The Department of Defense has submitted a report to Congress that warns Iran may be able to reach the United States with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by 2015. If Iran also successfully develops a nuclear weapon within that time, the consequences would be devastating for the U.S. and its allies in range of an Iranian missile. However, the Obama Administration’s missile defense plans to counter this looming threat will not sufficiently protect the U.S. from an Iranian ICBM. According to a White House Fact Sheet released last September, the …
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday sought to “correct” what he called “mischaracterizations” about the three-page memo that he had written on U.S. Iran policy last January after it became clear that Iran had rejected the Obama Administration’s efforts to resolve the nuclear issue through diplomacy. While The New York Times previously had reported that some administration officials considered the memo to be a “wake-up call” about the weaknesses of the administration’s Iran policy, Gates denied that was his intent, explaining that the memo “presented a number of questions and …
On Sunday, The New York Times reported that Defense Secretary Robert Gates had sent a secret memo to the White House that warned that the administration does not have an effective policy to deal with the threat of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. Gates responded by asserting that his memo intended “to contribute to an orderly and timely decision-making process.” Supporters of President Obama’s engagement policy argued that if Tehran rejected U.S. diplomacy, Iran’s belligerence would become obvious to the international community, justifying a more aggressive policy that would have …
The Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which outlines future threats to the United States, recommends cutting the number of military forces prepared to respond to a weapons-of-mass-destruction attack against America. The recommendation to downsize U.S. Northern Command personnel will expand one of three Consequence Management Response Forces (CCMRFs) while moving personnel in the other two brigade-sized forces to Homeland Response Forces in each of the 10 Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) districts. In this past Monday’s Washington Examiner, Dr. James Carafano writes, “The Pentagon argues that less is actually more, because …
One year after President Obama announced his desire to rid the world of nuclear weapons, his nuclear agenda is taking center-stage in American foreign policy. This week, the president will sign a new arms control agreement with Russia in Prague before he hosts the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC. At any moment the Administration is expected to release its 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, which adds to the momentum building towards the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review in May. As the president moves forward with his nuclear agenda, Americans need to …
When the United States and Russia meet in Prague on April 8 to sign the follow-on Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), Presidents Obama and Medvedev will finalize a process that took about a year to complete. Although some claim New START is a monumental step along the “road to zero” (a world without nuclear weapons), a look back at the rocky negotiation process reveals that serious national interests were sacrificed in the interests of this idealistic goal: On February 7, 2009, Vice President Joe Biden promised that the U.S. would …
It has taken over a year for the Obama Administration to understand what seemed clear when the President extended his hand to Iran: engagement will not work. How Washington responds to this reality as it presses for new sanctions will have a huge impact on the future of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Heritage Foundation’s James Phillips makes the case for the “strongest possible sanctions” to deter Iran from continuing its nuclear weapons program.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Moscow to speed up the completion of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty follow-on agreement with Russia continues to highlight the difficulty of dealing with Moscow even when the two countries ostensibly share common interests. Although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed an agreement would be reached before the end of the month, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin greeted Clinton with an announcement that the nuclear plant Russia is helping Iran build in Bushehr will begin operations this summer. Clinton called the decision “premature.” She …
The New York Times reports that the Obama Administration will probably change the United States’ nuclear policy in its upcoming Nuclear Posture Review. Specifically, President Obama would like to reduce the American nuclear arsenal by thousands of weapons but update the technology of the existing stockpile. The Nuclear Posture Review will outline important steps toward the new American policy on nuclear weapons, which is expected to further depart from a Cold War era posture. “The Heritage Foundation has proposed a ‘protect and defend’ strategic posture for the U.S. that is …
A recent war game simulating the National Security Council’s response to a cyber attack highlighted the United States’ serious vulnerability to such an attack in an era where it is increasingly important to prepare for the potential consequences of cyber warfare. The war game, in which several former government officials tried to manage the commercial and economic crash resulting from the collapse of the internet and cell phone service, indicates that the U.S. needs to do more to prepare for the worst case scenario. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair …
