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Jeffrey Lewis

Writing on ACW 2004–2026 · 2,079 posts

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TCB on The Fleitz of Fancy

I was contemplating a post on the House Select Committee on Intelligence’s extremely odd report, Recognizing Iran as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States, which Dafna Linzer reports was written by Fred Fleitz Yes, that Fred…

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Special Fissionable Materials

Only very rarely do I receive e-mail that makes me say: “Wow, that is an obscure question.” Eric Hundman from CDI e-mailed me to ask whether the term “special fissionable materials”—which appears in the NPT—had a specific definition. I dimly…

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Cratology

The study of the size and function of shipping crates seen on photographs (from various sources). The size and configuration of a shipping crate often will indicate what is inside. Center for the Study of Intelligence, Glossary of Abbreviations John…

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NORK Nuke Test Site

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports that North Korea is “unloading of large reels of cable outside P’unggye-yok, an underground facility in northeast North Korea [that] can be used in nuclear testing to connect an underground test site to outside observation…

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Mottaki: Suspension Illogical

Much of the international press—including the BBC, Reuters and AFP—quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki calling the Security Council call for the suspension of Iran’s enrichment activities “illogical.” Despite the giggling and Spock jokes, the transcript on the Iranian Foreign…

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Appeal On India-US Nuclear Deal

I’ve seen a couple of news stories about the Appeal to Parliamentarians on the Indo-US Nuclear Deal issud by the usual suspects—prominent Indian nuclear scientists who oppose the US-India nuclear deal. I haven’t seen a copy posted elsewhere yet, so…

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James Van Allen, 1914-2006

James A. Van Allen, discoverer of the Earth’s radiation belts, died on Wednesday, aged 91. Others will record Van Allen’s scientific achievements and the loved ones he leaves behind. I remember Van Allen most, however, for how then-President John F.…

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Iran Sought Significant Quantities of Uranium from Africa

Sorry, couldn’t resist. By now, most of you have probably heard that the London Sunday Times reports that a shipment of smuggled uranium from Congo was intercepted on its way to Iran: IRAN is seeking to import large consignments of…

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Chinese Nuclear Warhead Facility

Cool huh? All things considered—access control, double perimeter, revetted buildings—that looks a lot like nuclear weapons storage to me. I’ve oft noted that the intelligence community believes the Chinese keep their warheads stored seperately from their ballistic missiles. A declassified…

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Want To See Two Spy Satellites?

You may have to squint a little. The image, of the IGS 1B and Lacrosse 4 satellites moving across the night sky, was taken by Macro Langbroek. The SEESAT list has a fascinating discussion about the shape and configuration of…