Writing on ACW 2004–2026 · 2,079 posts
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Today, two pieces of terrible news for the arms control community and, more generally, anyone serious about discouraging the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. First, the United States collapsed the NPT Prepcom. The third nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory…
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Bush plans to defend his space exploration initiative in a speech timed to coincide with the release of a report by a presidential commission to review the plan, according to administration sources quoted by United Press International. UPI also reported…
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I wouldn’t call it a “torture” tape. I don’t think cutting someone’s head off is torture, just to be precise.Donald Rumsfeld, October 2003 Some other stunningly insensitive remarks about torture from the SECDEF: We don’t torture people. To suggest that…
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The conservative Chosun Ilbo (South Korea) claims “North Korea has begun work on deploying intermediate range ballistic missiles (with ranges of 3,000-4,000km) it developed last year, building underground bases at two sites.” “In particular, U.S. spy satellites have discovered about…
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“The unreleased images show American soldiers beating one prisoner almost to death, apparently raping a female prisoner, acting inappropriately with a dead body, and taping Iraqi guards raping young boys, according to NBC News.” Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,…
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I spoke with a military officer who suggested that the recent civil violence in Iraq had accelerated implementation of an “enclave” strategy in Iraq. He thinks this may help us turn the corner; I think he is nuts. The creation…
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The ICRC called a press conference to comment on the publication, by the Wall Street Journal, of a confidential January 2004 report on detention in Iraq submitted by to Coalition Forces in February 2004. The report alleged that the conditions…
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The Washington Post has an excellent editorial today, linking the human rights abuses in Iraqi prisons with the Bush Administration’s pathological aversion to international norms and conventions: Abuses will take place in any prison system. But Mr. Rumsfeld’s decisions helped…
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Working on my dissertation, I’ve noticed a strange fascination among the nuclear warfighting crowd with the idea that 20 million casualties was low enough to risk in a crisis with the Soviets. Here is a passage from Herman Kahn in…
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The National Research Council recently released a study (April 2004) of the National Aerospace Initiative, a DDRE/NASA initiative to invest in hypersonics, space access, and space technology. A lot of this research is worthwhile, but a lot is also wasteful.…
