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Senate Panel Votes to Lift Ban on Small Nuclear Arms
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 05:17:41 -0400
------ Forwarded Message From: Max Ibel <maxi () google com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 22:16:35 -0700 (PDT) To: dave () farber net Subject: Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: Senate Panel Votes to Lift Ban on Small Nuclear Arms Hi Dave, this might be of interest to you. Sorry if not. Best, Max ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Senate Panel Votes to Lift Ban on Small Nuclear Arms May 10, 2003 By JAMES C. DAO WASHINGTON, May 9 - A sharply divided Senate Armed Services Committee voted today to repeal a 10-year-old ban on the development of small nuclear weapons, asserting that the United States must begin looking at new ways of deterring terrorist groups and so-called rogue nuclear powers like North Korea. The Bush administration, which requested the repeal, said it had no plans to develop a new low-yield nuclear weapon. But it contends that the existing prohibition has had a chilling effect on weapons research at a time when the United States is trying to reconfigure its military to address post-Soviet threats. The measure goes before the full Senate in two weeks, where opponents, mainly Democrats, have vowed to fight it. The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to take up the proposal on Tuesday. "We have tried for 50-plus years to make these weapons unthinkable," said Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island. "And now we're talking about giving them a tactical application. It's a dangerous departure." Proponents, mainly Republicans, argue that low-yield warheads could be used to incinerate chemical or biological weapons installations without scattering deadly agents into the atmosphere. "Without committing to deployment, research on low-yield nuclear weapons is a prudent step to safeguard America from emerging threats and enemies who go deeper and deeper underground," said Senator John Warner, a Republican from Virginia who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee. But senior administration officials have also argued that new nuclear weapons may be needed to deter emerging nuclear powers like North Korea and Iran. They contend that large warheads may have lost their deterrent value for the paradoxical reason that they are so destructive that world leaders no longer believe the United States would use them against small countries. Low-yield weapons might prove more effective in containing smaller nuclear powers precisely because they are less devastating - and therefore theoretically more usable, the officials argue. "We need to make sure our weapons will in fact be seen by other counties as a deterrent," Linton Brooks, the acting administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in an interview. "One element of that is usability. If nobody believes there is any circumstance where you will use the weapon, it is not a deterrent." Arms control advocates and many Democrats contend improvements in laser and satellite guidance systems have made conventional weapons nearly as destructive as small nuclear weapons. They argue that lifting the ban on low-yield nuclear weapons will only undermine America's ability to prevent the spread of such weapons to other countries. "This just undermines our whole argument," said Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. "Were driving recklessly down a road that we're telling other people not to walk down." Democrats agreed their fight will be uphill, given the Republicans' two-seat advantage in the Senate and the fact that two Democrats on the Armed Services Committee - Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Evan Bayh of Indiana - voted for the repeal. The repeal of the 1993 ban was approved as part of the national defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2004 that the committee sent to the full Senate today. The bill calls for spending $400.5 billion on military programs, including a 3.7 percent across-the-board raise raise for all servicemen, $6.6 billion for new warships and $4.4 billion for development of the Joint Strike Fighter. The 1993 ban was known as the Spratt-Furse Amendment after its original Democratic sponsors - Representative John Spratt of South Carolina and former Representative Elizabeth Furse of Oregon. It prohibited any research and development that could lead to the production a low-yield nuclear weapon. The law defined a low-yield weapon as having the explosive force of less than five kilotons of TNT. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was about 15 kilotons. The defense authorization bill included two other measures opposed by arms control advocates: $15 million to continue a feasibility study of a nuclear weapon capable of penetrating deep into the earth, and $25 million to cut in half the time needed to prepare for an underground nuclear test, from 36 months to 18 months. Senior administration officials said the earth-penetrating weapon would involve developing a hardened casing for existing nuclear weapons to enable them to crash through thick rock and concrete. Democrats have said they would support developing the casing for conventional weapons, but do not want it used for nuclear warheads. The administration says it has no plans to restart underground nuclear testing, but wants to speed up the time needed to conduct a test in case of a national emergency. Underlying the willingness of many Republicans to repeal the ban on developing low-yield weapons is the belief that existing arms control measures, consisting of treaties and inspection programs, are failing. "Experience has shown that nonproliferation treaties really don't have any affect on countries like North Korea, India and Pakistan," said Senator Wayne Allard, a Republican from Colorado. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/international/worldspecial2/10NUKE.html?ex =1053599302&ei=1&en=4580afd3e20bd61c Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Senate Panel Votes to Lift Ban on Small Nuclear Arms Dave Farber (May 11)