Nukes of Hazard

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National Security Legislative Wrap-up, October 1-5 2007
2007-10-09 17:03:00
Last week, Congress passed and sent to conference the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization bill and the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations bill. Both measures now go to conference with the House to agree on a common bill. The House adopted some measures related to Iraq that did little to stop the war, including the Abercrombie (D-HI) - Tanner (D-TN) bill to require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on redeployment planning for Iraq. This week, the House is in session while the Senate is in recess for the Columbus Day holiday. The House is slated to consider H.R. 400, a... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Security , National , National Security , October , Wrap

Senator Kyl Attempts to Sell Space-Based Missile Defense as Satellite Prote
2007-10-08 21:45:00
Last week, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) attempted to amend the Senate Defense Appropriations bill to re-insert funding for the "space-based test bed" -- preliminary research into the development of three or more prototype weaponized satellites designed to intercept ballistic missiles launched from the ground. Kyl's case for funding the project was that it was a step towards the development of active defenses for American satellites against anti-satellite weapons, and that it was not necessarily a missile defense project. However, an examination of the budget request for the test bed casts serious... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Space , Satellite , Missile Defense , Sell

Daalder and Holum: U.S. Should Aim for World Free of Nuclear Weapons
2007-10-06 22:02:00
Should the United States aim to achieve a world free of all nuclear weapons? The answer, as laid out in a terrific op-ed by Ivo Daalder and John Holum in the Boston Globe, is a resounding yes. Nearly 20 years after the Cold War ended, the time has come to make a concerted effort to verifiably rid the world of all nuclear weapons. The United States must start by recognizing that the threats it confronts have changed and so, consequently, has the role and purpose of our nuclear weapons. [snip] Tomorrow's nuclear threats are different. They are that unstable regimes or, worse,... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: World , Nuclear , Free , Weapons , Nuclear Weapon

Victory for Non-Proliferation and Diplomacy
2007-10-05 21:49:00
*Guest post from Katie Mounts President Bush's "Axis of Evil" may soon be one less. In no small victory for diplomacy and non-proliferation, recent six party talks yielded a nuclear deal with North Korea. Under the deal, North Korea agrees to disable all activities at its main nuclear complex in Pyongyang and to report on all of its current nuclear programs by the end of this year. NSC spokesperson Gordon Johndroe stated, "These second-phase actions effectively end the DPRK's production of plutonium ? a major step towards the goal of achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
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Speaker Pelosi on RRW
2007-10-04 06:10:00
Below is a constituent response letter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program. (HT to Stephen Young). Like the letter from Sen. Dorgan I highlighted earlier, Pelosi expresses her opposition to RRW, noting that it contradicts U.S. efforts to stop proliferation and likewise undermines our credibility on the issue. Dear [Constituent]: Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to President Bush's plan for the development of a nuclear weapon called the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW). I appreciate hearing from you on this... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
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Star Wars Made Real
2007-10-03 06:11:00
Jack Hitt recently wrote an amazing story on the failures of missile defense for Rolling Stone. The tag-line of the article says it all: ?The Shield Star Wars began as a Reagan-era fantasy. Under Bush, it is now the most expensive weapons system in the history of man. It has never been successfully tested. It will never be finished. And it is completely unnecessary.? Included below are a few exceptional paragraphs: The geopolitics of missile defense are every bit as troublesome as the science. Even the Missile Defense Agency concedes that the shield -- originally envisioned as a... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
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Congressional Schedule for DoD and DoE Bills
2007-10-03 06:10:00
Provided below is an updated schedule of Congressional action on key Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DoE) bills, as prepared by David Culp of FCNL. Note: These dates are estimates and subject to delay. [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
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Sen. Barack Obama to Urge Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Part II
2007-10-03 00:48:00
As mentioned earlier, Sen. Barack Obama gave a speech earlier today in which he laid out a plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The highlights of the speech are provided below; the full transcript of the prepared speech is in the comments section. (HT to Plutonium Page). For some early thoughts, check out what Joe Klein had to say about the speech here. When I said that we should take out high-level terrorists like Osama bin Laden if we have actionable intelligence about their whereabouts, I was lectured by legions of Iraq War supporters. They said we can?t take out bin Laden if the... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Nuclear , Elimination

