No kidding. Arm Chair Generalist, a promising progressive international security blog, beats me to this one: The LA Times reports that the CIA has released a classified document noting that Baghdad abandoned its chemical weapons program in 1991 and “Iraq probably did not pursue chemical warfare efforts after 1991.” This report, dated January 18, is …
RNEP Returns
Post-test B61-11 mock-up (source) The Washington Post is reporting the the FY2006 budget due out in a few days will request $10.3 million to restart study of the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP)— a “bunker busting” nuclear weapon. The RNEP would convert existing B61 or B83 nuclear bombs to an earth penetrator configuration, replacing the …
ElBaradei in the News
Tom Hundley, foreign correspondant for the Chicago Tribune, extensively quotes former US U.S. ambassador to UN organizations in Vienna John Rich in defense of Mohamed ElBaradei: “ElBaradei is exactly the kind of person you would want in the role—someone from a developing country who has a Western intellect but a Third World sensitivity,” said John …
Whirledview: A New Blog of Note
Cheryl Rofer over at Whirledview, a nice blog maintained by three persons with excellent national security bona fides, has a sensible post about dropping the total U.S. nuclear arsenal to a few hundred deployed warheads. Check it out. I would only quibble with Rofer’s mention that China “holds about 400 nuclear weapons.” As I’ve said, …
