Tag: nuclear proliferation

Declassified GAO Report Exposes Fatally Flawed Israel Investigations

The 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is underway at UN Headquarters in New York. A working paper calls for a nuclear-free Middle East. It would require member states of the NPT to “disclose in their national reports on the implementation of the resolution on the Middle East all … Continue reading “Declassified GAO Report Exposes Fatally Flawed Israel Investigations”

Obama’s Nuclear Achievements: Less Than Meets the Eye

Despite all the hoopla about President Barack Obama’s summit on nuclear security and a new arms control deal, the eventual results of his laudable efforts will probably be modest and will likely be dwarfed by the damage to nuclear security done by George W. Bush’s prior administration. Although the possibility of nuclear terrorism probably has … Continue reading “Obama’s Nuclear Achievements: Less Than Meets the Eye”

Will Eliminating Nuclear Weapons Make Peace More Likely?

President Barack Obama has committed to a world without nuclear weapons. Although deep cuts in the massive atomic stockpiles of the United States and Russia – with a combined total of 20,000 warheads – are possible and desirable, committing to eliminating nuclear weapons from the planet is good rhetoric but may actually be harmful to … Continue reading “Will Eliminating Nuclear Weapons Make Peace More Likely?”

Double Standards for Iran’s Nuclear Program

Tension between Iran and the United States and its allies has been rising, following Iran’s rejection of the preliminary agreement that was reached between the two sides on Oct. 1, 2009, in Geneva. Under the deal, Iran was supposed to send 75 percent of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Russia for conversion into … Continue reading “Double Standards for Iran’s Nuclear Program”

The Long-War Trifecta

Iran has announced that it will build 10 new nuclear facilities. Big deal. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the facilities are necessary to meet the country’s goal to one day generate up to 20,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year, a grand ambition. That program would require 500,000 centrifuges. Iran presently has 8,000, only half of … Continue reading “The Long-War Trifecta”

Our Intelligence, and Theirs

Ron Rosenbaum, journalist (the New York Observer, Slate.com), author, and one of the few liberals to sign on to the ill-fated Pajamas Media fiasco, is damned mad: “Will all the pundits who relied on the discredited 2007 NIE on Iran now admit that they were wrong? That they bought into and kept citing, without any … Continue reading “Our Intelligence, and Theirs”

US Story on Iran Nuke Facility Doesn’t Add Up

The story line that dominated media coverage of the second Iranian uranium enrichment facility last week was the official assertion that U.S. intelligence had caught Iran trying to conceal a "secret" nuclear facility. But an analysis of the transcript of that briefing by senior administration officials that was the sole basis for the news stories … Continue reading “US Story on Iran Nuke Facility Doesn’t Add Up”

Odds Against Nuclear Disarmament

At the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, earlier this month, President Obama stated that the leaders of the G8 nations embraced the strategy he outlined in Prague in April to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). But the NPT itself is problematic. As such, it may no longer be a useful instrument for encouraging nonproliferation. … Continue reading “Odds Against Nuclear Disarmament”