Top Military Officer Supports Missile Defense Cooperation

Today's top nuclear policy stories, with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today: Thursday, July 28, 2011.

U.S. and Russia Weighing Joint Missile Defense Program - Diane Barnes in The Atlantic [link]

• The Obama administration has reportedly courted Moscow's interest in establishing two jointly operated sites--one to cooperatively examine and assess radar and other monitoring data, and another for the development of military responses to various missile threats--in a bid to win Moscow's support for a unified European antimissile framework.
• U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, who would succeed retiring Adm. Michael Mullen as the United States' top military officer, endorsed deeper antimissile collaboration with Russia.
• "There's also some ... very early, nascent discussions with Russia about sharing early warning and things that could be very, very positive. So I think this work is ongoing and important, and I'll give it my full interest," Gen. Dempsey said.
• The Obama administration is also pursuing the reinstatement of a pact that could lay the groundwork for the United States and Russia to share data on technologies relevant to missile defense and other areas.

Russian Official Calls Kyl and Kirk “Monsters of the Cold War” - Josh Rogin in Foreign Policy [link]

• Dmirty Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, met with [Sen. Jon] Kyl and [Sen. Mark] Kirk yesterday in Washington … After the meeting, Rogozin let loose on the senators in an extensive interview with the Russian news service RIA Novosti, and sought to warn the Russian public of what he sees as the dangers of a return to Republican rule in America.
• Rogozin accused the two senators of threatening to scuttle the U.S.-Russia reset by stalling or attacking U.S.-Russian cooperation on several issues, such as nuclear arms control and missile defense … "Today, I had the impression that I was transported in a time machine back several decades, and in front of me say [sic] two monsters of the Cold War, who looked at me not through pupils, but targeting sights."
• [Kirk] shot back at Rogozin and said that frankly, he's not too concerned about Russia's views on U.S. missile defense plans one way or the other.

Military: Safety Concerns Prompt Destruction of Missile Minutes After California Test Launch - Associated Press [link]

• Launch controllers destroyed an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean early Wednesday when a problem was detected minutes after it blasted off for a reliability test, the Air Force said.
• The latest missile was launched from an underground silo at 3:01 a.m. and was destroyed five minutes later … Air Force controllers Wednesday detected “a flight anomaly and terminated the flight for safety reasons.”
• The Minuteman program is part of the nation’s strategic deterrent forces controlled by the Air Force Global Strike Command at Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base … [It] reaches a speed of 15,000 mph and has a range of more than 6,000 miles.

India and Pakistan Report Progress in Easing Strains - Lydia Polgreen in The New York Times [link]

• The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan met [in New Delhi] on Wednesday, agreeing to a set of small but significant concessions to ease tensions in the disputed border region of Kashmir and pledging to work toward closer ties between their mutually wary, nuclear-armed countries.
• The meeting came just two weeks after three synchronized explosions ripped through the city of Mumbai at rush hour, killing 24 people [and] wounding more than 100.
• “We have reaffirmed our commitment to resolve all outstanding issues through a comprehensive, serious and sustained dialogue,” said S. M. Krishna, India’s foreign minister, after the meeting. “This is indeed a new era of bilateral cooperation,” said Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s new foreign minister.

Arab Attitudes Toward Iran: 2011 - Arab American Institute [link]

• Findings from part two of the the latest Arab American Institute six Arab nations poll show real concern with Iran’s current and future role in the region.
• Iran's favorable ratings have dropped significantly in recent years. It is seen as not contributing to "peace and stability in the Arab World" and there is scant support for Iran's nuclear program.
• Significant majorities desire that the Middle East become a "nuclear free zone". When asked if they "had to choose one nation other than Israel to be a nuclear power in the Middle East" - for most Arabs, Egypt is the preferred choice, followed by Turkey.
• There is regional support for the GCC's [Gulf Cooperation Council] new and more assertive role in Bahrain, Yemen, and in their concern with Iran's nuclear program.

Nonprofit Jumpstart Hires new CEO - Kaivan Mangouri in The Boston Globe [link]

• Jumpstart, a national nonprofit organization based in Boston, has a new chief executive. Naila Bolus will join Jumpstart in October.
• A 20-year veteran of non-profit work, Bolus’ previous post was as the executive director of the San Francisco-based Ploughshares Fund, which works to reduce the world’s count of nuclear weapons. While at Ploughshares, Bolus was instrumental in expanding the the organization’s grant fund and tripling its staff.
• “I’m eager to join Jumpstart during this incredibly exciting time in its life cycle and to work with the entire Jumpstart family to grow and raise the visibility of this great organization,” Bolus said in a statement.