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President Barack Obama is set to announce a new round of strategic nuclear warhead reductions in the near future as part of a disarmament agenda that could reduce U.S. strategic warheads to as few as 1,000 weapons. The next round of U.S.-Russian arms talks would follow Obama's expected announcement that the United States' arsenal of strategic warheads can be reduced unilaterally to around 1,000 warheads. That position is expected as part of the Pentagon's long-delayed Nuclear Posture Review implementation study that Obama was expected to sign earlier this year. Recent press reports have indicated that President Obama may make the...

A senior Palestinian Authority has praised the use of violence against Israel, asserting that if the PA had the military wherewithal to rise up against the Jewish state, it would not hesitate to do so. "I swear that if we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning," vowed Jibril Rajoub during an interview with the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV channel, as reported by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Jibril Rajoub is the Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee and Chairman of the PA Olympic Committee. The interview was also published on Rajoub's Facebook page on May 2,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Air Force stripped an unprecedented 17 officers of their authority to control - and, if necessary, launch - nuclear missiles after a string of unpublicized failings, including a remarkably dim review of their unit's launch skills. The group's deputy commander said it is suffering "rot" within its ranks.

A new Pentagon assessment of Iran’s military power maintains that in two years time, Iran could flight-test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the United States, given “sufficient foreign assistance”, is provided to Tehran. The new assessment reiterated a longstanding estimate of the U.S. intelligence community. Iran could test such a missile by 2015 with assistance from nations like North Korea, China or Russia. Pyongyang is already in the process of developing the KN-08, an extended range ballistic missile that can reach the US West Coast. The missile’s range could be extended to provide the missile an intercontinental strike...

According to Ali Alfoneh at the American Enterprise Institute Iran has transformed from a Theocracy to a Military Dictatorship under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top clerics are now under the control of the Guards. The silent power shift was aided by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was the first Military veteran to hold the post. His economic policies allowed the IRGC to create the economic leverage necessary to control the nation. Ayatollah Khamenei is now just a figurehead used to camouflage the IRGC silent coup and keep the...

For years the Obama line was that sanctions were the answer to get Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program. Now even sanctions aren’t the answer. Instead sanctions might upset the delicate flower of Iranian diplomacy. And Hanoi John, a veteran of unsuccessful appeasements of the Viet Cong and the Sandanistas, who embraced monsters like Assad, is an absolute expert at not offending the people trying to kill us. Secretary of State John F. Kerry implored Congress on Thursday not to impose tough new sanctions on Iran, warning that such a move could disrupt diplomacy over Tehran’s disputed nuclear...

WASHINGTON -- Senior Obama administration officials have agreed that the number of nuclear warheads the U.S. military deploys could be cut by at least a third without harming national security, according to those involved in the deliberations. Such a reduction would open the door to billions of dollars in military savings, which might ease the federal budget deficit. It also would improve prospects for a new arms deal with Russia before President Barack Obama leaves office, those involved said, but it’s likely to draw fire from conservatives, if previous debate on the issue is any guide.

It’s way past time for the Obama administration to take North Korean and Iranian nuclear threats seriously. An urgently critical priority must be to counter North Korea’s rapidly-emerging capability to deliver and detonate an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) device in the sky over America which could knock out electronic computer circuits and paralyze virtually all activities over a vast region. Last December they successfully demonstrated its capability to launch a small payload into orbit, meaning that may soon be able to target regions in the U.S. and other distant locations. A devastating nuclear EMP device could be small, and North Korea...

With North Korea breathing nuclear threats against America and Japan, China ramping up their nuclear arsenal and navy, Russia's deadly but silent presence ever looming and Iran in the process of possessing nuclear weapons the world today more than ever is ready for a massive nuclear global holocaust. A popular prophetic question that is always asked is, “Is nuclear war mentioned in the Bible, and if so, when will it take place?” Nuclear war is not mentioned specifically in the Holy Scriptures, but in looking at the context of events pertaining to the last days, we can see without a...

After successful recent ballistic and nuclear bomb tests, North Korea has threatened the United States with nuclear strikes. This week, the Pyongyang regime stated that the Korean Peninsula is headed for thermo-nuclear war, told foreign diplomats to leave North Korea and advised foreigners to leave South Korea. Today, it has two medium range Musudan-1 missiles prepared for immediate launch from its east coast. It’s decision time on North Korea. What should the U.S. do if, as expected, North Korea goes ahead and launches the two Musudan-1 missiles?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel cannot rely on any other country, even an ally, when it comes to facing up to the perceived nuclear threat from Iran. "We appreciate the efforts of the international community to halt Iran's nuclear programme," Netanyahu said in a speech on the eve of Holocaust Day. "But at no stage will we abandon our fate into the hands of other countries, even our best friends," he said, in an apparent reference to the United States whose Secretary of State John Kerry flew in to Israel on Sunday. "What has changed since the...

