[FYI] HUGHES STATEMENT AT SENATE COMMITTEE HEARING FEB. 2

["Axel H. Horns" <axel.horns@fitug.de>]

http://jya.com/dia020299.htm

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6 February 1999
Source:
http://www.usia.gov/current/news/topic/intrel/99020208.tpo.html?/produ
cts/washfile/newsitem.shtml 



USIS Washington File
_________________________________ 

02 February 1999 

HUGHES STATEMENT AT SENATE COMMITTEE HEARING FEB. 2 

(Discusses international security, threats to US)  (1810)

Washington -- "The international security environment remains
volatile, complex, and difficult," Defense Intelligence Agency
Director General Patrick M. Hughes told a February 2 hearing of the
Senate Armed Services Committee.

"This general global turmoil," he said in his opening statement, will
"continue at least through the next decade." Of specific concern, he
said, are the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, intense
ethnic conflict particulary in the Balkans, terrorist activities such
as the African embassy bombings, and the development of longer-range
missiles in North Korea and Iran.

The United States should "anticipate an environment in which threats,
challenges, and opportunities coexist," Hughes said.


[...]


Technology development and proliferation. I am very concerned about
weapons of mass destruction and missile proliferation and will address
these issues separately. However, there are other critical "enabling"
technologies -- including numerous "new sciences" -- that can
dramatically affect the nature and capabilities of future threats.
Some examples include:

-- Nanotechnology ... packaging advanced capabilities and functions in
very small and lightweight form using micro and sub-micro
manufacturing and machining technology (in particular, building
weapons systems that are smaller, faster, lighter, yet more
destructive).

-- Biotechnologies ... particularly the bioengineering of organisms
created for very specific purposes (e.g. biological agents that will
infect and incapacitate a specific group of people).

-- Information-related technologies ... including advanced encryption,
high volume data handling, complex computational capability, and
offensive and defensive information warfare capabilities.

Critical Uncertainties. There are numerous issues -- to include the
great transitions underway in Russia and China, the future of the
Korean peninsula, the prospects for lasting peace in the Middle East,
the Balkans, and sub-Sahara Africa, evolving global and regional
security structures and institutions, and an array of upcoming
leadership changes -- whose outcome will dramatically impact the
global security situation. Uncertainty about these and other key
issues brings great stress to the international order. I can foresee
no condition, power, or circumstance that is likely to emerge during
the next 10-20 years that will transcend these factors and lead to a
more stable and predictable global order.

(end text)

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