My Blog Posts

• Quote of the Day: 9/11 Commission Key Recommendation Edition
  09/09/2011 05:04:39 PM EST
  

  “The greatest danger of another catastrophic attack in the United States will materialize if the world’s most dangerous terrorists acquire the world’s most dangerous weapons….Our report shows that al Qaeda has tried to acquire or make weapons of mass destruction for at least ten years. There is no doubt the United States would be a prime target. Preventing the proliferation of these weapons warrants a maximum effort—by strengthening counter proliferation efforts, expanding the Proliferation Security Initiative, and supporting the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.”

  Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, July 22, 2004.
• Between a rock and a hard place with Pakistan
  05/13/2011 04:06:26 PM EST
  
  UPDATE: Under the supervision of Pakistani intelligence, U.S. investigators interviewed Bin Laden's three wives late last week. Two weeks ago, as you know, Osama Bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs. The operation to take out public enemy number one, though successful, has fractioned an already capricious relationship between the United States and Pakistan. Pakistan is less than pleased that President Obama ordered the raid without notifying Pakistani officials in advance.  Now, echoing past fissures in U.S.-Pakistani relations, Pakistan is being uncooperative in lieu of the news that Osama Bin Laden was essentially hiding in plain sight. Although President Obama did not directly accuse Pakistan of harboring Osama Bin Laden for five years in the affluent city of Abbottabad, he did convey his belief that there was likely a network inside of Pakistan that helped to keep him hidden. Largely for this reason, the U.S. is demanding that Pakistan allow American investigators to speak with Osama Bin Laden’s three widows. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s response has been less than forthcoming.  
  
• Official Discomfort with Afghanistan War?
  03/02/2011 09:57:02 AM EST
  By: John Isaacs While key Administration officials continue to vigorously support the war in Afghanistan, there appears to be a less-than-enthusiastic larger view about the war. Take Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. In his recent speech at West Point, he pointed out:

  “In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General MacArthur so delicately put it.”

  That does not sound like a high level official who thinks that the United States military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq were bang up good ideas. Gates is not advocating getting out; he just does not think getting in was smart. This skepticism was amplified at a February 17, 2011 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. There, Admiral Michael Mullen (USN), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not make the situation in Afghanistan sound exactly rosy.
• Pakistan rapidly increasing arsenal, still says no to FMCT
  02/09/2011 09:23:27 AM EST
  Last week the public learned a few new things about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. The size of its deployed stockpile is now estimated to be more than 100 weapons.  It also is believed to possess the nuclear material for somewhere between 40-100 additional weapons, a capability which could make Pakistan the 4th or 5th largest nuclear weapon state – surpassing both France and the United Kingdom . As David Sanger and Eric Schmitt pointed out in the New York Times and Karen DeYoung in the above article in the Washington Post—Pakistan’s nuclear-lust is a challenge to the twin goals of prohibiting the production of fissile material for weapons purposes and reducing nuclear stockpiles globally. Pakistan is the only country publically opposing the beginning of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) in the 65-nation UN Conference of Disarmament (CD). Their chief concern is India and the disparity between the two country’s arsenals. Even though, the latest estimates suggest that Pakistan may have more weapons than India. New Delhi does have the capacity to produce more weapons due to a larger fissile material stockpile.  
  
• Obama Signs (and Ratifies) New START
  02/02/2011 03:59:46 PM EST
  Today, February 2, 2011, President Obama signed New START!!! NoH was invited to the ceremony, but sadly had other pressing business to attend to (I kid, I kid, both about being invited and the other pressing business)! The treaty has now officially been ratified by the U.S. (remember, the Senate doesn't ratify treaties - the President does by signing an instrument of ratification)! The next step on the way to entry into force: the exchange of instruments of ratification with the Russians, which is scheduled to take place at the Munich Security Conference on February 5. Secretary of State Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov will do the honors. The U.S. instrument of ratification will include the three "understandings" included by the Senate in its resolution of ratification. The fact that the signing ceremony is scheduled for next weekend means that the President has provided (or will very soon provide) the Senate with the numerous certifications required by the resolution of ratification on such issues as the adequacy of U.S. national technical means of verification, the exchange of telemetry, and future negotiations with the Russians on tactical nuclear weapons before the treaty can enter into force. (UPDATE 2/3: The President provided the Senate with the certifications yesterday.) The initial exchange of data on missiles, launchers, heavy bombers, and warheads subject to the treaty is required 45 days after the treaty enters into force. The right to conduct on-site inspections begins 60 days after entry into force (i.e. sometime in April). Mark your calendars.