Nukes Before Troops: Veterans Concerned with Congress’ Nuclear Spending

On the radar: Cutting troop support, spending lavishly on the bomb; Backing away from the table; Presidents Obama, Shepherd and Bartlet seek zero; Nuclear politics after Iran’s election; Lessons from JFK; and Trespassing in Tennessee.

June 11, 2013 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Alyssa Demus

Troops vs. nukes - “In this new era of austerity, it was disappointing to learn that Congress is considering spending billions of dollars on a Cold War relic with little value to our security needs of the 21st Century. Even worse, this money is desperately needed by our active duty service members,” writes Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org.

--Soltz describes the waste and strategic irrelevance of the $11.9 billion B-61 nuclear bomb program. “For the cost of the upgrade this year alone, the US could avoid cutting back pay raises for our troops and still have money to spare. Down the road, we can use savings to not just pay our troops what they deserve, but to alleviate sequestration cuts that affect the services provided to our troops and veterans -- services that they have earned through their sacrifice.”

--”That's why, yesterday, over 45 veterans from VoteVets.org in Washington State, penned a letter to Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Adam Smith, urging them to reject funding these unneeded nuclear weapons,” writes Soltz. Full article in The Huffington Post. http://huff.to/12DhMOe

A “pointless tradition” - Former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers confirmed recently that there are 22 US nuclear weapons stored in the Netherlands at Volkel Air Base. Lubbers calls the B61 bombs on dutch soil “an absolutely pointless part of a tradition in military thinking.” The New York Times offers background on the revelation of this open secret. http://nyti.ms/14uy6ig

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Talks scrapped - North Korea abruptly backed out of planned high-level talks with South Korea - slated to take place tomorrow - “over a seemingly minor disagreement over the diplomatic ranks of chief delegates,” reports Ju-min Park of Reuters. http://reut.rs/1bsblM4

#DemandZero - Tweets @globalzero: What do these celebrities have to say about nuclear weapons? Click to find out: http://bit.ly/13zMx3p

--The above video features President Obama’s 2009 call to end the nuclear threat, as read by Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Naomi Watts, Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Alec Baldwin, Zoe Kravitz, Danny DeVito, Whoopi Goldberg, John Cusack and Martin Sheen. Visit http://www.globalzero.org/ to learn more.

Unaffordable subs - ”Analysis: Navy May Be Unable to Afford 12 Ballistic Missile Subs” from Global Security Newswire. http://bit.ly/1bsaQSm

Tehran’s third nuclear strategy - With Iran set to hold presidential elections this Friday, June 14, many await to learn the details of the new president’s nuclear policy. Past transitions of power in Iran have brought shifts in the country’s nuclear policy. Mohammad Khatami’s strategy was “based on two conditions...maintaining Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology...and ensuring the nuclear file not be referred to the UN Security Council.”

--Under Ahmadinejad, “only Iran’s rights carried over from the Khatami government...avoiding referral to the UN Security Council was dropped as a central policy objective.” Amb. Seyed Hossein Mousavian discusses the implications of this policy shift, potential changes that could be implemented by a new president, and opportunities for engagement with the West at Al-Monitor. Full story here. http://owl.li/lV18Y

Tweet - @armscontrolnow: JFK's June 10, 1963 Speech & Today's Nuclear Weapons Challenges. @armscontrolnow #AUJFK50 #CTBT http://owl.li/lUY3u

Channeling JFK - President Kennedy’s, “Strategy of Peace” speech offers some important lessons for the Obama administration and its relations with Iran, fifty years later. JFK’s “approach was based on a simple idea - that to get past overwhelming mistrust, the US had to take the first step, not just in words, but also in concrete, undeniable actions.” For Kennedy, this step was halting testing of US nuclear weapons. For Obama, the first step could be sanctions relief.

--”The US, for instance, could waive some substantial sanctions and offer further conciliatory steps if Iran reciprocates. Iran could then export a portion of its 20-percent enriched uranium or blend some of it back to 5 percent, offering to do more if the US took further steps.” Like Kennedy, Obama should focus on common interests shared by the US and Iran as a way to address the differences, writes Harvard’s Matthew Bunn for the Christian Science Monitor. Full story here. http://owl.li/lV3S0

Bomb breach - A Tennessee woman accidentally drove onto the Y-12 National Security Complex without authorization and drove for two miles before she was stopped by security. The facility’s security is already under scrutiny following an incident last July when peace activists broke in and made it all the way to “the exterior of the main US storehouse for bomb-grade uranium,” before being intercepted. NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt said “seven protection workers and a manager have been removed from duty,” in response to the incident. Full story at Global Security Newswire. http://owl.li/lVaop

Tweet - @STcom: #France orders nuclear sub security investigation. bit.ly/15Txj9C

Events:

--"The Nuclear Threat: From Cuba, to Iran, to North Korea,” Joe Cirincione, June 11 5:30-7:30 pm @ World Affairs Council Connecticut, Mark Twain House & Museum Visitors Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT. Details here. http://owl.li/lSCB7

--Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, markup of its portion of the defense authorization bill, including NNSA’s nuclear nonproliferation programs. June 11, 6:00 pm 232A Russell Senate Office.

-- "Assessing the Dangers of a Nuclear-Armed Iran,” Colin Kahl, June 12 3:55-4:15 pm, CNAS annual conference. Willard InterContinental Hotel, DC. Webcast here. http://owl.li/lSDNw

--”The Implications of the NPT Regime for Nonproliferation.” Speech by Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman. June 18, 9:00 am @ Elliott School of International Affairs. RSVP and details here. http://owl.li/lH9Ks