Morning Joe: June 9, 2009

Staffing the Nonproliferation Team

Stories we're following today:

Tauscher in Hot Seat for Key State Dept. Post - San Francisco Chronicle [link]

• When Rep. Ellen Tauscher seeks Senate confirmation today for a key State Department position, she is likely to face not only questions about her background, but also about the Obama administration's emerging arms-control strategy - and its vision of a future free of nuclear weapons.

Amid Crises, Obama Builds Nonproliferation Team - Foreign Policy's "The Cable" [link]

• Even as the Obama administration's nonproliferation personnel have grown in number in recent weeks, one Washington nonproliferation hand notes, key holes remain in a team confronting challenges in North Korea, Iran, and beyond.
• More hands are due to arrive. [Today], Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) has her confirmation hearing to become under secretary of state for arms control and international security. (Here's Tauscher's prepared testimony).

Seoul Imposes Sanctions on N. Korea - New York Times [link]

• South Korea imposed its first financial sanctions on North Korean companies, officials said Tuesday, taking a symbolic action that could anger the Communist regime while bolstering a joint front with the United States as the allies seek to punish the North for its recent nuclear test.
• North Korea continued its harsh rhetoric on Tuesday when the government-run newspaper, Minju Joson, warned that the regime can use its nuclear program not only for defense but also as “a merciless offensive means.”

North Korea’s Cruel Verdict - New York Times Editorial [link]

• We hope the Obama administration is vigorously working the few diplomatic levers available. It should urge China, North Korea’s main food and fuel supplier, to speak up for the two journalists and send an American envoy to make the case directly in Pyongyang. Failing to free them would only worsen relations with President Obama, who came into office committed to reviving negotiations, and add to growing calls in Washington — and around the world — for tougher sanctions.

Why Israel Won't Attack Iran - Stephan Cook in Foreign Policy [link]

• Given Israel's perception of an acute Iranian threat and its demonstrated ability to act alone, there must be some other factor holding the Israelis back. Most likely, that factor is politics, and more specifically, the importance that close relations with Washington has on the domestic political calculations of Israeli leaders.

Indonesia will ratify nuclear test ban immediately following U.S. ratification - Carnegie Endowment [link]

• Speaking today at the Carnegie Endowment, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said: “We share [President Obama’s] vision of a world in which nuclear weapons have been eradicated. We trust that he will succeed in getting the CTBT ratified—and we promise that when that happens, Indonesia will immediately follow suit.”

Huge Campaign Rallies Snarl Tehran - New York Times [link]

• As it happened, the crowds at Mr. Ahmadinejad’s rally were so thick that he was not able to get through to the podium in time to speak, and many of his supporters left early. At the same time, not far away, thousands of Mr. Moussavi’s supporters crowded the streets, creating traffic jams so heavy that the blocked roads were full of people walking home through the stopped cars.