Analysis of Senate Appropriations Committee Action on the FY08 Defense Appr
2007-10-02 18:05:00
The Center?s Chris Hellman released his Analysis of Senate Appropriations Committee Action on the FY 2008 Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3222) today. The Senate Appropriations Committee completed its markup of the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations bill on September 12. The bill includes $459.3 billion for the Department of Defense, $3.5 billion below the Bush Administration's request ($463.1 billion) and $39.7 billion above current levels (excluding supplemental appropriations bills). The full Senate may begin consideration of the legislation the week of October 1. The House... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]

Sen. Barack Obama to Urge Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
2007-10-02 17:40:00
?Senator Barack Obama will propose on Tuesday setting a goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons in the world, saying the United States should greatly reduce its stockpiles to lower the threat of nuclear terrorism,? the New York Times reports today. I?ll put up the transcript of the speech when it becomes available. In the meantime, click here for more Obama on nuclear weapons. [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Nuclear , Elimination

Senate Passes Defense Authorization Bill
2007-10-02 06:25:00
The Senat e passed the Defense Authorization bill 92-3 last night with a number of important amendments. The Senate now turns to the Defense Appropriations bill. Highlighted below are the major amendments related to nuclear weapons and nonproliferation issues that were considered. Iran Lieberman (I-CT), McCain, Kyl, Graham, Coleman, Collins, Sessions, Levin, Salazar and Craig modified amendment No. 2073 accusing Iran of assisting forces in Iraq that are contributing to the destabilization of Iraq and the murders of Americans, demanding that Iran cease those activities and requiring the... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
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Annual U.S. Security Spending: $1 Trillion???
2007-10-02 04:08:00
Center Military Policy Fellow Chris Hellman has a new analysis up over on his blog, Security Matters. I've pasted the full post below; head to the Center website for Chris's full look at the numbers. Annual U.S. Security Spending : $1 Trillion??? By Chris Hellman Monday, October 1, 2007 Today marks the beginning of the new fiscal year, and ?closes the books? on fiscal year 2007 ? a year when the United States spent nearly $1 trillion on security-related matters. Back in February, 2006, the Bush administration requested, and Congress later approved, roughly $463 billion for the... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]

National Security Legislative Wrap-up, September 24-28 2007
2007-10-01 17:56:00
Last week, Congress passed and sent to the President a Continuing Resolution, a bill to provide temporary funding early in a fiscal year when Congress has not completed funding on appropriations bills. The Continuing Resolution expires on November 16. The Senate is expected to complete consideration of the Defense Authorization Bill on Monday and to take up the Defense Appropriations Bill later in the week. The House may take up Iraq bills this week, including H.R. 3087, the Abercrombie (D-HI) - Tanner (D-TN) bill requiring the President to submit a comprehensive redeployment strategy... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Security , National , National Security , September , Wrap

Bill Richardson Announces Military Modernization Plan
2007-09-29 06:22:00
New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson announced Wednesday a tremendously ambitious military modernization plan which ?better prepares the American military to face the new challenges of the 21st century and returns the country to sound fiscal policy.? The plan lists more than a dozen specific programs that can be cut, reduced, or delayed, which he claims ?will give the United States $57.14 billion per year to reinvest in urgent domestic priorities.? Among other things, the list includes: $8 billion from scaling back the National Missile... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Military , Plan

The Nuclear Missile Foul-Up
2007-09-28 01:22:00
The Washington Post published today a letter to the editor that I wrote in response to Sunday's article, ?Missteps in the Bunker,? that highlighted the dangerous breakdown of extensive Air Force command and control protocols for six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles: The United States has a nuclear arsenal of nearly 10,000 warheads. Russia holds approximately 15,000. The frightening B-52 incident seriously calls into question the wisdom of keeping thousands of these weapons on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched at a moment's notice. If six live nuclear missiles could be... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Nuclear , Missile , Missi

