Morning Joe: May 20, 2009

Iran's Missile Politics

Stories we're following today:

Iran Says it Test-Fired New Long-Range Missile - The New York Times [link]

• Ahmadinejad said the launch involved a two-stage Sejil-2 missile that works on solid fuel and successfully struck its intended target. He did not specify the missile's range. But Iran's defense minister said in November that the country had test-fired a new ground-to-ground missile that was named Sejil and had "a range of close to 2,000 kilometers." That range is similar to Iran's existing Shahab-3 missile, the Associated Press reported.
• The missile was test-fired in Semnan Province, east of Tehran. Ahmadinejad visited the province Tuesday as part of a campaign tour in advance of national elections June 12.

Will the US-UAE nuclear deal reach meltdown? - The Guardian [link]

• Signed by Bush in his last days of office, objections to the agreement are mounting almost daily as its implications sink in

Obama Meets on Nuclear Weapons - Boston Globe [link]

• "I don't think anybody would accuse these four gentlemen of being dreamers. They're hard-headed, tough defenders of American interests and American security. But what they have come together to help galvanize is a recognition that we do not want a world of continued nuclear proliferation, and that in order for us to meet the security challenges of the future, America has to take leadership in this area," Obama said.

Russia, U.S. hold talks on cutting nuclear weapons - Reuters [link]

• Russian officials expect the United States to present a draft text of a new deal to cut nuclear weapons as the world's two biggest nuclear powers seek to narrow differences before Obama and Medvedev meet in Moscow on July 6-8.

Mullen Pinky-Swears: We Don’t Bankroll Pakistan’s Nukes - Wired's Danger Room [link]

• Since 9/11, the United States has provided around $10 billion in assistance to Pakistan; that figure includes around $80 million to $120 million per month in “coalition support funds,” which are supposed pay for keeping Pakistani troops on the frontier with Afghanistan.
• So the question is: Has Washington’s largesse helped free up funds so Islamabad can obtain more nukes?

View from the Dark Side

Get Ready for Another North Korean Nuke Test - John Bolton in the Wall Street Journal [link]

• If the next nuclear explosion doesn't derail the six-party talks, Kim will rightly conclude that he faces no real danger of ever having to dismantle his weapons program. North Korea is a mysterious place, but there is no mystery about its foreign-policy tactics: They work. The real mystery is why our administrations -- Republican and Democratic -- haven't learned that their quasi-religious faith in the six-party talks is misplaced.