Morning Joe: Posture Review an Obstacle to a Transformative Nuclear Policy

Stories we're following today:

Transform U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy - Daryl Kimball in Defense News [link]

• As the administration of President Barack Obama works to complete the congressionally mandated Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) by year's end, it is clear to most that yesterday's nuclear doctrines are no longer appropriate for today's realities.
• The White House must ensure the NPR process supports today's highest national security priority: preventing the use of nuclear weapons and their proliferation to terrorists and additional states, and moving toward a world free of nuclear weapons.
• Note: Daryl Kimball is the executive director of the Arms Control Association - a Ploughshares Grantee.

Will the Pentagon Thwart Obama's Dream of Zero? - Ron Rosenbaum in Slate [link]

• [Progress toward President Obama's call for nuclear disarmament] will depend on how seriously the Pentagon's nuclear commanders take what is, in effect, a mandate to zero themselves out. And there are indications that more forceful direction from the White House is needed if they are to transform Obama's Zero from dream to reality.

North Korea Calls for Better Ties With South - Washington Post [link]

• A North Korean delegation met Sunday in Seoul with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and delivered a personal call for improved ties from leader Kim Jong Il, the first high-level meeting between the countries in nearly two years.

The Return of the Reliable Replacement Warhead? - Plutonium Page of the Daily Kos [link]

• You wouldn't think we'd need any more nuclear weapons, would you? The answer is "no", but that's not what the Pentagon is telling Obama. Let me introduce you to the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW)...

A View from the Dark Side

Why Should We Underwrite Russian Rearmament? - Gabriel Schoenfeld in the Wall Street Journal [link]

• The Nunn-Lugar program to help Russia destroy its nuclear weapons no longer makes sense.
• Money is fungible. If the U.S. were not defraying the costs of safeguarding or dismantling Russia's deteriorating weapons of mass destruction, Moscow would be compelled to do so out of its own pocket... Conspicuously missing [from the Nunn-Lugar scorecard] is a record of all the new weapons systems added to the Russian arsenal as we pick up the tab for taking their old ones apart.