According to David Sanger in the NYT, some folks in the Administration are thinking very carefully about the intelligence problem in interdiction: Pentagon officials are clearly not eager to confront the Kang Nam 1. The intelligence about what is on board is typically murky. Some say they suspect small arms, which are banned by the …
Postol and Wright on the Unha-2
by | 2009-06-30 | 11 Comments
A couple weeks ago, Benn Tannenbaum invited Ted Postol to come down to Washington. Ted gave a fascinating talk, in which he argued that the second stage of the Unha may be a re-purposed SS-N-6. This is a plausible answer to the BM-25 — the North Korean bought kits to use as a second stage …
Operation Gunnerside
by | 2009-06-29 | 2 Comments
Many nuclear experts recently gathered in Oslo for an event on nuclear disarmament, organized by the Nobel Institute. Bruno Tertrais, attendee and friend of wonk, sends along this photo of what, for him, was the highlight of the meeting: A talk by Joachim Rønneberg, “who, in addition to bearing a slight resemblance to Clint Eastwood …
What Does Natanz Cost?
by | 2009-06-27 | 5 Comments
Iran is obviously investing a lot of its political, intellectual, and financial resources into the Natanz enrichment center. But can we come up with a figure for how much it has cost Iran? Perhaps we can estimate it based on costs associated with Western equivalents. I have attempted to do this below. The result is …