Exclusive: Joseph Farah warns of 'Red Dawn' scenario becoming real-life catastrophe Have you seen “Red Dawn”? I don’t mean the old movie starring the late Patrick Swayze. It was good. But I’m talking about the more recent version. I hesitated watching it for a long time, mainly because I thought the producers of the movie sold out when they opted to substitute a North Korean invasion of the U.S. for what was originally planned as a more likely Chinese invasion. Supposedly they did so because the Chinese movie market was too lucrative to pass up. But, having seen it recently,...

National Security: The administration moves an advanced missile defense system to Guam because it knows a single low-yield nuke detonated at high altitude could send America back in time a hundred years. The announcement Wednesday by the Defense Department that it would soon deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD), a missile defense system inherited from the Bush administration, to Guam underscores the seriousness of the threat from North Korea, whose actions, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel rightly said, "present a real and clear danger." This move comes after the Obama administration reversed its previous scuttling of Bush administration...

The United States faces, in my opinion, a less than 0.5% chance of being hit by a crude or advanced fission type nuclear weapon by North Korea. In fact the delivery systems they currently possess limit the ability of the regime in Pyongyang to very few targets outside of their region, putting US troops at risk but worse, the ability to destroy America does exist in that region. One map illustrating the targets of highest probability demonstrates why:

One of North Korea's top decision-making bodies is setting guidelines that call nuclear weapons "the nation's life" that won't be traded even for "billions of dollars,” The Associated Press reported. The statement Sunday came after a plenary meeting of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party attended by leader Kim Jong Un and other officials, the AP said. **SNIP** Sunday’s statement says nuclear weapons aren't "goods for getting U.S. dollars" or a "political bargaining chip." Outside analysts have said Pyongyang raises worries over its nuclear ambitions to spur nuclear-disarmament-for-aid talks, the AP said.

There is nothing much unusual about armed guards outside the houses in my quiet, neat neighbourhood of Islamabad. These are the homes of retired generals, well-connected politicians and international aid workers, all of whom might be targets for Pakistani extremists. But one house stands out. Instead of frail, elderly guards armed with shotguns, one house is ringed by uniformed police officers with AK-47s. Roadblocks control traffic, floodlights illuminate an area of scrub that has been cleared of trees and machine gun positions have been dug in all around. This is the home of AQ Khan, the metallurgist who did more...

President Barack Obama’s efforts to significantly curtail U.S. nuclear weapons without seeking the proper Senate approval are at best misguided and worst illegal, sources tell Newsmax. Obama is exploring opportunities to achieve the reductions in infrastructure and capability he seeks—including a drawdown to 1,000 weapons—without seeking the advice and consent of the Senate that international treaties require.Efforts to push the boundaries of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia are ill-advised, sources say. A proposal that seeks to achieve nuclear arms reductions outside the framework of New START, however, would run afoul of the law. … Pursuing...

Snip: Is Obama declaring war on U.S. military? Obama has made no secret of his plans for deep military cuts that would downsize the Pentagon. In 2010, he cut $487 billion from the defense budget. In 2011, he signed into law a budget process intended to cut an additional $492 billion over 10 years. The New York Times recently reported: “On the list are not only base closings but also an additional reduction in deployed nuclear weapons and stockpiles and a restructuring of the military medical insurance program that costs more than America spends on all of its diplomacy and...

It's being prepared for our dinner. Should we eat it? How would it affect us and What should be done instead?Relations between China and North Korea seem, cosmetically, to be getting chillier. China joined the unanimous U.N. Security Council vote for sanctions in response to North Korea's most recent nuke test. However, that vote was taken after China had successfully demanded that they not be too hurtful and that further negotiations be the principal objective. Even when China had in the past agreed to sanctions it aided in their violation -- particularly as to the luxury goods that matter to...

South Korea vows strong response if provoked North Korea's armed forces are reported to be awaiting a "final order" from the country's supreme leader Kim Jong-un before launching a campaign against South Korea. Ahead of a ten-day joint computer-simulated drill to be conducted by the US and South Korea on 11 March, the North's most widely circulated mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun said: "Our front-line military groups, the army, the navy and the air force, the anti-aircraft units and the strategic rocket units, who have entered the final all-out war stage, are awaiting the final order to strike." The mouthpiece said the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. is fully capable of defending itself against a North Korean ballistic missile attack, the White House said Thursday, after Pyongyang threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States.The threat from the North Koreans came ahead of a unanimous vote in the U.N. Security Council approving its toughest sanctions yet on the North in response to an atomic test last month.North Korea has escalated its bellicose statements this week as the tightening of U.N. sanctions loomed. It has also threatened to scrap the cease-fire that ended the 1950-53 Korean War."I can tell you that...