Matthew Bunn: More to be Done to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
2007-09-26 08:16:00
Matthew Bunn, an Advisory Board Member at the Center, wrote a terrific op-ed in today?s Washington Post in which he argues that, ?We urgently need a high-priority global campaign to make sure every nuclear weapon and every significant cache of potential bomb material is locked down.? The piece promotes the findings of "Securing the Bomb 2007," an annual report on the security of nuclear weapons and materials around the world, which Bunn helped write. The good news of the report ?is that much progress has been made toward upgrading security for nuclear stockpiles. The bad news is that the... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Terrorism , Nuclear , Matthew , Done

National Security Legislative Wrap-up, September 17-21 2007
2007-09-24 17:06:00
The Senate continues its consideration of the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization bill this week but will be taking up other business as well. There were several votes on amendments to withdraw troops from Iraq last week, all unsuccessful. There will be more votes this week on Iraq. In addition, Congress must approve a Continuing Resolution, a bill to provide temporary funding early in a fiscal year when Congress has not completed funding on appropriations bills. KEY NATIONAL SECURITY BILLS IN 2007 - DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL: The Senate resumed its consideration of the bill on... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Security , National , National Security , September , Wrap

Congressional Schedule for DoD and DoE Bills
2007-09-22 19:01:00
Provided below is an updated schedule of Congressional action on key Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DoE) bills, as prepared by David Culp of FCNL. [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Schedule , Bills

One Mistake Too Many
2007-09-21 20:37:00
In a moment of shameless self-promotion, I'm including below an op-ed that I wrote on the recent B-52 debacle which appeared today on openDemocracy. One mistake too many A slip-up in nuclear weapons controls in the United States is cause for global concern | | | | | | | | --> Much to the disbelief of military officials and nuclear experts, on 30 August an American B-52 bomber accidentally carried six nuclear-armed cruise missiles from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The accident demonstrates a dangerous breakdown... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
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Stuart Taylor Jr. on the Need to Eliminate All Nuclear Weapons
2007-09-19 17:05:00
Stuart Taylor Jr. wrote an amazing column on Monday in the influential beltway publication, the National Journal, in which he argues that ?We need to renew and take seriously our commitment to seek ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.? He begins: Are we safer than we were six years ago? Emphatically not. The risk that we will see American cities go up in smoke has steadily increased since 9/11. The main reason is not the Iraq war or Al Qaeda's revival. It's not the surging numbers of America-haters and would-be terrorists, or the most publicized failings of the Bush administration,... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Nuclear , Weapons , Stuart , Nate

New Republic Slams U.S.-India Nuclear Deal
2007-09-18 07:15:00
The Editors of The New Republic penned an exceptional op-ed detailing the mine field that is the U.S.-India nuclear deal last week. (You might recall that PSR and The Economist also denounced the deal not long ago). The full piece requires a subscription, so I?m including the key portions below and the full text in the comments section. Be careful what you wish for. That is the lesson of the Bush administration's newly unveiled deal to provide India with nuclear fuel and technology. For years, opponents of the White House's foreign policy have called for more diplomacy--for further... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Nuclear , Deal

National Security Legislative Wrap-up, September 10-14 2007
2007-09-17 16:58:00
As mentioned below, the Senate resumes consideration of the FY 2008 Defense Authorization bill today. When the Senate last debated the bill, a great number of amendments were pending. The bill is likely to be the vehicle for a number of amendments on a variety of issues this week or next. Click here for amendments related to nuclear weapons and nonproliferation issues. KEY NATIONAL SECURITY BILLS IN 2007 - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL: On September 11, the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee approved $459.3 billion for the Pentagon, about $3.5 billion less than... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Security , National , National Security , Wrap

