Morning Joe: How Safe are Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons?

Stories we're following today:

Article Points to Risk of Seizure of Pakistani Nuclear Materials - Reuters [link]

• Pakistan’s nuclear facilities have come under attack from the Taliban and other groups, and there is a “genuine” risk that militants could seize weapons or bomb-making material, an article published in a West Point research group’s newsletter said.

Have Pakistani Nuclear Facilities Already Been Attacked? - "The Lede" by the New York Times [link]

• Even if these attacks were not launched to help militants seize nuclear material, Mr. Gregory’s article does underscore that Pakistan’s nuclear sites do tend to be located in uncomfortable proximity to the part of the country Islamists now control.

Forget the Posture Commission, OK? - Arms Control Wonk [link]

• That there is no bipartisan consensus today on nuclear weapons is why the Strategic Posture Commission — and frankly any commission — represents an endpoint, not a starting point for a new beginning.
• There is every reason to doubt, at this stage, that the Nuclear Posture Review will give the President real options. A set of real options would reflect, rather than obscure, the very different views about how much the details [of nuclear deterrence] matter.
• Notes: The above post references a critique by CSIS' Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) of my recent piece on Huffington - "The Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Landmine".
• If you want to contribute to this discussion, you are encouraged to leave comments on my post, on PONI's post, or on ACW's post.

The New Iran Sanctions: Worse Than the Old Ones - Gal Luft in Foreign Policy [link]

• In an effort to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, the U.S. Congress has set its sights on the Islamic Republic's foreign gasoline dependence.
• There is just one problem: Iran is much less vulnerable to gasoline sanctions than is commonly believed on Capitol Hill, and its foreign gasoline dependence is dropping by the day.

Interview with Enola Gay Crew Member Morris Jeppson - Mainichi Daily News [Links below]

• The following are excerpts from a recent Mainichi interview with Morris Jeppson, 87, one of two surviving members of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
• Links to parts one, two, & three
• Note: The interview provides a fascinating view of differing cultural and generational perspectives on history and nuclear weapons. Naturally, the interview's content should be taken with a grain of salt.

A View from the Dark Side

Why U.S. Diplomacy Will Fail With Iran - Edward Luttwak in The Wall Street Journal [link]

• Unless Iran's politics change, Mr. Obama's policy will fail. At that point, he will need a new, new policy of increasingly severe sanctions under the looming threat of bombardment—exactly Mr. Bush's old policy. But as Iran's nuclear program advances, time is running out for this policy to work.