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Chinese general who threatened nuclear strike on U.S. visits Washington this week Guess Who’s Coming to DinnerBy Bill Gertz, The Washington Free Beacon A Chinese general who once threatened to use nuclear weapons against hundreds of U.S. cities will visit the Pentagon this week as part of a U.S.-China military exchange program. Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu, who is head of China’s National Defense University, will take part in a  “familiarization exchange,� Maj. Catherine Wilkinson, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told the Free Beacon. “The delegation will visit Hawaii and D.C.,� she said. “A military delegation from the U.S. Pacific...

Joe Biden also said the US remained committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Barack Obama's threats to use military force to prevent Iran securing a nuclear weapon are more than idle bluffs, vice-president Joe Biden told the biggest pro-Israeli lobbying group Aipac on Monday.Biden said that while the US preferred a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran, a military option remained on the table."The president of the United States cannot, and does not, bluff. President Barack Obama is not bluffing," Biden told the audience in Washington.Israel is seeking assurances of support...

U.S. intelligence has detected the departure from a North Korean port of a North Korean ship suspected of carrying military equipment banned under a U.N. sanctions resolution against Pyongyang's Oct. 9 nuclear test, CBS News reported Thursday. The United States is tracking the ship, CBS said, noting that it remains uncertain exactly what the ship is carrying and where it is headed.

Five out of every six Americans believe that North Korean plans to develop nuclear weapons are a “critical threat” to the United States, according to a new Gallup poll. It means the tiny, impoverished country with a population of fewer than than 25 million—less than one-twelfth that of the United States—is regarded as a bigger threat than Islamic fundamentalism or China in the eyes of the public. The poll, conducted among slightly more than 1,000 adults from Feb 7-10 found that 83 percent believe nuclear weapon development by both North Korea and Iran represents a critical threat to America. …

More tests, probably, in partnership with Iran. Meanwhile, the U.S. and her allies want to limit North Korea's access to gold while increasing Iran's access, making them even happier sellers and buyers.On January 30th, I posted an article on North Korea's Nukes and the Ferocious Kim Jong-un. I noted North Korea's statement that its anticipated nuclear test (conducted soon thereafter on February 12) would be "targeted at the United States" and suggested that the nature of that targeting would continue to be nuclear as well as missile cooperation with Iran. That is consistent with their cooperation agreement of last September....

A third nuclear test has been widely anticipated since DecemberSign North Korea is advancing its nuclear technology, say expertsSuggests country is closer to mounting a bomb on a missile'Greater explosive force' than the 2006 and 2009 tests North Korea a 'serious threat' to U.S., says Defence Secretary Leon Panetta World leaders condemned North Korea’s defiant nuclear test yesterday amid fears the Communist pariah state is developing a weapon that could strike the US.Outgoing US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said North Korea represented a ‘serious threat’,  adding: ‘We’ve got to be prepared to deal with that.’Even close ally China was...

As a nuclear North Korea proves once again that it’s improving its technology and moving close to marrying a small nuclear device with a more powerful rocket, the United States’ initial reaction Tuesday was a big ho-hum. Asked Tuesday morning whether she expects a strong condemnation from the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said: “We’ll do the usual drill.” It was a surprising response to an international incident that was largely seen as a threat to the U.S. and one that prompted the U.N. Security Council to call an emergency meeting of world representatives.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Tuesday, South Korea's defence ministry said, after seismic activity measuring 4.9 magnitude was registered by the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicentre of the seismic activity, which was only one km below the Earth's surface, was close to the North's known nuclear test site. "We've been informed by the South Koreans that there's been a (North Korean) nuclear test," a U.N. Security Council diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. An international nuclear test monitoring agency said the location of the seismic event was "roughly congruent with" 2006 and 2008 tests...

President Obama will use his State of the Union speech on Tuesday to reinvigorate one of his signature national security objectives — drastically reducing nuclear arsenals around the world — after securing agreement in recent months with the United States military that the American nuclear force can be cut in size by roughly a third. -snip But Mr. Obama, according to an official who was involved in the deliberations, “believes that we can make pretty radical reductions — and save a lot of money — without compromising American security in the second term. And the Joint Chiefs have signed off...

