Apparently, Princess Sparklepony did not and will not sign the follow-on white paper to Maintaining Deterrence in the 21st Century, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the RRW. At least that is what Elaine Grossman reports
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has declined to formally endorse an interagency “white paper” on nuclear deterrence strategy, Global Security Newswire has learned (see GSN, July 25, 2007).
The roughly 30-page document, which has yet to be publicly released, is intended to expand on a four-page statement about nuclear weapons policy issued jointly in July 2007 by three Cabinet secretaries: Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. The unclassified version of the new paper has been delayed several times but should be unveiled in the next few weeks, according to Bush administration officials.
The State Department was consulted on the white paper and supports its contents, but has stopped short of officially sponsoring it, Rice’s staff officially confirmed. Aides said Rice opted to leave it to her defense and energy counterparts to issue the new document because it is more technical than last year’s statement, and thus lies outside her diplomatic purview.
As you can see from the story, I don’t blame her one bit. Apparently she learned that important lesson from her parents about not jumping off a bridge just because the other cabinet secretaries did it too.