Years

2005

456 posts

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Like Rashomon, But for Wonks

Four little reporters listened to conference call with the Director of the Missile Defense Agency … The first little reporter, Ann Roosevelt of Defense Daily, went “MDA Director ‘Disappointed’ In Recent Test Problems.” (subscription only, I am afraid) The second…

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So Long, INF?

SS-20 (left) and Pershing II (right) eliminated under the 1987 INF Treay on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The Financial Times is reporting that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov asked Donald Rumsfeld how the…

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Pyongyang/Tehran Missile Testing: Yeeeaahhhh….Maybe Not

Before North Korea, on 4 March, said it was no longer bound to its 1999 missile launch moratorium, Time Magazine published a 20 February article making an old charge: “Administration officials think it may be cheating [on the moratorium] by…

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Bolton's Mouth: Writing Checks His Ass Can't Cash

Bulletin to Anne Applebaum and others who argue that John Bolton’s “blunt” manner makes him “an ideal candidate to be America’s U.N. ambassador”: your boy has a history of doing stupid things. Competence matters, kids. Case in point: Bolton’s fave…

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Nuclear Numerology Chinese Style

Arms Control Today has published my letter to the editor suggesting a better estimate of the Chinese nuclear arsenal would be about 100 weapons. I take no credit or blame for the title.

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WMD Commission on Iran

The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (also known as the WMD Commission or Silberman-Robb Commission after its co-chairmen) was empaneled to “assess whether the intelligence community is sufficiently authorized, organized, equipped,…

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Hitler's Bomb

German historian Rainer Karlsch has written a book, Hitler’s Bomb, which— according to press reports—concludes “Adolf Hitler had the atom bomb first but it was too primitive and ungainly for aerial deployment.” Karlsch reportedly claims Germany tested the weapon in…

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Hans Bethe, 1906-2005

Hans Bethe, an important figure in the Manhattan Project and long time proponent of arms control, has passed away today, aged 98. Oh, did I mention the Nobel prize? His 1968 article, co-authored with Richard Garwin, demolishing the rationale behind…

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Appearance of Impropriety

More on John Bolton’s nomination as Ambassador to the UN. I can think of 30,000 reasons that Bolton should not be confirmed for this post. The Washington Post previously reported that former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui maintained “a secret $100…