Meanwhile, Tehran's official news agency calls WND 'mouthpiece of CIA' The explosions at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility Jan. 21 killed at least 40 people, including two North Koreans, WND learned Sunday. Meanwhile, the Islamic regime is labeling WND a “mouthpiece of the CIA” for its exclusive reporting of the blasts. The bodies of 11 of the technicians and scientists are beyond recognition, a member of the security forces at the facility told WND. According to the source, 60 others are in critical condition and have been transferred to the central base of the 27th Division of Mohammad Rassool Allah. The...

Is N.Korea Planning 2 Nuke Tests? North Korea has virtually finished preparations for nuclear tests in two tunnels at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Hamgyong Province, observers believe. A South Korean government source said analysis of satellite images showed brisk activity of support vehicles and personnel at a tunnel on the southern side of the test site, and on Saturday the area was cleaned and personnel left. Intelligence agencies suspect that this means a nuclear test is imminent. Preparations at a tunnel on the western side of the site were apparently completed earlier. The government here is now...

The US was keeping its doors open for direct talks with the Iranian government with regard to its controversial nuclear programme, US Vice President Joe Biden has said. "We will stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," Xinhua quoted Biden as telling the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. He said Iran's nuclear weapon must be stopped as it posed "threat to national security of the US". However, he added that there existed "time and space" in terms of "successful diplomacy". While a window of time for negotiations would be kept open, Biden said "it would not be unlimited, and by no means...

Will the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK) test another atomic bomb soon and will the test "target" the United States? It seems likely, but how might it be done? The world has been awaiting another North Korean nuclear test since its failed missile launch of April 12, 2012. It was then thought that she was ready for one. That seems not to have been accomplished yet, but another missile launch, also anticipated, took place on December 12, 2012 when North Korea successfully launched a three stage rocket to put a "satellite" into orbit. That launch was frowned upon and...

What We Know.  Fordow has become 'Iran's most heavily fortified facility', officials say. APReza Kahlili reported Friday 25 that there had been an underground explosion at the secret Fordo nuclear enrichment facility in Iran.  The details included the closure of a major roadway nearby following the event.  The report also mentioned many technicians trapped underground, perhaps more than 200.   Reza Kahlili and I then discussed the report earlier in the week of an emergency meeting in Ahmadinejad's office in Tehran.  We reported on Wednesday evening 23 January that the meeting in Tehran was in anticipation of a covert operation by Israel or...

US doesn't believe reports of blast at Iran nuclear plant By REUTERS 01/28/2013 20:13 WASHINGTON - The United States does not believe media reports about an explosion at an Iranian uranium enrichment plant, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Monday. The reports had said there had been an explosion early last week at the underground Fordow bunker near the holy Iranian city of Qom. "We have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible," Carney said. "We don't believe those are credible reports."

Former Revolutionary Guard tells 'Post' that such a blow to Fordow nuclear facility would harm Iran drastically. ranian dissident-turned CIA operative Reza Kahlili told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that an alleged blast at the Fordow nuclear installation in Iran is "the largest case of sabotage in decades." Although it has not yet been verified, a report by Kahlili, according to which a massive blast rocked Iran's key Fordow nuclear installation last week, continued to spread on Monday.

A massive explosion rocked Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility last Monday, January 21, destroying huge parts of the installation and trapping as many as 240 personnel deep underground, according to a former Iranian intelligence official. Some mystery surrounds the truth of the reports, which emerged through conservative website WorldNetDaily last week and were recently backed up by the Jerusalem Post, which quoted Israeli intelligence officials confirming the attack. The blast occurred at 11:30 a.m. on Monday morning and shook buildings within a radius of three miles. Fordow’s nuclear plant is buried some 300 feet beneath a mountain, and is immune to...

An explosion deep within Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility has destroyed much of the installation, trapped about 240 personnel deep underground, according to a former intelligence officer of the Islamic regime, and reported by Reza Kahlili on Thursday. The previously secret nuclear site has become a center for Iran’s nuclear activity because of the 2,700 centrifuges enriching uranium to the 20-percent level. A further enrichment to weapons grade would take only weeks, experts say.“The level of enrichment has been a major concern to Israeli officials, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly has warned about the 20-percent enriched stockpile. The explosion occurred...

Sen. Chuck Hagel backed down this week from previously held positions on nuclear arms cuts during meetings with senators who are considering his nomination to be defense secretary in an apparent effort to sway those concerned about his liberal anti-nuclear views. Hagel has told senators he is no longer a staunch supporter of the nuclear weapons views of retired Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, who authored an anti-nuclear weapons report sponsored by the international disarmament group Global Zero. “Hagel has thrown Cartwright under the bus about the Global Zero [report] in his meetings with senators,” said a congressional aide familiar...

