U.S. News – The Reagan Vision

U.S. nuclear inspection results now concealed

bobcatou — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 13:58:42 +0000

The Pentagon has thrown a cloak of secrecy over assessments of the safety and security of its nuclear weapons operations, a part of the military with a history of periodic inspection failures and bouts of low morale. – More

Safety lapses undermine nuclear warhead work at Los Alamos

bobcatou — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 22:19:05 +0000

An extended shutdown of the nation’s only scientific laboratory for producing and testing the plutonium cores for its nuclear weapons has taken a toll on America’s arsenal, with key work postponed and delays looming in the production of components for new nuclear warheads, according to government documents and officials.

The unique research and production facility is located at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, the birthplace of the U.S. atomic arsenal. The lab’s director ordered the shutdown in 2013 after the Washington official in charge of America’s warhead production expressed worries that the facility was ill-equipped to prevent an accident that would kill its workers and potentially others nearby.

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‘Tear down this wall’: How Reagan’s forgotten line became a defining moment

bobcatou — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 17:24:35 +0000

The very idea of Ronald Reagan standing before the most powerful symbol of the Cold War and demanding that the leader of the Soviet empire “tear down this wall” threw two governments into conniptions. At home, the State Department fretted that Reagan’s harsh rhetoric would bollix efforts to negotiate with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. The West German government worried such a challenge to the status quo could spark a nuclear confrontation. – More

Trump, Who Pledged to Overhaul Nuclear Arsenal, Now Faces Increased Costs

bobcatou — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 14:31:39 +0000

When President Barack Obama’s term ended in January, he left a momentous decision to the Trump administration: whether to continue a 30-year, $1 trillion program to remake America’s atomic weapons, as well as its bombers, submarines and land-based missiles. – More

The US government just declassified 750 nuclear-weapons movies and put a bunch on YouTube

bobcatou — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 11:22:38 +0000

In its quest for Cold War military superiority, the United States detonated more than 1,000 nuclear weapons.
Government researchers blew up many of the bombs on the ground and others in ocean atolls. Yet as threats moved into space and concerns increased about fallout — soil and other material that’s sucked into a blast and becomes radioactive — the US exploded 210 of the terrifying devices high in the atmosphere. – More

Air Force nuclear officer: New START treaty is ‘good for us’ By Aaron Mehta

bobcatou — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 14:47:19 +0000

A top Air Force officer today defended the New START treaty as a major component of America’s strategic security, a week after the agreement with Russia was blasted by President Trump. Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, the service’s deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, said Thursday that the agreement was of “huge value” to the U.S., adding that it has “been good for us.” – More

Trump wants to make sure U.S. nuclear arsenal at ‘top of the pack’

bobcatou — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 03:52:50 +0000

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity. In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea “very easily if they want to,” ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyang’s increasingly bellicose actions.

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What Trump Doesn’t Get About Nukes

bobcatou — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 22:10:42 +0000

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet premier, warned in an extraordinary article late last month that the “increasingly belligerent” tone of geopolitical debates looked to him “as if the world is preparing for war.” He urged the United Nations Security Council to “adopt a resolution stating that nuclear war is unacceptable and must never be fought.”

Dems seek to limit Trump’s options for using nuclear weapons

bobcatou — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 23:34:32 +0000

Two Democrats are pushing Congress to restrict President Trump’s ability to launch nuclear weapons, reintroducing a bicameral bill Tuesday that would prohibit the president from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress. – More

Trump’s offer to Russia: an end to sanctions for nuclear arms cut

bobcatou — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 13:38:06 +0000

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will propose offering to end sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal with Moscow, he told The Times of London.
Criticizing previous U.S. foreign policy in an interview published on Monday, he described the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 as possibly the gravest error in the history of the United States and akin to “throwing rocks into a beehive”. More