MISSILE DEFENSE
HASC Green-Lights East Coast Missile Shield
John T. Bennett, Defense News — June 6, 2013
A Republican-controlled House panel on Wednesday evening voted to give the Pentagon the green light to erect a missile defense defense system on the East Coast of the United States, moving the controversial site one step closer to becoming reality.
IRAN
Iran Open to Plutonium Checks as IAEA Defers Action to September
Jonathan Tirone, Bloomberg News — June 6, 2013
Iran encouraged United Nations nuclear monitors to use powerful new detection technologies to dispel international concern that the Persian Gulf country is seeking to build atomic weapons.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board of governors will conclude its quarterly meeting today in Vienna without raising pressure on Iran. World powers reiterated their concerns in a statement about Iran’s nuclear program while highlighting “deep concern” about the planned startup of a plutonium-producing reactor next year.
Arabs press Iran on atomic reactor safety
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters — June 6, 2013
Arab Gulf states sought reassurances from Iran at a U.N. nuclear agency meeting this week over the safety of its only atomic energy plant, which is located in an earthquake-prone coastal area, diplomats said on Thursday.
Netanyahu: Iran election won’t stop quest for nuclear bomb
Reuters — June 5, 2013
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday Israel feared Iran would pursue what he said was a drive to develop nuclear weaponry whatever the outcome of its June 14 presidential election.
NORTH KOREA
North, South Korea agree to hold talks; nuclear program not on agenda
Sam Kim, The Associated Press — June 6, 2013
North and South Korea on Thursday agreed to hold talks on reopening a jointly run factory complex and other cross-border issues, after months of deteriorating relations and a day before a U.S.-China summit in which the North is expected to be a key topic.
The envisioned talks could help rebuild avenues of inter-Korean co-operation that were obliterated in recent years amid hardline stances by both countries, though the key issue isolating the North from the world community — its nuclear program — is not up for debate.
China’s frustration with its nuclear ally North Korea offers hope for US
The Associated Press — June 6, 2013
China’s growing frustration with longtime ally North Korea offers the United States a glimmer of hope about a once unthinkable prospect: holding discussions between Washington and Beijing about what to do if the government in Pyongyang collapses.
DEFENSE SPENDING
Opinion: The nuclear bomb we don’t need
Steve Andreasen, The Los Angeles Times — June 6, 2013
…But policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic ought to be more inclined than they have been to trim defense programs tailored for a Cold War that has been over for two decades, in particular during an era of sequestration in Washington and austerity in Europe…Enter the American B61 nuclear bomb
Opinion: Let’s Wise Up About Defense Spending
Ryan Alexander, US News and World Report — June 5, 2013
The House Armed Services Committee is voting on the fiscal year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act this week and will turn it over to the full House of Representatives next week. Shortly thereafter, the bill that actually gives the Department of Defense the cash to spend will be on the floor. At this time, it is worth taking a moment to consider the role our national defense and defense spending play in our current fiscal predicament.
AFGHANISTAN
Op-Ed: Can Pakistan Make Peace Next Door?
Ahmed Rashid, The New York Times — June 5, 2013
Mr. Sharif, whose government was seated on Wednesday, could change the equation and help the Taliban climb down from their refusal to resume talks with the United States by marginalizing hard-liners and empowering those Taliban leaders seeking peace. He may also be able to strike a better relationship with the cantankerous president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, than Pakistan’s military leaders have achieved because of years of mistrust.
