by Christopher Hellman and Travis Sharp SUMMARY The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) completed its markup of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Defense Authorization bill (HR 5658) on May 15, 2008. HASC’s marked up bill recommends an overall FY2009 authorization level of $601.4 billion, the amount requested by the administration. This $601.4 billion total includes $70 […]
The Seven Myths of Nuclear Terrorism
In the Seven Myths of Nuclear Terrorism, Dr. Matthew Bunn, a Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Board member, and Anthony Wier debunk the myths that terrorists do not have sufficiency capability, opportunity, and desire to acquire weapons-grade material, build or steal a nuclear weapon, and detonate it in the United States. Dr. Bunn makes […]
Nuclear Terrorism is a Likely Event
By Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, Senior Military Fellow Published in the Knoxville News Sentinel on May 10, 2008 At a Senate hearing recently, Undersecretary of Energy for Intelligence and Analysis Charles Allen testified, “Al-Qaida wants a nuclear weapon to use.” It is well-known that al-Qaida considers it a religious duty to acquire a nuclear weapon, […]
On 25th Anniversary of “Star Wars,” Cheney’s Missile Defense Claims Don’t Add Up
by Kingston Reif On March 11, 2008, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a Heritage Foundation dinner commemorating the 25th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), labeled by critics as “Star Wars.” Cheney used the occasion to reiterate five Bush administration talking points about the need for missile defense: In 1972, […]
Star Wars Turns 25 Years Old, but Effective and Capable Missile Defense Still Elusive
by Robert G. Gard and John Isaacs On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan revived the effort, first launched in the 1950s, to defend the United States against an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) attack by producing a “shield that could protect us from nuclear missiles just as a roof protects a family from rain.” He called […]
