Years · 2006

January 2006

32 posts

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Iran & the Bomb 1: How Close Is Iran?

This is first part in a three part series on Iran’s nuclear capabilities that I am writing at the urging of Noah Shachtman from DefenseTech. When some moron like Charles Krauthammer claims Iran is now just “months” away from a…

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Niger Memo Online

Jane Vaynman points out that the declassified Niger memo, as reported by Eric Lichtblau in the New York Times, is available at JudicialWatch.org The memo makes some of the same logistical arguments about the difficulty of smuggling yellowcake—including the presence…

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Human Shields in Baghdad

Today’s fun with Google Earth. The picture is hyperlinked to the placemark. (Hat tip) Late Update: Self-described “reporter, poet and activist” John Ross claims he began painting “human shields” on this particular roof: This past Friday, March 7, the day…

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Plutonium Ages Better Than Sophia Loren

James Sterngold has a long interview with NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks that contains this startling statement about how well plutonium ages: In fact, experts close to Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos have said scientists are finding that plutonium—a key variable…

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Slebos Bottom Bearing Preforms

(A Swiss-made Bottom Bearing from Iraq similar to the Dutch model discussed below.) Bet you’re all hot and bothered now. Along with “portal perimeter monitoring”, “bottom bearing preform” just sounds naughty. Mark Hibbs is following an obscure Dutch export control…

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Democracy and War

He’s baaaaack! Mark Helprin—senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, former advisor to Bob Dole, and owner of a pretentious personal website—attacks the Bush Administration for it’s foreign policy focus on democratization: THE PRESIDENT believes and often states, as if it…

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DOE DEL Wraps Up India Workshop

The Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and US Department of Energy (DOE) concluded a four-day workshop on civilian nuclear energy in Mumbai on January 12. The U.S. was represented at the first workshop of the Civil Nuclear Working Group…

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From Russia with Love

Yesterday, Russian newspaper Vedomosti had an interesting “Question of the Day” in their commentaries section: “How will a nuclear Iran change the world?” The paper provided several responses from Russian think-tank types, whose comments included predictions of changes in the…

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Greetings from Colorado Springs

Greetings from the 2006 Forum on Defense and Space from Colorado Springs. The large mountin topped with all manner of antennae, visible from the conference hotel, is Cheyenne Mountain—home of the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, which serves as the command…

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Roston on Gertz on Tice

Michael Roston beats me to the punch, noting the incongruity between past and current Bill Gertz reporting on NSA whistleblower Russ Tice. FWIW, I’ve always thought Tice sounds a little odd, even if it gets in the way of an…