Representative Edward Markey (D–MA) has grave misconceptions regarding contributions that nuclear weapons make to the U.S. and allied national security. On Wednesday, he introduced a bill that would cut $100 billion in nuclear weapons programs. This bill is co-sponsored by 34 other Representatives. Not only would such cuts be disastrous for the already under-funded U.S. nuclear weapons infrastructure; they would also call into question U.S. commitment to extended deterrence and viability of the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START) with the Russian Federation. In addition, the proposed cuts would …
In the New Strategic Arm Reductions Treaty (New START), the United States agreed to a weak verification regime. An indication of this is that U.S. negotiators agreed to degrade the telemetry regime in the original START from verification to a transparency measure. Under New START, each party is required to exchange telemetry from up to five launches. It appears that U.S. negotiators in the Bilateral Consultative Commission, the treaty’s implementation body, have given into Russian demands yet again as both parties agreed this week to exchange telemetry from only one …
An increasing number of leaders in the House and the Senate recognize that the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 will impose a disproportionate burden on an already strained defense budget. The latest corrective effort comes from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R–VA). The BCA established caps on spending for national security and discretionary spending over the next 10 years. In addition, the law mandates a sequestration process that will apply $500 billion or more in deficit reduction to the defense account over the nine-year period covering FYs 2013–2021. These …
According to the recent news, the United States will not be signing the European Union Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. This is good news, but it ignores other Administration statements that indicate that the Administration is ignoring congressional calls for avoiding measures that would limit U.S. space operations. According to Ellen Tauscher, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, “it’s been clear from the very beginning that we’re not going along with the code of conduct.” It was not clear in February 2011, when 37 Republican …
The Obama Administration just rolled out its Defense Strategic Guidance (DSG), which outlines priorities of the U.S. military after the Budget Control Act of 2011. While it will have significant negative impact for the entire U.S. force structure, readiness, and training, the DSG mentions nuclear weapons to state that “it is possible that our deterrence goals can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force.” This is a mark of a wishful, rather than strategic, thinking. In addition, there is no justification as to why the document arrived at this conclusion. …
It is only a small exaggeration to say that the United States hasn’t had a coherent national security strategy since the end of the Cold War. To be sure, we have produced a back-breaking number of strategy documents and discussions, both in government and in think-tanks and academia. And, at least until the Obama Administration moved into re-elect mode, there’s been a pretty consistent pattern to American strategic behavior. But if we wish to maintain a “balance of power that favors freedom” and the American geopolitical leadership without which that …
According to an article in The Washington Times, the Obama Administration is trying to make yet another concession to the Russians over the U.S. missile defense program. This time, the Russians would be provided with the missile burnout velocity (VBO) of the U.S. SM-3 interceptor used on Aegis ships. This is a bad idea that has potentially significant limitations for the future of the U.S. missile defense system. It is not clear in what form the United States would give this information to the Russians. The implications of even a …
A number of military and veterans groups are expressing concern over a letter that Senator John McCain (R–AZ) has sent to members of the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction suggesting they adopt earlier proposals from a March report of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for scaling back military health care benefits and increasing fees. These groups are right to be concerned, but Senator McCain’s underlying views about the growing costs of the military health care system cannot be ignored. The costs are growing too quickly. The CBO proposals …
A recent New York Times editorial is turning one of the significant nuclear weapons’ benefits for the U.S. national security on its head, charging that the nuclear weapons budget is “bloated.” This is simply incorrect. Nuclear forces have been very cost effective relative to conventional forces and historically have consumed less than 5 percent of the Department of Defense’s budget. After the end of the Cold War, the funding for nuclear weapons infrastructure plummeted. For instance, the U.S. has not developed a new warhead or delivery vehicle for the past …
The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) took a hit when the German government decided to withdraw its support for the system. MEADS is a ground-based terminal ballistic missile defense (BMD) system developed jointly by the United States, Italy, and Germany. Germany’s step is not surprising. In February, the U.S. Department of Defense decided to stop funding for the procurement of the system. At the time, The Heritage Foundation argued that this step would undermine allied cooperation in missile defense. This appears to be correct, because Germany’s announcement questions its …
