On the radar: Levy on Iran talks; Latest New START data; Obama’s decisions with Stuxnet; Lewis on Payne; Wolfsthal debates Schake; Nuclear jobs; Tauscher on EPAA; and 10 creepy abandoned ICBM silos.

Date June 1, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke

Compromise and continued talks - What is achievable for talks with Iran in 2012? Many experts agree that, realistically, a partial enrichment freeze for partial sanctions relief would be a win. “Short of that, the goal is more talks – improving mutual understanding for when there is greater political room for compromise – in Iran, the US or both. Crucially, military action is averted,” writes Daniel Levy in The Guardian.

--Europe could facilitate successful talks this year with through an initiative to ease or delay its sanctions, argues Levy. http://bit.ly/LSHT8I [1]

Tweet - @McFaul [2]: “Proud to have been part of the team that negotiated the New START Treaty. Here are real results of our work:” http://1.usa.gov/L3Nog0 [3]

New START Numbers - The State Dept. just released data from the latest data exchange on New START (as of March 1, 2012). http://1.usa.gov/L3Nog0 [3]

--By treaty counting rules, the U.S. has 1737 deployed strategic warheads. It also has 812 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and Heavy Bombers, out of 1040 deployed and non-deployed.

--Russia has 1492 deployed strategic warheads. It also has 494 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and Heavy Bombers, out of 881 deployed and non-deployed.

Big read - “Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against iran” by David Sanger of The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/JE9QBK [4]

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Editor’s note - Early Warning will be offline next week. We will resume our regular morning service on Monday June 11th.

Hypocrisy is a Payne - Yesterday, Keith Payne wrote an op-ed criticizing the recent Global Zero report that was chaired by Gen. Cartwright. Jeffrey Lewis at Arms Control Wonk took “about 10 minutes” to find an article written where Payne articulated the very argument that he criticized Gen. Cartwright for making.

--Writes Lewis, ”In the long run, though, [Payne’s] failure to articulate a coherent view of nuclear policy beyond ‘more, please’ probably means he’ll ultimately be remembered mostly as the guy who was willing to call 20 million dead US citizens [9] a Win.” http://bit.ly/L0EVKs [10]

No need for East Coast site - “It's not programmed for in the budget we just submitted back in February. We [just] don't believe we need it right now,” said DoD Spokesman Capt. John Kirby about the proposed East Coast missile defense site. Carlo Munoz at Defcon Hill has the story. http://bit.ly/KlLP31 [11]

Debate - “Non-strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe” with Jon Wolfsthal and Kori Schake debating whether or not they would be withdrawn. Thursday, Jun 14th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at CSIS. Details and RSVP here. http://bit.ly/L3Iq78 [12]

Need a summer job? - Forbes has a list of places with openings for summer jobs. Included: Walmart, Disney and Sandia National laboratories. Sandia has about 30 unfilled intern spots (out of 300-400).

--If retail and family entertainment aren’t your gig, there’s always nuclear weapons. http://onforb.es/LlG9lw [13]

Quote - “If we can work together on European missile defense, and make this a subject for cooperation rather than competition, that would be a game-changer for our security relationship...The alternative is competition, something none of us can afford or want,” said Special Envoy Ellen Tauscher at the recent RUSI Missile Defense Conference.

--Full text of her remarks available here. http://1.usa.gov/JyIPee [14]

Abandoned ICBM silos - Environmental Graffiti has a collection of 50 photos of rundown U.S. and former Soviet missile sites - Atlas, Titan, and SS-4, and SS-5 sites included.

--At the peak of the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union had approximately 2500 land-based ICBMs between them. Many of the associated silos and missile complexes were abandoned, leaving a creepy legacy for adventurous photographers to explore. http://bit.ly/MeNgBA [15]