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

Stories we're following today: Friday, July 15, 2011.

Top General: U.S. Needs Fresh Look at Deterrence, Nuclear Triad - Elaine Grossman in Global Security Newswire [link [1]]

• [Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James] Cartwright suggested ... that the future role of each leg of the nuclear triad -- bomber aircraft, ICBMs and submarine-launched missiles -- must be fundamentally re-examined so that desired capabilities and quantities are maintained, rather than determined by budget-cutting drills or political horse-trading.
• With the growing possibility today that the first modern detonation of a nuclear weapon could be at the hands of a terrorist rather than a foreign government, the game has changed, said Cartwright.
• Although the Defense Department completed a Nuclear Posture Review -- as well as a more sweeping Quadrennial Defense Review -- just last year, in Cartwright's view a full assessment of all U.S. capabilities versus anticipated threats has not yet occurred.

Smart Money to Stop Nuclear Terrorism - Joe Cirincione and Rizwan Ladha in Huffington Post [link [2]]

• On July 13 the House of Representatives approved an amendment offered by Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), along with Rick Larsen (D-WA) and John Garamendi (D-CA), to increase by $35 million the funding for the Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Reactor Conversion program -- a component of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.
• This is a significant victory for nonproliferation. The Reactor Conversion program … is part of the Obama administration's commitment to secure all vulnerable fissile materials worldwide in four years.
• The United States spends a total of $54 billion per year on nuclear weapons and related programs. Much of that money is wasted, but programs like the Global Threat Reduction Initiative are our front-line defense against nuclear terrorism.
• As Congress continues its debates over the national debt and determines national security budget cuts, it should not take the axe to programs that are central to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and material around the world.

US may pull tactical nukes out of Europe: report - Agence France-Presse [link [3]]

• The United States is in talks with NATO to remove US tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, in a push toward a nuclear-weapons-free world and to cut costs.
• In-depth discussions will take place in coming months and the talks should conclude by the time Chicago hosts a NATO summit next May.
• The move came as US President Barack Obama wants to negotiate with Russia about reducing tactical nuclear weapons and nuclear stockpiles, following the ratification this year of the US-Russia New START disarmament treaty.

Common sense on Iran - Barry Blechman in The Hill [link [4]]

• Americans, I discovered, have a lot more common sense about our options than many Washington politicians.
• When given a choice of policy options to deal with Iran, about 20 percent of Americans choose military intervention while, typically, 50 percent or more prefer economic sanctions or diplomacy, or a combination of the two. These figures ... have been fairly consistent for the past five years.
• My audiences also were skeptical about prospects for a diplomatic solution that satisfied international concerns that Iran’s nuclear activities were not masking a capability to rapidly arm itself and that Iran’s demand to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes, as is its right under the Nonproliferation Treaty, would not be abused.
• Unfortunately, in the short-term, a diplomatic solution is unlikely due to the politics in Washington and in Tehran … [however,] it is evident that the democratic values championed by Americans are shared by tens of millions throughout the Middle East.

Kathy Crandall Robinson: Time for a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty - Augusta Free Press [link [5]]

• It has now been almost 20 years since the United States last conducted a nuclear weapons test. For most Americans, nuclear weapon testing is not on their radar of concern.
• There is no military or scientific justification for testing, and there is certainly no political push for U.S. test explosions. But now, without U.S. Senate ratification of the CTBT, America is unable to realize the benefits of this tool to constrain other countries’ nuclear weapons programs. That makes no security sense.
• Fifteen years ago, the United States was the first country to sign the CTBT. U.S. leadership had galvanized multilateral negotiations that resulted in the verifiable treaty to detect, deter and confront countries that would test nuclear weapons … Now, the world awaits the United States to put its weight behind a push for a treaty we led the way in establishing.
• It’s past time to reassert leadership for America’s security. And it’s past time to complete unfinished business. The Senate should consider the new evidence for this essential treaty and ratify the CTBT.