Britain's Liberal Democrat armed forces minister, Nick Harvey, indicates that the final decision on the replacement of Trident will be delayed until October 2015 – after the next general election. This would allow the Liberal Democrats and their Conservative coalition partners to do battle over the future of the submarine nuclear missile system in the election campaign.
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/22/trident-decision-delay-expected-2015.
Paul Ingram wrote the lead letter in the Financial Times, arguing that “there are in fact substantial financial benefits” to ending the requirement that the United Kingdom maintain a nuclear submarine at sea at all times. “Not only would the current running costs be reduced, but so too would the total substantial capital costs…”
Read the full letter on the website of the Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/afb28048-c056-11df-8a81-00144feab49a.html
Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has distributed a “discussion draft” of the New START Treaty Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification. An article in The Cable reviews reaction to the draft and related political developments in Washington.
To read the article, visit:
“Unfortunately, the nuclear capability of Israel goes unmentioned in his article, highlighting the Arab contention that the West is guilty of double standards by shielding Israel but punishing Iran.”
Excerpt from article by BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh, written for The Hill’s Congress Blog.
Read the full article:
“In the last few weeks, watching the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on New START unfold, I have sometimes felt like shouting out 'Senators, get a world view,' because in the minutiae of 18 public hearings, the bigger picture has been lost.”
Excerpt from article by BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh, written for The Hill's Congress Blog.
Read the full article:
“The British and the British media have to be very careful in shouting too loudly about this. It's America's worst environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf, and if you are too defensive about this the mud sticks.”
BASIC Executive Director Paul Ingram quoted in the Times Colonist. Read more:
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/special+relationship+with+under+microscope/3181535/story.html
Day 17: The NPT Review Conference president, Libran Cabactulan, has moved towards the endgame by submitting a draft final document which contains both a treaty review and a forward-looking action plan covering all three pillars of the treaty (disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy).