Spokesman, James Lewis, joined CCTV to discuss the OPCW Executive Council’s decision and UN Security Council resolution on Syria’s chemical weapons.
Bloomberg Businessweek Story on Syrian Chemical Weapons Destruction Quotes Center Spokesman
UN-Backed Effort to Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons Faces Hurdles By Terry Atlas September 28, 2013 International inspectors are due to get their first look at Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles within days, implementing a United Nations-backed plan to secure and destroy the deadly arsenal amid a civil war. The Organization for the Prevention of Chemical […]
Navy Tries a Budget Sleight-of-Hand to Pay for Ballistic Missile Submarines
Over at the Center homepage I have a new piece responding to a recent proposal by the head of the Navy’s submarine force for supplemental funding outside the Navy shipbuilding budget for the Ohio class replacement program. Here’s how I begin:
The budget busting Ohio class submarine replacement program is fast becoming a roaring migraine headache for the US Navy. In an attempt to skirt the pain caused by the program’s enormous price tag, estimated to be over $100 billion, the Navy and its supporters in Congress are insisting that the program be exempt from normal budget procedures and protected from tough competition within the Navy budget.
Earlier this month the head of the US submarine force asked Congress for $60 billion in supplemental funding – meaning outside the regular Navy shipbuilding budget — over 15 years to pay for the new nuclear ballistic missile submarine program.
But this ploy merely provides the illusion of pain relief; the bills will be paid out of someone else’s budget. The Pentagon faces tough budget choices in a constrained fiscal environment. An end run around those budget choices by creating a special fund obscures the hard choices that need to be made between nuclear weapons and other defense programs in a time of budget austerity.
You can read the whole thing here.
Obama tells UNGA he’s “encouraged” by Iran’s recent overtures
Something has shifted in the relationship between the U.S. and Iran, so much so that despite other pressing international concerns (ahem, Syria) it can no longer be ignored. For the first time today, President Obama explicitly acknowledged the shift. Stating that he “firmly” believed the “diplomatic path must be tested,” Obama announced that he’d directed Secretary of State John Kerry to pursue an agreement with Iran.
Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor on U.S.-Russian Framework by Kingston Reif
The U.S.-Russia Deal on Syria Really Does Make Sense By Kingston Reif September 24, 2013 Sen. John Barrasso criticizes the U.S.-Russia plan to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, primarily on the grounds that Russia played a big role in negotiating it (“Why the Russians Can’t Be Trusted in Syria,” op-ed, Sept. 16). In doing so, he […]