by Kingston Reif On January 5 President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, and other high-ranking defense officials previewed the results of the recently completed strategic defense review at a press briefing at the Pentagon. Though short on specific details about which programs and systems will […]
Energy and Water Conference Agreement Protects Nuclear Material Security Programs, Begins to Reduce Bloated Nuclear Weapons Budget
by Kingston Reif Last night the House and Senate filed the Conference report on an Omnibus appropriations bill that includes the remaining nine Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 appropriations bills that have yet to be enacted. House and Senate leaders are hoping for swift passage of the bill in order to avert a government shutdown, as […]
An Analysis of the Fiscal Year 2012 Defense Authorization Conference Report
by Laicie Heeley and Kingston Reif The conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 provides $530 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, as well as $116 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $17 billion for nuclear weapons-related spending at the Department of Energy. The total bill, at $662 […]
New START and Verification
Overview New START contains an updated, streamlined, and more cost-effective system of verification procedures that are tailored to the treaty’s limits, reflect the realities of the current U.S. and Russian arsenals, and, most importantly, will allow the U.S. to effectively verify Russia’s compliance with the treaty. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike […]
The Nuclear Weapons Budget, Cont’d
by Kingston Reif By now most readers are likely aware of the dustup surrounding Glenn Kessler’s November 30 Fact Checker story on the Ploughshares Fund’s estimate that the U.S. plans to spend $700 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade. Kessler concluded that there are a number of problems with the […]
