Mike Levi and Graham Allison are having a little throwdown over “How Likely is a Nuclear Terrorist Attack on the United States?” on the CFR website. Oddly, both agree that the stated topic of discussion—the probability of an attack—is irrelevant: Levi: “How likely is a nuclear terrorist attack on the United States? I doubt anyone …
Show Me the Money
by | 2007-04-18 | 4 Comments
After reading for the last week that North Korea is just waiting for the money, I’ve started to wonder what the big deal is; just take it already. Turns out, they haven’t been able to withdraw it from the bank, unless of course they want $25 million in bank notes. Although the $25 million has …
ASATs and Crisis Instability
by | 2007-04-15 | 22 Comments
This is a slide from an August 2005 presentation by Colonel Rick Patenaude, chief of the deterrence and strike division within Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), entitled, Prompt Global Strike Update. I’ve posted the slide, becuase Patenaude reveals something very profound and dangerous about China’s recent anti-satellite test. A few weeks ago, when asked about …
Science, Sex, Superflies
by | 2007-04-13 | No Comments
So reads the apparently unironic headline on the IAEA website detailing regional efforts to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly. Apparently, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have a cooperative program using nuclear science to breed sterile male fruit flies, air-dropping seven million of them at a time. Now, I don’t want to tell the IAEA …
