are in order for a few bloggers. First, Sean-Paul Kelley and the rest of “the Agonist crew.”:http://www.agonist.org/ Second would be “Stephen Heidt,”:http://nobcentral.blogspot.com/ a friend of mine who I wish lived closer to this continent.
Their blogs have been well-worth reading for quite some time. And the fact that they linked to me obviously demonstrates their genius.
I should also point people in the direction of “Michael Roston.”:http://lookingforsomeonetolietome.blogspot.com/ It would be to everyone’s benefit if he blogged more because he’s a great writer.
Finally check out “this post”:http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1327/dsb-task-force-nuclear-weapons-rule from Jeffrey about the “DSB report”:http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2006-12-Nuclear_Capabilities.pdf on the US nuclear arsenal. He correctly points out that one way to deal with the DSB’s concerns about Russia’s nuclear weapons
bq. might be to accept Russian proposals to move to lower force levels, perhaps reducing that Russian ability to destroy the United States or, at the least, making the process take longer than ordering a pizza.
I would point out that one consequence of this administration’s asinine approach to strategic arms control is that we will have no more START I verification procedures after 2009 and no strategic arms control to speak of after 2012 when “SORT”:http://www.armscontrol.org/subject/sr/#SORT expires.
Bravo.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Bush administration just tries to wait out the clock on verification procedures. They’ve backed away from almost every other component of the nonproliferation regime’s legally-binding frameworks. Between the missile defense largesse and “combating WMD” formulation, one gets the distinct impression that the Bush administration believes little can be done about the coming Rumsfeld Commission-style proliferated world. Besides preparing for the worst, that is…
Too bad all of their emphasis on the unilateralist imperative is creating a political environment where Rumsfeld’s dark predictions are more likely to come to fruition. I guess that’s what they mean by “reality-based planning.”
I’d count on the next administration having to scramble to put an extension in place before December 4, 2009. Even muscular Republicans like John McCain aren’t stupid enough to walk away from a good confidence building measure like the START verification procedures.
I support the administration in general, but less so when it comes to arms control issues. Nevertheless, I cannot say this is all the current administration’s fault. With four extra de facto nuclear weapons states, and several either knocking on the door (Iran or Syria) or able to pass through in a very short period of time (South Korea, Japan), the NPT nuclear weapons states are simply not able to work towards NPT article 6 obligations. In fact, the United States and Britain have publicly committed to work on updated nuclear weapons. Stated simply, I do not think today’s world lends itself to arms reduction treaties, and the current administration takes the bad rap for this.
Thanks, Paul for the shout outs, and the distinct pleasure that I got to see you a couple of times this year (and be welcomed into your home for one of them). Excited to see big things at Total Wonkerr in the new year, and just watch for more havoc from Looking For Someone… and The Raw Story in the weeks to come.