”A More Economical Nuclear Force”

July 24, 2012| Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Leah Fae Cochran

Nuclear economics - Cutting around $500 billion from the defense budget over the next decade will be a daunting task and will require new ideas, writes Michael O’Hanlon in POLITICO. Part of that should be a “more economical nuclear force,” he writes.

--O’Hanlon’s nuclear proposal: cut the sub fleet from 14 to 8, ICBMS from 450 to 250, and give the bomber’s nuclear mission more emphasis. Also, get Lawrence Livermore National Lab out of the nuclear weapons business. http://politi.co/MDsQAJ

Missiles - Iran’s long-range ballistic missile development is suffering under the sanctions regime and could be halted, according to the British think tank The International Institute for Strategic Studies.

--A new report estimates, "If sanctions continue to disrupt Tehran's access to the key propellant ingredients and components needed to produce large solid-propellant rocket motors, Iranian attempts to develop and field long-range ballistic missiles could be significantly impeded, if not halted altogether.” Global Security Newswire has the story. http://bit.ly/MAxSOk

Dossier - For the full IISS Strategic Dossier on Iran’s Ballistic Missile program, look here. http://bit.ly/ap57VQ

Job Opportunity - The Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation is seeking a Communications Officer. Details here. http://bit.ly/PEkGsW

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No adventures - Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz said that his party would not back any “operational adventures” against Iran in a press conference yesterday. Mofaz is the leader of the Kadima party, which pulled out of a coalition government with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party last week.

--”Mofaz's opposition increases the political risks for Netanyahu in his decision-making over Iran, especially if an operation went wrong and he faced any inquiry over it later,” according to Reuters. http://reut.rs/PAdlKN

Tweet - US Ambassador to Russia Michael @McFaul: Applaud signing of WTO accession law - a prelude to stronger economic ties and new opportunities for Russians and Americans.

After strikes, inspections - For all the talk of strikes on Iran, few talk about how to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program after hostilities stop. “As Iraq [from 1991-1994] showed, only inspectors on the ground, who are able to interrogate scientists, retrieve records and destroy and remove nuclear remnants, can complete the job of nuclear disarmament,” writes Bennett Ramberg in Politico.

--Ramberg does not advocate for strikes, but, if it comes to that, notes that a robust inspections regime on the ground would be required for any attempt to denuclearize Iran. http://politi.co/M76Lwz

Revisionists - Some partisan commentators have said that the Obama administration could have given support to Iran’s green movement in 2009 and expedited the fall of the Iranian regime. Dan Drezner at Foreign Policy objects to this line of argument.

--“Let's get rid of the fantasy counter-factual in which U.S. measures short of a ground campaign would have ejected the current Iranian regime. Let's also dismiss the idea that the Green Movement would have welcomed greater U.S. support,” writes Drezner. http://bit.ly/MkECNT

Thunderstruck - Iran’s centrifuges were hamstrung by stuxnet. Now, Iran’s scientists could be deafened by shredding guitar solos. An Iranian nuclear scientist allegedly reported to a cyber security firm that computers at Iran’s Natanz and Fordow enrichment facilities had been hit with a cyber worm that randomly played AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” at high volumes. The report has not yet been confirmed, notes Business Insider. http://read.bi/MkCLbH

--EW Editors suggest that the next rockin’ cyber attack use “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie. Or, to grind Iran’s scientists into submission, just have Iran’s computers play “What’s Up Pussycat” by Tom Jones on repeat.