Morning Joe: May 18, 2009
History Follows Bibi to Washington
Stories we're following today:
The Obama-Netanyahu Meeting: Nuclear Issues - Avner Cohen & George Perkovich in the Carnegie Endowment's "Proliferation Analysis" [link]
- "This background is critical to understand the hype"
- The subject of Israel's nuclear weapons poses a more nuanced policy dilemma than the Washington Times story suggests and it is one that some Israelis and Americans might prefer to avoid by hinting that Israel's deterrent itself is in jeopardy.
Arabs, Persians, Jews - Roger Cohen from the New York Times [link]
- What’s really at issue here is that neither Israel nor the Arabs want a change in a status quo that locks in Israeli regional military dominance and the cozy relationships — arms deals, aid and all — that U.S. allies from the Gulf to Cairo enjoy.
- American interests are, however, another story. They are not served by having no communication with Iran, the rising Mideast power; nor by the uncritical support of Israel that has allowed West Bank settlements to grow and peace to fade; nor by relationships with Arab states that comfort stasis.
Pakistan Is Rapidly Adding Nuclear Arms, U.S. Says - The New York Times [link]
- Members of Congress have been told in confidential briefings that Pakistan is rapidly adding to its nuclear arsenal even while racked by insurgency, raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether billions of dollars in proposed military aid might be diverted to Pakistan’s nuclear program.
Obama's Budget Shortchanges Nunn-Lugar - Nukes of Hazard [link]
- President Obama has promised that within four years, the United States will help secure all vulnerable nuclear material in Russia and the former Soviet Union. With declining Nunn-Lugar budgets, it is hard to see how this nonproliferation goal will be achieved.
No Nuclear Weapons. Why Not? - The New York Times [link]
- To: The Editor
- Re: The Trouble With Zero, by Philip Taubman
- "All abolitionist movements, including the one to end slavery, have appeared quixotic to those invested in the status quo."
Amateur Astronomer Captures Stunning Images of Atlantis, Hubble in the Face of the Sun - Gizmodo [link]