Military leaders question affordability of nuclear triad
Nov 02, 2011
Military Leaders Question the Affordability of Pentagon’s Plan to Modernize All Three Legs of the Nuclear Weapons Triad
The United States nuclear force is composed of three components that are described as synergistic:
-->On land, with intercontinental ballistic missiles
-->At sea, with nuclear-powered submarines
-->In the air, with long-range nuclear bombers
Each of the three legs has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of speed, cost, vulnerability to attack, whether the system can be recalled once launched and more.
All three legs of the triad are edging toward the end of their useful lives and at some point in the near-future, all three legs will need to be replaced – or eliminated.
It is estimated that the United States will spend $700 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade, including spending on new nuclear submarines, bombers and land-based missiles as well as on new facilities to build new explosive cores for nuclear warheads.
New START Treaty Aggregate Numbers of Strategic Offensive Arms
Oct 25, 2011
Category of Data
Deployed ICBMs, Deployed SLBMs, and Deployed Heavy Bombers
822 United States of America
516 Russian Federation
Warheads on Deployed ICBMs, on Deployed SLBMs, and Nuclear Warheads Counted for Deployed Heavy Bombers
1,790 United States of America
1,566 Russian Federation
Deployed and Non-deployed Launchers of ICBMs, Deployed and Non-deployed Launchers of SLBMs, and Deployed and Non-deployed Heavy Bombers
1,043 United States of America
871 Russian Federation
______________
(As of September 1, 2011, as drawn from the exchange of data by the Parties. Data in this Fact Sheet comes from the biannual exchange of data required by the Treaty. It contains data declared current as of September 1, 2011. Data will be updated each six month period after entry into force of the Treaty.)
Fact Sheet
Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance
October 25, 2011
Freeze the Nukes, Fund the Future: Rep. Markey
Oct 08, 2011
Freeze the Nukes, Fund the Future
From: The Honorable Edward J. Markey
Date: 9/22/2011
Dear Colleague,
The Super Committee should target nuclear weapons. Our country plans to spend over $700 billion during the next decade on these archaic weapons of the past. We must cut funding for these weapons, and we must protect our children, our seniors, and our most vulnerable. The letter below advises the Super Committee to propose substantial cuts to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. I urge you to sign on to this letter. Please have a member of your staff contact Joseph Wender of my staff at x52836 or at Joseph.Wender@mail.house.gov if you would like to sign on or if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA)
New Campaign to cut the nuclear weapons budget
Sep 29, 2011
Council for a Livable World, along with many allied organizations, is embarking on a new campaign to cut the nuclear weapons budget responsibly.
It is estimated that the United States will spend hundreds of billions of dollars to maintain and upgrade the U.S. nuclear arsenal over the next decade, including spending on new nuclear submarines, bombers, land-based missiles, nuclear facilities, and related nuclear activities.
While the objective of cutting this budget may have appeared implausible in the past, it is now both necessary and a realistic possibility. The budget deficit crunch is forcing Congress and the administration to take a fresh look at programs that were once considered inviolable.
A close examination of the Pentagon’s budget plans reveals numerous nuclear weapons programs that are more closely related to defeating the Soviet Union during the Cold War than to addressing current security threats such as terrorism.
Prospects for nuclear arms control over the next 18 months
Jun 06, 2011
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs Conference
Carnegie Council, U.S. Army War College
U.S. Global Engagement: Report of Two Years of Activities
The Pocantico Center
June 1-3, 2011
Thank you for inviting me to participate in the conference.
I am delighted only to have to comment on Stephen Blank’s paper rather than do any original thinking or writing myself.
And while he focused more on the broader U.S.-Russian reset question, I will focus more narrowly on nuclear weapons and treaty issues between the two questions.
When I first gave a talk for the Carnegie Council a year and a half ago, I was brimming with confidence about the ambitious Obama Administration agenda on nuclear issues, particularly after the President’s wide-ranging and terrific speech in Prague, the Czech Republic in April 2009.
While there has been important progress since that speech, that progress has not led to great momentum on other parts of that nuclear agenda, at least not in the immediate future.
But the immediate future is just that; I think we can look to make more progress beginning in 2013.
House Armed Services Mark of the Defense Authorization
May 20, 2011
In case you're not keeping up with every little step in the budget process, we've got you covered. New up on our sister site today is a summary of the most important and/or controversial provisions and amendments contained within the House Armed Services Committee's mark of the Defense Authorization bill last week. If you'd also like to read the full text of the bill and report you can do so here.
