Russia Condemns U.S. Atomic Deployment

History repeating? - “US deployment of atomic weapons in Germany could trigger an arms race while marking a stark policy shift from a few years ago when cries for nuclear nonproliferation rang across Western Europe, experts told Sputnik. On Tuesday, German media reported that the United States would station 20 next-generation nuclear weapons at the Buechel military air base in western Germany, information obtained from a line item included in the 2015 US budget.”

--“Russian officials have warned that if the US deploys B61-12 guided nuclear bombs to Germany it would violate the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT), and could force Moscow to exit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Pentagon and State Department officials have claimed that the US nuclear posture in NATO ally countries is consistent with all treaty obligations.” Read more here. http://bit.ly/1Ow8CJB

Tweet - @BrkNews365: North Korea says it has Restarted all Nuclear Bomb Fuel Plants #Uncategorized #Atomic http://ti.me/1Pxsjhx

U.S. and S. Korea nuclear talks - “Senior South Korean and US defense officials met in Seoul on Wednesday for talks focused on responding to the possibility of an imminent North Korean rocket launch and later nuclear test… There has been widespread speculation that Pyongyang may carry out a satellite rocket launch to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers Party on October 10. The North insists its space program is purely scientific, but the US, South Korea and their allies deem any such rocket launch to be a disguised ballistic missile test that violates UN resolutions.”

--“Opening Wednesday's talks in Seoul, Seoul's deputy minister for policy at the defense ministry, Yoo Jeh-Seung, said the meeting would seek to ‘firm up the combined defense posture’ of South Korea and the United States. ‘(This) carries special importance when North Korea's nuclear and missile threats are growing,’ he was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.” Get full story from Defense News here. http://bit.ly/1Ms20IY

Tweet - @ReThinkDefense: Pope Francis praised the #IranDeal during his speech to Congress today #PopeInDC

Iran deal and a prayer - “More than 160,000 American evangelical Christians have signed a pledge to pray for the deal and our leaders last Friday, September 18, the day after the final day for congressional review,” writes Rev. Richard Cizik for Huffington Post. “And while the number of individuals who have pledged to pray is enormous, they will surely be dwarfed by the actual prayers of the majority of evangelicals in America that polling has shown support the deal.”

--“We will be praying... that our leaders continue to work toward the goal of preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon, and that their decisions will protect the security of our citizens and strengthen America's moral leadership in the world… Supporting strong diplomacy and a deal that will keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is the natural position for Christians to take.” Read more here. http://huff.to/1R2B6cn

China eases U.S. nuke fears - “China could, in theory, become the possessor of a nuclear arsenal on the level of the United States and Russia,” writes Charles Tiefer for Forbes. “Defense contractors, and to some extent the Defense Department, would say that the possibility of such a strategic race, not just with Russia but in the long term with China, would partly justify the ‘new Cold War’ set of weapons they anticipate the taxpayer buying.”

--These justifications, however, are unwarranted as “China’s defense budget... is just a fraction of the United States’ $600 billion defense budget… [Secondly,] Xi Jinping’s overall reassuring stance on his state visit to the United States could help the public understand that China does not want the kind of full-scale strategic parity with the United States that Russia built up from 1949 to 1990… We do not need to beggar ourselves by spending a trillion dollars for the defense contractors’ vision of a new Cold War.” Get the full story here. http://onforb.es/1JrCOxx

Quick Hit:

--“Bring Up the Bombs,” by Caroline Milne for US News. http://bit.ly/1iyqm9x

Events:

--“Solving Japan’s Plutonium Problem,” featuring James Acton and Toby Dalton. Tuesday, September 29th from 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM at Carnegie Endowment, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://ceip.org/1L3851j

--“Policy and Politics of the Iran Agreement,” featuring Joseph Cirincione and Bernadette Meehan. Thursday, October 8th from 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM at Georgetown University, McGhee Library, ICC 301, Washington, DC. RSVP at IranDeal.eventbrite.com.

--“American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting: Dwight D. Eisenhower Award Special Session Panel,” featuring George Schultz and Sidney Drell. Monday, November 9th from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM at Marriott Wardman Park, Exhibit Hall A, 2660 Woodley Road NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1MobCEB