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Joint Chiefs of Staff issue new guidance on combatting WMDs

From Secrecy News:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff issued new doctrinal guidance on combating weapons of mass destruction, including the three pillars of nonproliferation, counterproliferations, and WMD consequence management.  See "Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction" (pdf), Joint Publication 3-40, June 10, 2009.

• Download the guidance as a 173-page PDF

U.S. issues new guidelines for bio-gear to protect early responders

Global Security News reports:

"The United States has released new guidelines for equipment designed to protect emergency responders in the aftermath of a biological-weapon attack. ... The new "Recommendations for the Selection and Use of Respirators and Protective Clothing for Protection Against Biological Agents" include breathing apparatus assessed to protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials, said John Decker, associate director at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health."

• Read the GSN article.
• Download the guidelines.

ICHS Fellow Larsen accepts post as executive director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism

ICHS Fellow Randall Larsen, co-host of the weekly public radio show "Homeland Security: Inside & Out," has accepted an appointment as the executive director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. 
Former Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) serves as chair of the commission with former Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) as vice chairman. The commission released its report in December 2008. Congressional leadership recently approved an unprecedented one-year extension of the commission.
"Our mission during this second year will focus on championing and implementing the commission's recommendations with Congress and the administration," Larsen said, "providing briefings to senior leaders in both the public and private sectors on biological and nuclear security issues, and communicating these critical national security issues to the American public."
Larsen is also the national security advisor to the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Commentary: 'Thinking Clearly about Nukes, Part 3'

In the latest edition of "Just a Minute for Homeland Security" (a weekly public radio commentary produced by the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M University and KAMU 90.9 FM), Dr. Dave McIntyre, director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M, says:

"We have already examined the devastation from a small nuclear weapon as described in the report, "Planning Guidance for Response to Nuclear Detonation" by the Homeland Security Council. We talking about the mile wide blast, tornado of fire two miles across, and radiation released both immediately and later as fall out. Responders, close in, would themselves be injured or dead, and those from outside would be blocked by the rubble that would take days or weeks to clear."

Newly released report: 'Deterrence 2.0: Deterring Violent Non-State Actors in Cyberspace'

InsideDefense.com has released a new report prepared for U.S. Strategic Command Global Innovation and Strategy Center.

From the executive summary:

This report captures the essence of a two-day workshop on Deterring Violent Non-State Actors in Cyberspace, held on 9-10 January in Arlington, VA. The workshop was undertaken in response to a request from USAF Lt Gen Robert Elder to address deterrence of violent non-state actors (VNSA) in cyberspace, as a follow-on to the recently completed Strategic Deterrence Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) report.

Participants in this workshop ranged from active military to civilian, including contractors and academics with backgrounds in physics, political science, social science (including anthropology) and technology fields. The purpose of the workshop was to engage experts in a strategic multilayer assessment of deterrence options in the 21st century that recognized an interconnected global threat environment for dealing with
VNSA.

Download the report.