Cold War Targeting Process Largely Unchanged

August 1, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Leah Fae Cochran

Nuclear targeting - “The fundamental objectives of U.S. nuclear deterrence policy have remained largely consistent since 1991, even as the threat environment and the size of the nuclear weapons stockpile have changed. The current process for developing nuclear targeting and employment guidance has remained consistent. However, the structure of the nuclear war plan, and the categories and number of targets in the plan, have changed. DOD continues to exercise civilian oversight of the targeting process. The indirect relationship between the targeting process and DOD’s determination of requirements for nuclear weapons and delivery systems also continues.”

--New GAO report on “Changes in the Nuclear Weapons Targeting Process Since 1991.” (pdf) http://1.usa.gov/R887HO

[Feigned Surprise Here] - “NNSA does not thoroughly review budget estimates before it incorporates them into its proposed annual budget. Instead, NNSA relies on informal, undocumented reviews of such estimates and its own budget validation review process,” writes GAO in its latest report titled “NNSA’s Reviews of Budget Estimates and Decisions on Resource Trade-offs Need Strengthening.” (pdf) http://1.usa.gov/NJ2hMs

Tweet - @Plough_Shares: Finally got our 1945 NYTimes framed for the office. Check it out. http://tinyurl.com/cxh7vkq

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Hotline - In an open memo to the President, 11 former Intelligence officers make the case for a “hot-line” arrangement between the U.S. and Iranian Navies and military-to-military negotiations for an incidents-at-sea protocol in order to prevent a naval crisis from spiralling into a war.

--”The recent buildup of warships in the Persian Gulf has added not only to crowding, but also to a hair-trigger, volatile environment,” according to the officials. Read the full memo here. http://bit.ly/N0tCWW

Bargaining chip? - Iran’s plans to build nuclear-powered submarines have been expanded to include tankers and using a higher enriched form of uranium, a potential excuse to keep the ongoing P5+1 talks from capping Iran’s enrichment.

--Ollie Heinonen, an ex-IAEA official, explains what Iran would need to do to develop this capability and warns that the plan “may not be just a bargaining chip given easily away.” Christian Science Monitor has the story. http://bit.ly/NGiUsb

BMD gets boost in Approps bill - The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee markup of its FY13 spending bill recommends $604.5 billion for the Pentagon.

--Included above request: $500 million for the Missile Defense Agency and $194 million for additional Patriot PAC-3 missiles. Kate Brannen at Defense News has the story. http://bit.ly/Qvlgf7

The Midas Touch - “The United States is about to buy a nuclear bomb that costs 1.5 times its weight in solid gold. It would make even King Midas blush. Nuclear weapons programs now cost so much they are actually more expensive than if they were made of gold,” writes Joe Cirincione at The Huffington Post. http://huff.to/QpwpLz

--See the full infographic at the Ploughshares Fund Blog. http://bit.ly/PiKUfQ

Sanctions - The White House imposed new sanctions on two banks in China and Iraq, while expanding restrictions on the purchase of Iranian petrochemical products. Joby Warrick at the Washington post has the story. http://wapo.st/NlKLbc

Radar boat - The Navy began sea tests of the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen, a $1.7 billion ship with a large radar system designed to track foreign ballistic missile launches. Bob Brewin at Global Security Newswire has the story. http://bit.ly/MZ2wkV

”In a perfectly routine way” - Writing in 1968, William F. Buckley commented that “The pity is that we are saving our tactical nuclear weapons for melodramatic use, for use, presumably, at the apocalypse towards which we may very well be headed in the long term.”

--In a doozy of a quote, Buckley wrote, ”The time to introduce the use of tactical nuclear arms was a long time ago, in a perfectly routine way.” Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic pulls the article from the archives. http://bit.ly/NJ0Opg