Remember the FY08 Defense Authorization Bill?
2007-09-17 16:25:00
The Senate resumes consideration of the FY 2008 Defense Authorization bill (H.R. 1585) today. On July 18, after the Senate voted 52 ? 47 for cloture on the Levin (D-MI) - Reed (D-RI) amendment (with 60 votes required to close debate), Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled the Defense Authorization Bill from the Senate floor. Highlighted below are the numerous amendments related to nuclear weapons and nonproliferation issues. AMENDMENTS FILED Missile defense Sens. Vitter (R-LA) & Kyl (R-AZ) filed amendment No. 2010 to authorize an additional $87 million for Aegis missile defense... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]

Op-Ed Questions Necessity of RRW
2007-09-17 16:06:00
The Baltimore Sun put out an excellent op-ed by Bennett Ramberg yesterday questioning the necessity of the Reliable Replacement Warhead program. Ramberg begins: As the Bush administration attempts to beat back the nuclear weapons ambitions of Iran and North Korea, it recently raised the specter that the United States has become perilously close to neutering its own atomic capacity. The alarmist forecast emerges in "National Security and Nuclear Weapons: Maintaining Deterrence in the 21st Century," a July statement by the secretaries of defense, state and energy. According to the... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Questions , Op-Ed

Russian Bomber Flights: The Real Cost of Missile Defense?
2007-09-17 07:03:00
Last week, British fighters flew to intercept eight Russian bombers approaching British air space in what the Times of London called "the biggest aerial confrontation between the two countries since the end of the Cold War." Aerial starring matches like this were standard during the Cold War, but had been relatively unknown since then. In August, Putin resumed the practice of regular patrols over international waters by nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers, leading to several incidents like this one involving Britain, the United States, Norway, and Canada. State Department spokesman Sean... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Missile Defense , Flights , Cost , Defense

Dominican Republic Brings CTBT Magic Number to 140
2007-09-13 07:14:00
In a scarcely covered but important development, the Domin ican Republic last week joined an ever-growing list of countries to ban all nuclear explosions by ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). (You might recall that Palau ratified the CTBT only a month prior). The ratification comes ahead of next week?s Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT, also called Article XIV Conference, ?to examine how the entry into force of the Treaty can be accelerated, and to urge countries that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Treaty without delay.? ... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
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Highlights from Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Action
2007-09-12 07:33:00
The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee approved its Fiscal Year 2008 bill yesterday. Few details were immediately available, but some notable arms control and non-proliferation highlights include: * Funding missile defense programs $310 million below the President?s request * Cutting funding for the third missile defense site in Europe by $85 million * Cutting funding for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor by $30 million * Zeroing out all funds for the Space Test Bed * Funding the destruction of U.S. chemical weapons stockpiles as required under the Chemical... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Action , Highlights , Mitt

Gary Hart Comments on the Sixth Anniversary of 9/11
2007-09-11 07:24:00

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National Security Legislative Wrap-up, September 3-7 2007
2007-09-10 16:33:00
Congress was principally focused on Iraq this past week, although there was some significant action on nuclear weapons and nonproliferation issues on the State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, as I noted earlier. Iraq will continue to dominate Capitol Hill in the foreseeable future, however, considering that Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are scheduled to deliver their highly-anticipated report to Congress this week. New votes on amendments to end the war are not expected until mid-Sept ember or October. Some Democrats are... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Security , National , National Security

WSJ Responses to Linton Brooks on RRW
2007-09-09 22:34:00
Linton Brooks , former administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, wrote an interesting op-ed in the Wall Street Journal not long ago, in which he tries to defuse criticism of the Bush administration?s plan to build a new generation of nuclear weapons by arguing that the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program ?is fully consistent with U.S. nuclear nonproliferation objectives.? I was unpersuaded by this argument when I heard Brooks present it at this year?s Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference in June and I remain unpersuaded now. And it looks like... [This is a content summary only. Click on the above link for the full post.]
More About: Response , Linton