The London accountant who accompanied Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan to Timbuktu on three occasions in 1998, 1999 and 2000 says the 'father' of the Pakistani bomb witnessed the digging of a well, toured an ancient Islamic library and enjoyed the views of the desert. A remote outpost in the middle of the West African desert, Timbuktu usually attracts explorers associated in the popular mind with the adventures of the comic character Tin Tin. And Pakistani dissidents told rediff.com the reason for Khan's visit to Timbuktu, part of landlocked West African state of Mali, was to prospect for uranium. They say...

NEW DELHI: IAF chief Norman K. Browne's assertion that India has a few strings in its bow to get a delinquent Pakistan to halt frequent ceasefire violations could stem from confidence in tactics the air force developed in operations along the line of control (LoC) during the 1999 Kargil war. Use of air power had never before been attempted at heights of 14,000 to 18,000 feet and IAF's critical contribution in demoralizing intruding Pakistani forces by destroying supply lines and dumps rewrote existing air combat manuals. IAF's rapid innovation after initial setbacks to refit top-end fighters with laser-guided bombs and...

Decorated military veteran and best-selling author Oliver North tells Newsmax that a military strike against Iran’s nuclear capabilities could be the “only option” this year. North, who just returned from a trip to the Middle East, also says the conflict in Syria looms as a strategic disaster for the United States and its allies, warns that the appointment of Chuck Hagel as secretary of Defense would be a “formula for disaster,” and cautions that cutting defense spending will make the nation more vulnerable to “serious adversaries.” … Turning to Egypt, North tells Newsmax: “[Mohammed] Morsi is not an ally of...

Subject: C5c) Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them? Contributed by Chris Landsea During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms. Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems. Needless to say, this is not a good idea. Now for a more rigorous scientific explanation of why this would not be an effective...

Iran’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr was shut down for fear of an explosion. Saturday Dec. 1, an authoritative Russian nuclear industry source revealed the cause of its malfunction: “Indicators showed that some small external parts were… in the [Bushehr] reactor vessel….” They were identified as “bolts beneath the fuel cells.” Moscow sources report this information came from a source in the office of Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian nuclear energy authority Rosatom, which supervised the construction of Iran’s first atomic reactor at Bushehr. According to our intelligence sources, Russian scientists and engineers were rushed from Moscow to Bushehr when...

Atomic Energy Agency report increased alarm about Iran’s illicit nuclear program, now comes word that the Islamic regime has created even more secret nuclear sites. The IAEA report indicated that not only has Iran completed installation of 2,784 centrifuges at Fordow, the previous secret site deep in a mountain believed to be immune to air strikes, but also could within days increase output of highly enriched uranium to the 20-percent level, well on the way to nuclear weapons. Iran has started to feed uranium hexafluoride gas into four new cascades, increasing the number of centrifuges at Fordow from 700 to...

Iran is planning to build a nuclear bomb with at least triple the force of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in World War II, diagrams obtained by the Associated Press indicates. According to AP, the diagrams were first discovered by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scientists after an inspection of an Iranian nuclear facility. The document was published by the AP Tuesday after, the news agency said, it was leaked by officials critical of the way the West has been handling the Iran issue. The diagrams discovered by the IAEA show Iranian scientists calculating the desired "nuclear explosive yield" in...

The United States says a conference on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East will not be held because of current conditions in the region. The announcement comes amid a flare up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, civil war in Syria and an unsettled political situation in Egypt. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday "a deep conceptual gap persists in the region" on how to handle regional security and arms control. Nuland said the U.S. would not support a conference in which any regional state would be subjected to "pressure or isolation," a reference to U.S. concerns that...

Revealed: How the U.S. planned to blow up the MOON with a nuclear bomb to win Cold War bragging rights over Soviet Union - Scientists were hoping for giant flash on the moon that would intimidate the Soviet Union - Aim of mission was to launch the nuke by 1959 - Plan was later scrapped due to possible danger to people on Earth It may sound like a plot straight out of a science fiction novel, but a U.S. mission to blow up the moon with a nuke was very real in the 1950s. At the height of the space...

This is a superior article in The American Conservative by an ex-CIA officer who lays out in stark terms the difficulties facing Israel if they were to go it alone and bomb Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Basically, it comes down to geography, technology, and the cold calculations for success. A couple of excerpts: ***** Let's assume that the Israelis opt for an attacking force of 50 fighters, one third of which would be designated for suppression of ground fire. The planes would be equipped with conformal fuel tanks built into the fuselages for extended range. They would also have auxiliary tanks...