Strategic, Budget Realities Confronting Bloated Nuclear Arsenal

On the radar: Budget realities vs. Cold War spending; Save the nukes?; New campaign from Global Zero; Cutting nonproliferation; New sanctions on North Korea; Arms control innovation prize; and Why not debrief Rodman.

March 5, 2013 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Alyssa Demus

Confronting budget realities - “General belt-tightening, followed by more belt-tightening with sequestration, is forcing the nation’s multibillion-dollar nuclear weapons complex to realize that the free-spending days of the Cold War are over,” writes Walter Pincus in The Washington Post.

--Pincus describes how policymakers are realizing that the nation doesn’t need as many nuclear weapons while budget pressure and exponential cost overruns are are casting doubt on the viability of several nuclear programs. Full article here. http://owl.li/iorA3

Save the nukes? - The House Appropriations Committee just voted to protect nuclear weapons spending from the kinds of budget cuts imposed under the sequester. The move would support a handful of multi-billion dollar nuclear programs that are routinely flagged as being at high risk for waste, fraud, and abuse.

--”If Congress wants to cut the deficit intelligently, it should be finding ways to eliminate unnecessary and poorly managed projects in the nuclear weapons complex, not shielding nuclear programs from budget reductions,” writes Bill Hartung in The Huffington Post. http://huff.to/YsYp4e

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Aligning strategy and budget - “From a strategic point of view, nuclear reductions would make sense even if they didn’t free up billions of dollars for more useful defense programs. But they do that too. And that’s why nuclear spending at Cold War levels must be on the table in the ensuing search for budget savings,” writes Usha Sahay at Nukes of Hazard.

--Items flagged for potential cuts: the $100 billion fleet of new nuclear subs, $55 billion new bomber program, and $10.4 billion program to keep tactical nuclear bombs in Europe. Full post here. http://bit.ly/ZlktwU

Tweet - @nukes_of_hazard: At HASC PACCOM/STRATCOM hearing, Rep. Adam Smith says there are savings to be found in our nuclear arsenal.

Global Zero - Global Zero is launching a global campaign urging President Obama to bring world powers together to seek international arms reductions. Valerie Plame talks about the new initiative and opportunities for nuclear policy with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” http://nbcnews.to/13D06B5

--New ad: “An Idea That Changed the World” http://bit.ly/13Eqvi4

--Michael Douglas demands zero. http://bit.ly/YaJskq

--Whole new website: Including a petition, action plan for zero, and campaign resources. http://www.globalzero.org/demand-zero

Meat axe hitting Nunn-Lugar - The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program faces a $57 million funding cut from its remaining FY2013 budget, under budget sequestration. Diane Barnes of Global Security Newswire previews the effects of budget cuts on programs to stop the spread of WMD. http://bit.ly/101ANDY

Tweet - @JHerbTheHill: SASC QDR picks: Levin appoints ret Gen. Cartwright, Flournoy, Inhofe appoints ret. AF Gen. Martin and ret Army Lt. Gen. Maples.

N. Korea sanctions - The U.S. and China reached agreement on a draft UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea. The draft is to be circulated at a closed Security Council session today, and is expected to be approved this month. From AP. http://apne.ws/15vj1fu

Savannah sequestered - “About 2,000 workers at the Savannah River Site near Aiken (SC) will be working reduced schedules starting next month because of the federal budget cuts, while other employees will be laid off, at least temporarily,” reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The article suggests the cuts could force the suspension of plutonium processing activities. http://bit.ly/YtbtXq

Winners - The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance announced the winners of the first Innovation in Arms Control Challenge - a competition to get “creative ideas from the general public to use commonly available technologies to support arms control policy efforts.” Winning ideas include an online education platform, a mobile app for sharing information on arms agreements, and a social game for verifying treaty compliance. Press release here. http://1.usa.gov/XKAwFm

Tweet - @Gottemoeller: On Friday, I’ll be speaking @SXSW on mobilizing ingenuity to strengthen global security. Send Q’s to #StateDeptSXSW. http://bit.ly/13CSyhK

Events:

--”National Security and the DOD: 2025.” Rep. Adam Smith (WA) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX). March 6 3:00-4:00 p.m. @ Rayburn House Office Bldg. Sponsored by the American Security Project. RSVP here. http://owl.li/i7Wq9

--”Russian Security and Defense Policy: Why Russia Is Not Stuck in the Cold War, and Why that Is a Problem.” Celeste Wallander, former Dep. Asst. Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. March 6 3:00-4:00 p.m. SAIS, Rome Bldg. Room 812. http://owl.li/ikf9Q

--”The U.S. Nuclear Deterrent: What Are the Requirements for A Strong Deterrent In an Era of Defense Sequester?” Hearing of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. Witnesses: Gen. James Cartwright, Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, and Dr. Keith Payne. Wed. March 6 @ 3:30 PM in Rayburn 2118. http://1.usa.gov/Xlig6X

--Sec. George Shultz discusses national security challenges and climate change. March 8 from 12:00-1:00pm in Rayburn 2200. Details, RSVP, and webcast here. http://bit.ly/W2gsih

Dessert:

Debriefing Rodman - “The U.S. government should bite its tongue and quietly debrief [Dennis] Rodman,” writes Victor Cha at Foreign Policy. “As far as we know, no other American has gotten closer to the [Kim Jong-un]. Whatever we can learn, even through the Worm's rose-colored shades, could be useful.”

--The problems with not having diplomatic relations: ”It is a scary thought that the only American ‘expert’ on this is Dennis Rodman,” writes Cha. http://atfp.co/XKPaMP