Trust and Oversight Questions Face U.S. Nuclear Stewards

June 27, 2014 | Edited by Lauren Mladenka and Geoff Wilson

Oversight vs. micromanagement - “The key to improving morale in the Air Force's nuclear missile corps is to put more responsibility in the hands of junior officers and enlisted airmen, the commander of the missile corps said Wednesday. In an Associated Press interview at Minot Air Force Base, which operates one-third of the nation's 450 Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein said that in addition to devoting more resources to the mission, he is pushing to empower those who maintain, operate and secure the missiles. ‘They were being micromanaged,’ he said.”

--“Their morale has suffered, Weinstein said, in part because they are told their work is important but they are not permitted to make even basic decisions about how to perform it. He said that over time this has tended to detract from their sense of purpose. ‘The best way to produce leaders of the future is to make sure that when they are junior you properly educate and train them and you let them make decisions,’ he said.”

--“Not all ICBM commanders appear to share Weinstein's view that the force has been micromanaged. Col. Robert Vercher, who stepped down Tuesday as commander of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot, said in an AP interview shortly before his departure that tight control of the nuclear mission is necessary to maintain public confidence in the Air Force's nuclear stewardship.” Vercher said that, “You might call it micromanagement, but I would call it oversight — proper oversight. When I hear the word 'micromanagement' I go, 'It depends.' How much do you want your tax return micromanaged by your accountant? Exquisitely or just kind of haphazardly?” Read the full report from Robert Burns for the AP here. http://abcn.ws/1lkFy42

Miscalculation - “The odds of a nuclear-arms miscalculation by Moscow could increase because another one of its threat-detection satellites has ceased working,” Global Security Newswire reports. “The Russian defense ministry has revealed that its last geostationary satellite, which remains in permanent orbit above the United States, has stopped functioning... Russia has other satellites capable of detecting intercontinental ballistic-missile launches, but they travel in highly elliptical orbits instead of being positioned directly above the United States, as was the case with the now-defunct Cosmos 2479 satellite.”

--“Russia's ability to detect ICBM threats has been getting worse over the years as more and more of its constellation of Soviet-era missile-detection satellites have ceased operating. At present, the former Cold War power can only monitor for U.S. missile launches for three hours a day.” Full article here. http://bit.ly/1jrAOKn

Tweet - @BulletinAtomic: Actually, #Ukraine shows the uselessness of nuclear weapons. In this case, NATO's: ow.ly/ywoQ0

Meet-up - “Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit South Korea next week, the two countries announced on Friday, with North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons featuring prominently on the agenda in summit talks,” writes Jack Kim in Reuters. “South Korea has sought to win China's assurance to be more assertive on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, but Beijing has been reluctant to take dramatic steps that could destabilize the North.” http://reut.rs/1wFxYsQ

Test fire - “North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un observed the test-firing of a newly developed, high-precision tactical guided missile, the North’s official KCNA news agency said Friday, hailing a ‘breakthrough’ in the country’s defensive capabilities,” AFP reports. “The agency said the test of the new weapon, which was developed under Kim’s personal guidance, was wholly successful.”

--“It was not immediately clear when the test took place, but it coincides with the firing of what were believed to be three short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) on Thursday.” http://bit.ly/1sKjQA5

Tweet - @ArmsControlWonk: No Japan isn't going to build a bomb. (But it would be awesome at it.) Me in @ForeignPolicy http://atfp.co/1qP93Tv

Strategy session - “Senior diplomats from six world powers met in Brussels on Thursday to search for ways to resuscitate negotiations with Iran over its contested nuclear program,” reports Justyna Pawlak for Reuters. “In the coming weeks, the sides will have to decide how far they are willing to go, if at all, to compromise on major sticking points such as the extent of uranium enrichment capacity Iran would be allowed to keep under any deal and the future of its atomic sites.”

--“Privately, Western diplomats say they would be willing to consider extending the interim deal and continuing talks beyond July 20 only if an agreement was clearly in sight. Some say talks may be extended by a few days or weeks, but only if the sides need more time to iron out technical details of an otherwise clear deal. Even a full, six-month extension envisaged as a possibility under the interim agreement may be acceptable only if a deal is in sight, according to others.” Full report here. http://reut.rs/TE45ee

Moving forward - “Last week, Great Britain announced plans to re-open its embassy in Tehran, which has been closed since 2011,” write Morad Ghorban and Adrienne Varkiani for The Hill. “As the U.S. and its allies hold discussions with Iran over its nuclear program and options to stabilize Iraq, Washington should reconsider opening a limited diplomatic post in Iran that would allow it to capitalize on strategic interests in the region.”

--“The United States does not need to open a full-fledged embassy or re-establish formal diplomatic relations, but an American-staffed interests section in Tehran could help inform policy formulation and execution by assessing and reporting on realities on the ground and effectively engaging key actors and all sectors of Iranian society. It would help advance and explain U.S. policy to ordinary Iranians by engaging local media and help enhance U.S. broadcast programming to Iran by conveying a more accurate feel of the Iranian street.” Full story here. http://bit.ly/1sKl7XX

Move against landmines - In response to the Obama administration’s announcement that it will not produce or otherwise acquire any anti-personnel landmines in the future, including to replace existing stockpiles as they expire, Joe Cirincione, President of Ploughshares Fund, released the following statement:

--“Landmines have never been consistent with American values or America’s national security interests. As an early and sustained funder of the Nobel Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Ploughshares Fund welcomes this step away from the use of these indiscriminate killers. We strongly urge President Obama to continue in this direction by destroying the existing mines, committing never to use them again, and joining 161 other nations – including all our NATO allies – as a party to the Mine Ban Treaty before the end of his administration.” Full statement here. http://bit.ly/1nMbott

Quick-hits:

--“Quantifying Progress in Reducing WMD Threats Getting Tougher: Report” by Rachel Oswald in Global Security Newswire. http://bit.ly/1lkDCIK

--“Fusing physics, cryptography to solve a nuclear inspection paradox” by Geoffrey Mohan for the Los Angeles Times. http://lat.ms/TpmZF9

--“South Korean Nuclear Firm Caught Using Fake Security Certificate” in Global Security Newswire. http://bit.ly/1yUqPai

Events:

--“Iran Sanctions: What the U.S. Cedes in a Nuclear Deal.” Discussion with Suzanne Maloney, Kenneth Katzman, and Elizabeth Rosenberg; moderated by Robin Wright. July 8 from 9:30 to 11:00 at the U.S. Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave., NW. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1lTst7K

--“Generation Prague: Innovation in International Security.” Annual Conference with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sigrid Kaag, Frank Klotz, Rose Gottemoeller, Tom Countryman, Andrew Weber, and other. July 10 at the U.S. Department of State, East Auditorium, George Marshall Conference Center. More information and RSVP here. http://1.usa.gov/1nPgROR