International security and the fiscal realities the United States faces in the years to come [are] quite different and much more difficult than many past eras." This, she added, leads to hard choices for the foreseeable future.
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