Years · 2010

December 2010

19 posts

Article

Greetings from Akumal

In Mayan, Akumal is “place of the turtles” — at least that is what Wikipedia tells me.  We’re here with the Tomero-Shaws, enjoying the waves, sunshine and chili peppers. “Place of the turtles” is appropriate because, as of late, I’ve…

Article

New Year, New START

Retired Admiral “Fox” Fallon, ex-head of CENTCOM and PACOM, called the ratification of New-START “a no-brainer” in an interview with Mary Beth Sheridan in the Washington Post. General Brent Scowcroft, President George H.W. Bush’s national security adviser, told ABC News’…

Article

Victory Kudos

Exceptional performances deserve recognition, and there are many worth noting after the Senate’s consent to ratifying New START with seven votes to spare on December 22nd. Here’s my short list:

Article

All I Want for X-Mas is New START

John Isaacs is clearly a genius: ‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a treaty was stirring, not even New START. The speeches were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that some amendments soon…

Article

The Dance of the Veils

Jon Kyl’s dance of the veils is finally over. The last veil dropped when, after many accommodations and delays, the White House finally insisted that New START be dealt with in the lame duck session, and Majority Leader Harry Reid…

Article

More on New START Amendments

There’s not very much time left in the US Senate lame duck session, and there’s a lot of work yet to be done. Fortunately, as David Culp tweeted yesterday, that work will include Senate consideration of the New START treaty;…

Article

How Many NORK Enrichment Sites?

David Sanger and Bill Broad have a gossamer story in the New York Times about whether North Korea might have more centrifuge facilities. Unfortunately, the story sort of dissolves when you start to pick it apart.  On the first read,…

Article

2010 ACA Person of the Year

The Arms Control Association is, again, holding its annual contest for “Arms Control Person of the Year.” Richard Lugar, as always, has a strong case — but he won last year and it is tough to vote against the 11…

Article

Hawks and Doves

Edward Teller, a refugee from Hungary, loved to play the piano. While at Los Alamos working on the H-bomb, he kept his colleagues awake at night playing Beethoven. Vaughn Williams penned symphonies. His “The Lark Ascending” contains the most pacific…