Content Type
Famous last words
Since I just quoted Dr Ben Ouagrham-Gormley in the last post, it seems only fair that I mention this past article she wrote, published in the July/August issue of Arms Control Today.
The bottom line of her article, 'An Unrealized Nexus? WMD-related Trafficking, Terrorism, and Organized Crime in the Former Soviet Union' is this:
The P[b(j)] of Proliferation
The September 2006 issue of The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science published, naturally, by The American Academy of Political and Social Science, had a special issue CONFRONTING THE SPECTER OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM (Oh dear, all caps; be afraid, be very afraid).
Anyway, one article, 'A Mathematical Model of the Risk of Nuclear Terrorism', by Matthew Bunn, ran the numbers, literally, for measuring the global risk of nuclear theft and terrorism. Warning, you may want to reach for your former algebra books before reading further.
Congressional oversight? Surely you jest
We've mentioned the unfortunate plight of former US intelligence analyst Richard Barlow before. But this October 19 Congressional Quarterly article highlights a different aspect of his story; namely, is Congress really interested in trying to prevent nuclear proliferation or does it just grandstand? No, no, really, that is a serious question.
The Reports of the Nexus Are Greatly Exaggerated
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard the conventional wisdom a thousand times, ie, the nuclear black market will help terrorist groups obtain the materials and technology to make a nuclear, or a radiological weapon. Well, here’s good news, sort of.
It’s the Nnowledge, Not the Material
Back in July the Washington Post did a piece on the sad case of Richard Barlow, the former US intelligence analyst who was screwed over by this government for doing his job.
You see, Richard, we all have to make compromises…
And now let us return to the days of yore, February 11, 2004, when President Bush, made remarks on Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation. President Bush actually said (no, really, I’m not kidding) some good things about how to prevent proliferation.
Syria and Dr Khan
It almost slipped by me but you will be happy to note that Dr Khan is an issue in the US presidential election; at least he is to one Republican candidate.