Years · 2009

June 2009

31 posts

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North Korea and International Norms

North Korea is rightly considered an international pariah that not only starves its population while pampering its dictator but also thumbs its nose at the international community’s demand that it not test nuclear bombs or continue its missile development. It…

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2009 Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat

Hans has the new National Air and Space Intelligence Center Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat. Lots and lots of pretty pictures, especially of the DF-31, as well as new information. (Lest you think I just love missile-porn — which I…

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Show me the FOGBANK

The plot thickens, thanks to Frank Munger’s continued pursuit of FOGBANK. Munger has a pair of blog posts (Is there more to the story about the W76? Y-12: fogbank produced in Spring 2008) that put NNSA and POGO on a…

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Ike's Nuclear Legacy

I proudly bear the name of an uncle who died at Anzio. The military cemetery nearby at Netunno cradles almost as many GI’s as those buried in Normandy. As we remember D-Day and pay homage to those who fought on…

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Thirteen Cascades in Vacuum

Just a short note from Amman about the IAEA report on Iran … In February, after the last IAEA DG report came out, I warned readers not to buy IAEA DG Mohamed ElBaradei’s analysis that “the pace of installing and…

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DPRK: U'nha-2 Elevation at Staging

Never take anything for granted. I’m afraid I put off something that Peter Brown, who is always on top of the interesting stories in Asia as he writes for the Asia Times, has been bugging me about. Sorry Peter! I…

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Greetings from Amman

I had to work today, so I decided to do it pool-side. Life is tough, I know. Tomorrow I am attending a two-day conference organized by the Financial Services Volunteer Corps and funded by the Carnegie Corporation. We meet every…

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Strategic Uses for Tactical Nukes—not!

click on the image for a larger version Four Kt nuclear explosion over one “sub-harbor” in Ulsan. Overpressures are for a 4 Kt nuke detonated at the optimum height to maximize blast effects. POL destruction limit is the range where…

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W76 Problems Seem Overblown

Greetings from the Lufthansa Senators Lounge in Frankfurt. I’ve been struggling with how to describe Ralph Vartabedian’s story in the Los Angeles Times about the W76 Life Extension Program. On one hand, Vartabedian (with some help from POGO) dug out…