IRAN
Russia Says Iranian Nuclear Deadlock Risks Military Strike
Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer, Bloomberg News – September 28, 2012
The deadlock in talks on Iran’s disputed nuclear program is increasing the risk of a military strike on the Persian Gulf country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview. “The alternative to a diplomatic resolution is growing escalation and rising risks that something irreparable, a military action, will take place,” Ryabkov, Russia’s top negotiator on Iran, said in Moscow today.
Iran’s rial plunges 13% to all-time low as sanctions bite
Jerusalem Post – October 1, 2012
The Iranian rial plunged more than 13 percent in open-market trade on Monday to a new all-time low of about 33,500 per US dollar, traders and currency-tracking websites said, meaning the currency has lost about a quarter of its value in the past week.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Says Talks Will Progress After U.S. Election
Susan Decker, Businessweek – September 30, 2012
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said talks over his country’s development of enriched uranium will be more productive after the U.S. election and expressed optimism the two sides will “be able to take some steps forward.” “We have seen during many years that as we approach the United States presidential election, no important decisions are made,” Ahmadinejad said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” program. “Following the election, certainly the atmosphere will be much more stable, and important decisions can be made and announced.”
MISSILE DEFENSE
U.S., Gulf countries seek to advance missile defense plan
Andrew Quinn, Reuters – September 28, 2012
he United States and its Gulf partners are looking to deepen cooperation on missile defense as tensions rise with Iran, and announcements could come soon on new purchases, U.S. officials said on Friday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) officials in New York as Washington seeks to boost regional defenses against perceived Iranian threats.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Y-12 National Security Complex, Tennessee Nuclear Site, Ends Security Contract Following Nun’s Break-In
Timothy Gardner, Huffington Post – September 29, 2012
The U.S. government’s “Fort Knox” of weapons-grade uranium storage has ended a contract with a unit of an international security firm two months after an 82-year-old nun and other nuclear activists broke into the site. The managing contractor at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, site, B&W Y-12, a unit of Babcock & Wilcox Co, said late on Friday it will terminate the contract with WSI Oak Ridge on Oct. 1. WSI is owned by security firm G4S, which was at the center of a dispute over security at this year’s London Olympic Games.
Ronald Reagan, Republicans, and Nuclear Weapons
Jonathan Granoff, Huffington Post – September 30, 2012
Listening to today’s candidates –at any level — one would not know that, historically, Republicans have been instrumental in advancing arms control, nonproliferation, and nuclear disarmament. That is, until the recent Bush administration. In fact, active Republican leadership was essential in obtaining the Biological Weapons Convention, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and the Chemical Weapons Convention, to name but a few. However, the current Republicans running for offices, both high and low, have forgotten this legacy of success in making America and the world safer based on the US value of the rule of law.
AFGHANISTAN
Nato troops among 14 dead in suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan
Ben Farmer, The Telegraph – October 1, 2012
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least 14 people and wounded scores more when he detonated his explosives as a joint Nato and police patrol passed through a busy square.
DEFENSE SPENDING
A $380 Million Defense Boondoggle
Mark Pfeifle, Huffington Post – September 28, 2012
With the Pentagon eyeing $500 billion in mandatory defense cuts that even Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says go too far, the United States Senate Appropriations Committee seems intent on doing even more damage to America’s military by squandering precious resources on a missile system that will never be put to use.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Romney slams Obama over Middle East, calls for new course
Reuters – October 1, 2012
Mitt Romney launched a fresh attack on President Barack Obama’s Middle East policy on Monday, saying the United States is moving dangerously closer to being pulled into the region’s chaos and that puts “our security at risk.”
NATIONAL SECURITY
11 Ways to Fix U.S. National Security
Daniel J. Gallington, US News and World Report – October 1, 2012
Too many of our national security policies, practices, and decisions operate to encourage and embolden our sworn enemies, rather than deter or discourage them. For example: Our responses to the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, the attack on Khobar Towers in 1996, and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 all demonstrated a lack of resolve to terrorist organizations and their state sponsors. Why? Because we regarded these attacks primarily as criminal matters, rather than requiring strategic responses.
