I was reading some recent RRW testimony, when I noticed that Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England was not aware that nuclear weapons programs were largely funded out of the Department of Energy budget. I often mistake esoteric facts for common knowledge — call it the curse of the wonk. But, shouldn’t the Deputy Secretary …
MNAs in Vienna
by | 2008-03-27 | 4 Comments
I’ve been away for the last week or so—hence the absence of any posting from me. Ironically, a long weekend in Paris precluded me from blogging about Sarkozy’s remarks on disarmament—but more about that (the background specifically) tomorrow or Monday. Following Paris, I spent an interesting day in Vienna at a workshop organized by SIPRI …
Iran's Shrinking CW Program
by | 2008-03-26 | 9 Comments
I really love WMD Insights. I’ve been meaning to link to a recent article by Markus Binder tracking how the IC has toned down its assessment of Iran’s CW capabilities: In the Sec. 721 report covering the first half of 2003, released in November 2003, we see the beginnings of a process of declining certainty …
Nothing Like This Can Happen
by | 2008-03-25 | 14 Comments
Er, again. Another nuclear weapons related incident: The U.S. military has regained control of four non-nuclear nose cone assemblies for a Minuteman missile mistakenly sent to Taiwan in 2006, Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said during a news conference here today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates learned of the situation on March 21 and …
