Gordon Prather

Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico.

ElBaradei 1, Bolton 0

Mohamed ElBaradei will serve a third term as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Since abject failure appears to be among the criteria for being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, look for John Bolton – currently undersecretary of state – to be the next recipient. You see, Bolton has been "point … Continue reading “ElBaradei 1, Bolton 0”

ElBaradei and North Korea

According to various reporters, last week Mohammed ElBaradei – Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency – "urged North Korea to promptly resume multilateral negotiations on dismantling its nuclear weapons programs." He didn’t. Here is what ElBaradei actually said; "I would like to see the six-party talks restarted as early as possible. "I’d like … Continue reading “ElBaradei and North Korea”

Overblown Threats

Now that President Bush has been reelected and Franks-Bremer-Tenet awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Washington Post has apparently decided to spill the beans about the true “weapons of mass destruction” threat. In particular, Dafna Linzer spilled the beans about the nuke threat and John Mintz about the chem-bio weapons threat. You ought to … Continue reading “Overblown Threats”

Bay of Pigs Redux?

Gary Samore – who served on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff – told an audience last week at the United Arab Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research: "I think if negotiations between Iran and the Europeans fail – and Iran resumes its enrichment program – I think there is a real risk of … Continue reading “Bay of Pigs Redux?”

Slam-Dunk Tenet Gets a Medal

What does George John Tenet have in common with Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II? Well, all three are recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Tenet? The Director of Central Intelligence under both Clinton and Bush II? The DCI who justified Clinton’s Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and Bush’s Operation Iraqi Freedom in … Continue reading “Slam-Dunk Tenet Gets a Medal”

What’s All the Fuss About A.Q. Khan?

Even before retiring, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet – who had presided over two of the worst intelligence failures in history – tried to salvage something of his reputation. In remarks he made last February at his alma mater, Georgetown University, Tenet concluded by saying, "Last year in my annual World Wide Threat testimony … Continue reading “What’s All the Fuss About A.Q. Khan?”

Weapons-Grade Paranoia

According to Undersecretary of State John Bolton, "[T]he United States strongly believes that Iran has a clandestine program to produce nuclear weapons, and has been warning publicly about Tehran’s weapons ambitions for over a decade." Now, having nuke ambitions is one thing. Having the fissile material – plutonium-239 or uranium-235 – needed to produce nukes … Continue reading “Weapons-Grade Paranoia”

Persian Gulf Junk

On the eve of Bush’s invasion of Iraq, Undersecretary of State John Bolton met with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv. According to Ha’aretz, Bolton told the Israelis he had "no doubt" that "America will attack Iraq," soon, to disarm Saddam Hussein. The Israelis reportedly told Bolton they were much more worried about Iran having nukes … Continue reading “Persian Gulf Junk”

What ElBaradei Said

David Sanger – a New York Times reporter – has actually visited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna and interviewed its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei. Sanger’s resulting report – entitled “When a Virtual Bomb May Be Better Than the Real Thing” – appeared last Sunday. Until now, Sanger and other media sycophants have … Continue reading “What ElBaradei Said”

Virtual Nukes

David Sanger’s recent interview with Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has resulted in a New York Times article about "virtual nukes." What is a "virtual” nuke? Well, apparently, it’s a nuke that doesn’t yet exist, but conceivably could, soon. Sanger claims that if a state can convince the world … Continue reading “Virtual Nukes”