IRAN
Iran to move enrichment operations if needed: report
Parisa Hafezi, Reuters – December 14, 2011
Iran will move its uranium enrichment plants to safer sites if necessary, a Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted on Wednesday as saying, following speculation that Tehran’s enemies could attack the facilities.
Ex-Middle East adviser: ‘We still have time’ to prevent Iran’s nuclear program
Joby Warrick, Washington Post – December 13, 2011
The Obama administration is committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear arms as a “vital national security interest” but believes there is still time to change Iranian behavior through economic and political pressure, a former top adviser on the Middle East said Tuesday.
Outlawing diplomacy with Iran comes with dangerous repercussions
Jamal Abdi, The Hill (Op-Ed) – December 13, 2011
For a bill being sold as a last best alternative to military confrontation, H.R.1905 sets a destructive precedent that will silence our diplomats, endanger our troops, and dangerously intensify the danger of war with Iran.
RUSSIA
Defense bill: Administration must tell Congress before giving missile defense info to Russia
Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy – December 13, 2011
If President Barack Obama’s administration wants to share sensitive data about U.S. missile defense systems with Russia, it now must at least tell Congress in advance, according to the final version of the defense authorization bill.
The Russian Spring Has Begun
Andrei Piontkovsky, WSJ (Op-Ed) – December 14, 2011
There is a remarkable consistency over the course of Russian history: Every authoritarian regime perished not because of destiny’s blows or enemy onslaught but because of internal disease. In the 20th century, it happened twice: the February Revolution of 1917 and Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika.
SWITZERLAND
Swiss charge three in nuclear weapons case
Reuters – December 13, 2011
Switzerland has charged a father and two sons with involvement in the smuggling ring of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s atom bomb who sold nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
IRAQ
Obama winds down Iraq war but verdict elusive
Matt Spetalnick, Reuters – December 13, 2011
“Mission Accomplished” are two words President Barack Obama will not use as he winds down the most unpopular U.S. military venture since Vietnam and declares an end to another war without victory.
Foreign Policy: Can Obama Claim Victory In Iraq?
Kori Schake, npr – December 14, 2011
The Obama administration is attempting to cast the Iraq war as a triumph of the president’s vision for American foreign policy. As a candidate, he promised to bring this war to an end, and as president he’s done so. It also conveniently fits into the Obama campaign’s general narrative that President Obama inherited problems of Herculean magnitude.
UNITED STATES
GOP senators to unveil replacement for automatic Defense cuts on Wednesday
Jeremy Herb, The Hill (Blog) – December 13, 2011
Four Republican senators are unveiling a proposal Wednesday that would replace $600 billion in automatic Defense cuts with other budget reductions.
Time to rethink nuclear weapons spending
Tom Collina & Daryl Kimball, The Hill (Blog) – December 13, 2011
The supercommittee’s failure to reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan may trigger deep, automatic reductions in future U.S. defense spending. At the same time, some in Congress are finally beginning to examine how much the United States plans to spend on nuclear weapons in the years ahead.
