Published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Online on August 27, 2012 Article summary below; read the full text online. As the plausible military rationales for nuclear weapons continue to deteriorate in the aftermath of the Cold War, political and psychological rationales for nuclear weapons — like providing reassurance to US allies — are increasingly […]
Bolton Advocates an Israeli Strike on Iran
John Bolton, one of Mitt Romney’s top foreign policy advisors, wrote another op-ed about Iran this week. In the past, Bolton has advocated U.S. military action to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, but has done so while shying away from the potential consequences. This time, however, he makes no policy recommendations for the United States. Instead, he implicitly advocates an Israeli strike on Iran while making a number of concerning statements along the way.
New Analysis on Missile Defense Funding
Ploughshares Fund Senior Analyst Benjamin Loehrke has published a piece on missile defense on our website titled “Missile Defense Spending is Going to Stagnate.”
The Facts According to Bill Gertz
Take, for example, his apparent scoop last week that a Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks. Two days after Gertz broke the story, Pentagon spokeswoman Wendy Snyder stated: “I don’t know what that information was based on, but it was not correct.” Perhaps the Pentagon is wrong, but that sounds like a categorical denial to me.
Norquist Hits Ryan on Defense Spending
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Earlier this week, Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, came out against Paul Ryan’s views on defense, saying they were fiscally irresponsible.
