Poor Timing
The whole time the US has been pushing for sanctions and rattling sabres when it comes to nuclear weapons development in Iran and North Korea, the administration has also been quietly working on a new nuclear warhead design. From today's NY Times.
The Bush administration is expected to announce next week a major step forward in the building of the country’s first new nuclear warhead in nearly two decades. It will propose combining elements of competing designs from two weapons laboratories in an approach that some experts argue is untested and risky.
The effort, if approved by President Bush and financed by Congress, would require a huge refurbishment of the nation’s complex for nuclear design and manufacturing, with the overall bill estimated at more than $100 billion.
The design phase has in fact been funded by Congress at relatively low cost for the past three years as the Los Alamos Laboratories and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories each began working on designs in a sort of competition. Because of various nuclear non-proliferation treaties, the designs would not be tested - just put together and then manufactured. At this point, no testing is contemplated, but the administration has made it clear that it is not bound by this stance or, presumably, those treaties when it comes to testing. Unable to decide which of the two designs was better, the commission studying the problem have decided to adapt parts of each in the new warhead.
The administration assures us that the new warhead is a necessity. One of the most promoted reasons is that the designs will prevent detonation if the warhead somehow gets into the hands of terrorists.
Congress, and the rest of the world, for that matter, will hopefully not be taken in by the argument, especially right now.
If Mr. Bush decides to deploy the new design, he could touch off a debate in a Democrat-controlled Congress and among allies and adversaries abroad, who have opposed efforts to modernize the arsenal in the past. While proponents of the new weapon said that it would replace older weapons that could deteriorate over time, and reduce the chances of a detonation if weapons fell into the wrong hands, critics have long argued that this is the wrong moment for Washington to produce a new nuclear warhead of any kind.
At a time when the administration is trying to convince the world to put sanctions on North Korea and Iran to halt their nuclear programs, those critics argue, any move to improve the American arsenal will be seen as hypocritical, an effort by the United States to extend its nuclear lead over other countries. Should the United States decide to conduct a test, officials said, China and Russia — which have their own nuclear modernization programs under way — would feel free to do the same. North Korea was sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council for conducting its first test on Oct. 9, and it may be preparing for more, experts said.
This administration's track record is fairly clear. It had no qualms about lying us into a war by claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and could use them at moment's notice. Then, once that reason was debunked, we went in to topple a dictator and to build a dictatorship. We should have no illusions that the administration will lie about this, either.
When the call for funding comes before Congress, it will hopefully shout down that request loudly.
The Bush administration is expected to announce next week a major step forward in the building of the country’s first new nuclear warhead in nearly two decades. It will propose combining elements of competing designs from two weapons laboratories in an approach that some experts argue is untested and risky.
The effort, if approved by President Bush and financed by Congress, would require a huge refurbishment of the nation’s complex for nuclear design and manufacturing, with the overall bill estimated at more than $100 billion.
The design phase has in fact been funded by Congress at relatively low cost for the past three years as the Los Alamos Laboratories and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories each began working on designs in a sort of competition. Because of various nuclear non-proliferation treaties, the designs would not be tested - just put together and then manufactured. At this point, no testing is contemplated, but the administration has made it clear that it is not bound by this stance or, presumably, those treaties when it comes to testing. Unable to decide which of the two designs was better, the commission studying the problem have decided to adapt parts of each in the new warhead.
The administration assures us that the new warhead is a necessity. One of the most promoted reasons is that the designs will prevent detonation if the warhead somehow gets into the hands of terrorists.
Congress, and the rest of the world, for that matter, will hopefully not be taken in by the argument, especially right now.
If Mr. Bush decides to deploy the new design, he could touch off a debate in a Democrat-controlled Congress and among allies and adversaries abroad, who have opposed efforts to modernize the arsenal in the past. While proponents of the new weapon said that it would replace older weapons that could deteriorate over time, and reduce the chances of a detonation if weapons fell into the wrong hands, critics have long argued that this is the wrong moment for Washington to produce a new nuclear warhead of any kind.
At a time when the administration is trying to convince the world to put sanctions on North Korea and Iran to halt their nuclear programs, those critics argue, any move to improve the American arsenal will be seen as hypocritical, an effort by the United States to extend its nuclear lead over other countries. Should the United States decide to conduct a test, officials said, China and Russia — which have their own nuclear modernization programs under way — would feel free to do the same. North Korea was sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council for conducting its first test on Oct. 9, and it may be preparing for more, experts said.
This administration's track record is fairly clear. It had no qualms about lying us into a war by claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and could use them at moment's notice. Then, once that reason was debunked, we went in to topple a dictator and to build a dictatorship. We should have no illusions that the administration will lie about this, either.
When the call for funding comes before Congress, it will hopefully shout down that request loudly.
Labels: Iran, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons
posted by Diane at 11:23 AM
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