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REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUES LATEST STATEMENTS, BRIEFINGS, AND HEARINGS

Here are more links relevant to Regional Security Issues, including congressional hearings, testimonies, and policy briefs

Strengthening the Pillars of Global Non-Proliferation
Remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the U.S. Institute of Peace, October 21, 2009
Thwarting the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran is critical to shoring up the nonproliferation regime. Within the framework of the six-party talks, we are prepared to meet bilaterally with North Korea, but North Korea’s return to the negotiating table is not enough. Current sanctions will not be relaxed until Pyongyang takes verifiable, irreversible steps toward complete denuclearization. Its leaders should be under no illusion that the United States will ever have normal, sanctions-free relations with a nuclear armed North Korea.
Together with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, the United States is pursuing a dual-track approach toward Iran. If Iran is serious about taking practical steps to address the international community’s deep concerns about its nuclear program, we will continue to engage both multilaterally and bilaterally to discuss the full range of issues that have divided Iran and the United States for too long. The door is open to a better future for Iran, but the process of engagement cannot be open-ended. We are not prepared to talk just for the sake of talking.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/10/130806.htm

A Regional Overview of the Middle East
Hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, October 28, 2009.
The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the two-state solution is central to our goal of comprehensive peace: two states living side by side in peace and security – a strong, Jewish state of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and an independent, viable, and contiguous Palestinian state that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and unleashes the full potential of the Palestinian people. President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are deeply and personally committed to realizing this goal. On behalf of the President and Secretary of State, Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell has been working closely with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, regional leaders and allies, our partners in the Quartet, and others.
This is a challenging issue with a tangled history. We all know that no one high-level meeting will resolve this conflict. But progress is steadily and quietly being made, and the President and his team will continue to approach this effort with perseverance and determination.
Both in public and in private, President Obama has made clear that the negotiations should cover all permanent status issues – borders, security,
Jerusalem, and refugees – and result in the establishment of an independent, viable, and contiguous Palestinian state, alongside a secure Israel.
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/111/fel102809.pdf (Prepared testimony by Feltman)

Terrorist Financing
Speech by U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury David S. Cohen to the ABA/ABA Money Laundering Enforcement Conference, October 12, 2009
Over the past several years, working with our colleagues in law enforcement, we have achieved some real success in choking off the facilitation networks that link individual donors and terrorist organizations. Employing our authorities under Executive Order 13224, the Treasury Department has designated several organizations in the United States for funneling money to terrorists groups, including the al Qaida network, HAMAS and Hizballah. We have also designated a large number of foreign entities and individuals for financing terrorist organizations around the world, including donors, fundraisers and facilitators.
These targeted financial measures, used alongside other national security and law enforcement tools, have had a significant disruptive impact on terrorist financing networks, and not only with respect to the specific targeted or "designated" individuals and entities. By disrupting certain key financing nodes, we achieve the collateral benefit of interfering with the entire terrorist network's ability to move money. This degrades their ability to finance recruitment and training, and to plan and execute attacks.
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/tg317.htm

Confronting Al-Qaeda: Understanding the Threat in Afghanistan and Beyond
Hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, October 7, 2009
Witnesses:
Mr. Peter Bergen, Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director, Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative, The New America Foundation, Washington, DC
Dr. Bruce Hoffman, Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Dr. Marc Sageman, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC
http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2009/hrg091007p.html

The Clock is Ticking: A Progress Report on America’s Preparedness to Prevent Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism: Interim report
Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, October 21, 2009
Actions to address these threats can be divided into four areas: biological weapons proliferation and terrorism, nuclear weapons proliferation and terrorism, government organization and culture, and the role of the citizen. The realities of the biological weapons threat require a primary focus on rapid recognition, response, and recovery following an attack. The realities of the nuclear threat require a primary focus on prevention. At the same time, government reform is needed to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and inefficient oversight so that the nation’s intelligence and homeland security capabilities can be maximally effective. Finally, proper preparation will require the engagement of the American citizen through promotion of a culture
of awareness and innovative cooperation. A well-informed, organized, and mobilized citizenry is one of the greatest resources of the United States and the foundation for national resilience in the event of a natural disaster or WMD attack.
http://www.preventwmd.gov/static/docs/report/WMDRpt10-20Final.pdf (27 pages)

Iran Sanctions
Congressional Research Service, updated October 8, 2009
Iran is subject to a wide range of U.S. sanctions, restricting trade with, investment, and U.S. foreign aid to Iran, and requiring the United States to vote against international lending to Iran. Several laws and Executive Orders authorize the imposition of U.S. penalties against foreign companies that do business with Iran, as part of an effort to persuade foreign firms to choose between the Iranian market and the much larger U.S. market. Most notable among these sanctions is a ban, imposed in 1995, on U.S. trade with and investment in Iran. That ban has since been modified slightly to allow for some bilateral trade in luxury and humanitarian-related goods. Foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms remain generally exempt from the trade ban since they are under the laws of the countries where they are incorporated. Since 1995, several U.S. laws and regulations that seek to pressure Iran’s economy, curb Iran’s support for militant groups, and curtail supplies to Iran of advanced technology have been enacted. Since 2006, the United Nations Security Council has imposed some sanctions primarily attempting to curtail supply to Iran of weapons-related technology but also sanctioning some Iranian banks.
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS20871_20091008.pdf (27 pages)

Updated: November 1, 2009.