Writing on ACW 2004–2026 · 2,079 posts
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As previously rumored here at ACW, conservative Ali Larijani will replace Hasan Rowhani (Rohani) as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)—becoming Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator. Larijani has had some very tough things to say about EU-Iran negotiations. Update:…
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Iran’s Uranium Conversion Facility is the weak point in Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle. That was a victory for US nonproliferation policy under, gasp, the Clinton Administration. The new NIE on Iran’s nuclear program contains a pair of substantive revelations. Dafna…
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A big story in a tiny little newspaper today. The forthcoming Quadrennial Defense Review may recommend that the Air Force convert 50 Minuteman III ICBMs to a conventional role, relocating the missiles to Vandenberg AFB in CA from their current…
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Sorry for the light blogging this week. So, the deal is: I am off to Hawaii to marry off a friend. That—and the fact that the lovely other wishes for a tranquil vacation in Hawaii—conspires to deprive you of my…
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Hans Kristensen has pieced together a history of Russian nuclear submarine patrols over 1981-2004: The Russian nuclear submarine force is far less active than during the Cold War. Since 1984, according to information obtained from the U.S. Navy, the annual…
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Dafna Linzer has a long article in the Washington Post describing a new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) placing an Iranian bomb a decade or so away: A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that Iran is about a decade away…
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Wow, my appearance on C-SPAN was interesting. I expected to dislike the Heritage Foundation’s John Tkacik, who proved pretty affable—though our politics are pretty far apart. Tkacik and I were having a civil debate about the significance of recent remarks…
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How many nuclear bombs does North Korea have? That depends on their plutonium (Pu) stockpile and design skill. In April 2004, David Sanger claimed AQ Khan told Pakistani interrogators that he saw three plutonium bombs in North Korea. Today, buried…
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My physician would like to run some tests. Please send HEU to me, c/o Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Pakistan. COD is okay. Stephen Young, once and future guest blogger at ACW, highlighted an obscure provision in the soon-to-pass Energy bill that…
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Leonard David at Space.com let me unload on DOD’s Chinese Military Power, which claims China intends to field ASATs: No evidence to back up claims Jeffrey Lewis, a Research Fellow at the Center for International and Security Studies at the…