By a vote of 60 to 1, the House Armed Services Committee approved $553 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, a 4.1% increase over appropriations for FY 2011, along with an additional $118 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, matching the administration’s request on both counts.
The full House is expected to consider the bill the week of May 23. Many of the provisions listed below may be challenged on the House floor.
(More below the jump)
Living With Half a Loaf
Apr 13, 2011
If I am ever involved in a legislative battle where we win a complete and total victory without any provisions and deals we do not like, I will know that either I am no longer of this world or have sunk into dementia.
Yesterday we learned that Congress will appropriate $2.3 billion for non-proliferation funding, a 9% increase from last year’s funding level and $241 million above the House level.
Some of us have hailed the result as a victory. The non-proliferation program recovered a good deal of the funds that the House had cut and won an increase while many other programs were cut back.
Others pointed out that while the final number was better than that produced by the House, it still was not full funding. We don’t know the final allocation of funds by the Department of Energy. Congress at the same time approved a large increase in funding for nuclear complex modernization.
Part of the policy process in Washington, D.C. is that winning 100%, total success on an issue without compromises and encumbrances rarely if ever happens.
Continuing Resolution in the House: Echoes of Lord of the Flies
Feb 19, 2011
House consideration of the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution echoed the famous novel Lord of the Flies authored by William Golding. The book is about a group of British schoolboys stranded on a deserted island without adult supervision who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results.
Around 4:30 AM Saturday morning, the House concluded its marathon, free-wheeling four days of consideration of the Continuing Resolution. The bill passed on an almost party-line vote of 235 – 189, with all Democrats voting against and all but three Republicans voting for.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) gave almost free rein to his flock to offer any amendments on a bill funding the federal government. Republicans then used the measure to target as many New Deal, Great Society and Obama Administration policies as they could. The only reason they could not move against Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid is that these entitlement programs are not funded in the bill.
The major focus in the bill and amendments was on federal government programs in the health, environment, regulatory reform areas and more – with special crosshairs on defunding implementation of the health care reform bill adopted last year.
There was a long debate on an amendment eventually adopted to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The Environmental Protection Agency would be prohibited from regulating greenhouse gases. the Federal Communications Commission would be barred from initiating net neutrality regulations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) would be blocked from fighting gun trafficking to Mexico.
Feb. 18 update: Defense/Nuclear/Foreign Policy Amendments to Continuing Resolution in the House
Feb 18, 2011
Last evening, the House had an “early” night, finishing at 1:10 AM, two hours earlier than the previous evening. It resumes meeting at 9:00 AM today. First votes are not likely before 11:00 AM (perhaps some Members wanted to sleep in this morning?).
Much of the debate last evening was consumed by Republicans going after pet targets such as Planned Parenthood and Environmental Protection Agency efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
The House hopes to complete action today, but there are about 130 many amendments that could be offered. Under a unanimous consent agreement, each amendment can be debated for no more than 10 minutes – with a few exceptions.
Yesterday, amendments to cut funding for the United States Institute for Peace and the East-West Center were successful, while a Woolsey (D-CA) amendment to kill the V-22 and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle went down in flames, 91 – 339 (see below).
In the frenzy of cutting, somewhat surprisingly, a Heller amendment to cut several multilateral assistance accounts by $211 million, including cutting International Organizations and Programs by $45 million, was defeated 190 – 241. Almost all Democrats plus 59 Republicans opposed the amendment.
Among amendments pending for votes today are three national security-related amendments offered yesterday: an Afghanistan war defunding amendment, a second one barring Pentagon sponsorship of NASCAR race cars and a third blocking aid to Chad.
Feb. 17 update - Defense/Nuclear/Foreign Policy Amendments to Continuing Resolution in the House
Feb 17, 2011
Defense/Nuclear/Foreign Policy Amendments
to Continuing Resolution in the House
The End of the Line
Today was scheduled to be the last day of House consideration of the Fiscal Year Continuing Resolution. Last evening, the House continued its frenetic action, considering the bill until 3:43 AM (no, while I am a congressional wonk, I am not a fanatic and turned in long before then) and resumes session at 9:00 AM today, with first votes as early as 9:45 AM.
However, the House is not expected to complete action by its self-imposed deadline of 3:00 PM today. Instead, it may go late into the evening, or even Friday.
Now that the House has completed reading of the bill, there are many amendments still to be offered “at the end of the bill.”
Debate was completed on 13 amendments for which recorded votes were demanded. These votes will probably be held this morning. Three amendments listed under “Amendments debated but not voted on” appear to be national security-related.
