Michael Gordon in the New York Times—disclaimer: I am quoted—details the Bush Administration’s decision to say nothing to Chinese to discourage their January 2007 ASAT test: What administration officials did not say is that as the Chinese were preparing to launch their antisatellite weapon, American intelligence agencies had issued reports about the preparations being made …
Tune In Tokyo; NFIRE Set to Launch
by | 2007-04-22 | 14 Comments
Hey, all. I am in Tokyo, attending a conference, Collective Security in Space: Asian Perspectives on Acceptable Approaches sponsored by the Space Policy Institute, Center for Nonproliferation Studies and the Research Institute for Peace and Security. I was having breakfast with John Logsdon who reminded me that the Near Field Infra Red Experiment (NFIRE) is …
Extend START
by | 2007-04-20 | No Comments
Jennifer Mackby and Edward Ifft remind us that START is set to expire and that letting START expire would suck: The crowning international security agreement that reduced and stabilized nuclear forces in the former Soviet Union and the United States is set to expire in 2009. [snip] START established an ingenious and highly effective monitoring/verification …
What About the OTHER Bomb Factory?
by | 2007-04-20 | 15 Comments
Dafna Linzer helpfully confirms that the IC is sticking with its 2015 estimate for an Iranian bomb, noting that Iran still cannot operate continuously its cascades of centrifuges: “The whole game for the Iranians is to present a fait accompli,” said one U.S. official who agreed to discuss sensitive aspects of the program on the …
