Something interesting apparently happened last Wednesday (7/7/2010) in the skies over Hangzhou, China. As regular Wonk-readers will quickly agree, trying to extract reliable information from regular media reports is difficult at best. Unfortunately, almost all the news reports of this incident that I have seen of it have something like “…UFO over Hangzhou…” in the …
On Bombing the Bomb
by | 2010-07-09 | 33 Comments
This morning’s Washington Post features an op-ed on Iran policy by former U.S. Senator Charles (Chuck) Robb and retired U.S. Air Force general Charles (Chuck) Wald. It’s a serious, earnest statement, but also seriously flawed. The gist of what The Two Chucks have to say is this: we cannot “compel Iran to terminate its nuclear …
Lugar on New START and TacNukes
by | 2010-07-08 | 7 Comments
Readers know that I like arguments. Senator Lugar has been making a very good argument about New START and so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons, which are not covered by any strategic arms reduction treaty. Opponents, like Governor Romney, have pointed to Russia’s large stockpile of such weapons as a reason to resist ratifying the New START …
Amchitka
by | 2010-07-07 | 11 Comments
I’ve always counseled our son and daughter to go the extra mile. During the Cold War nuclear competition, the Soviet Union and the United States went a bit further than the extra mile. In one particular instance, the Nixon administration drilled down to 6,150 feet – a distance equivalent to four Sears Towers stacked on …
