The fifth round of the Six Party Talks (9-11 November 2005) ended a few days ago, with little or no progress. Talks foundered over myriad issues, complicated by distractions such as the President’s description of Kim Jong-Il as a “tyrant” and the revelation that the Fed might as well outsource some of its printing needs …
NNSA Denies Axeing RNEP
by | 2005-11-15 | 3 Comments
Congress zeroed out the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) in the Energy Budget, reportedly at the request of NNSA. But the truth is a little more complicated. Hans K scored a sweet RNEP slide. Check out his history of the B61-11. Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) recently announced that the Senate and House conferees negotiating …
Iran Dope Concerns RV Not Warhead
by | 2005-11-14 | 4 Comments
I spent most of the weekend mulling over how best to respond to this collection of half-truths, pablum and recycled news penned by David Sanger and Bill Broad. In case you missed it, Sanger and Broad recycle old stories about a US briefing from July that alleged some purloined Iranian computer files suggest Tehran is …
Dangers of Accidental Missile Launch
by | 2005-11-11 | 1 Comment
Pavel Podvig dropped by CISSM to make a presentation entitled, Dangers of Accidental Ballistic Missile Launch. Pavel picked up the fascinating and counterintuitive argument that the United States shouldn’t help repair Russia’s early warning system (pictured at right), which Pavel has made on his excellent blog and in a memo. Pavel proposes a political commitment …
