Panel issues report on terrorists and nuclear and biological threat

A high-powered bipartisan panel this afternoon formally submitted its sweeping report that warns that terrorists are likely to use nuclear or biological weapons in the next five years -- unless the federal government takes concerted action.

Former Senator Bob Graham of Florida, a co-chairman of the commission that drafted the report, said the danger is growing as al Qaeda strengthens and expands its reach.

The other co-chairman, former Senator Jim Talent of Missouri, said that the world is more vulnerable to biological weapons than nuclear because less attention and oversight has been focused on them. He also said the focus needs to be on Pakistan, which he said is at the "epicenter" of the dangers.

"Our challenge is great," Graham said at a Washington news conference. "The good news is our challenge is not inevitable."

The commission is recommending beefed-up efforts to control nuclear and biological materials around the world and diplomacy, backed by the threat of military action, to stop Iran and North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama told the Globe that he already plans to follow through on another recommendation -- naming a top White House official to coordinate the efforts to prevent terrorists from getting and using such weapons.

The commission briefed Vice president-elect Joe Biden and incoming Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano.

UPDATE: Before the private meeting, Biden said that Congress chartered the commission to ask, “Are we doing all we can do, and are we doing it rapidly enough to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their use by a terrorist group?”

“The answer that jumps out very starkly is no, we are not doing all we can or should,” Biden said, according to a press pool report. “And we’re not doing all we can to prevent the world’s most lethal weapons from winding up in the hands of terrorists.”

“This report is more than a warning about what we are doing wrong. It’s a pragmatic blueprint for how to get it right,” he added.

Napolitano chimed in, saying, “The safety of our citizens, the safety of our homeland and the elimination of the threat of global terrorism is our top priority,” adding later “However, the threat of a WMD attack on American soil can be dramatically reduced through a coherent and sustained strategy to improver our vulnerabilities and to adapt to a new and evolving threat.”

“The report clearly shows that the United States must act urgently, deliberately, and in concert with nations across the globe to adapt to the constantly evolving threat of weapons of mass destruction.”

"We intend to be diligent and creative in our efforts and in our measures to protect our homeland," she concluded. "We will act, in the words of the commission, with the urgency called for by the nature of the threat that confronts us. This will be our priority at the Department of Homeland Security. I know that this is the priority of the Obama-Biden administration.”