Obama’s 2010 QDR and BMD Review Reports Released.
Both the QDR Report and the BMD Review Report have been released. I cannot say much more about them until I have read both of them in full. However there is a potentially revealing statement on countering weapons of mass destruction in the QDR
...The potential spread of weapons of mass destruction poses a grave threat...
...Deterrence of such threats and defense against them can be enhanced through measures aimed at better understanding potential threats, securing and reducing dangerous materials wherever possible, positioning forces to monitor and track lethal agents and materials and their means of delivery, and, where relevant, defeating the agents themselves...
As the QDR points out the Nuclear and Space Posture Reviews are to come. But if deterrence above is not limited to conventional deterrence then the NPR is going to be pretty conservative. Deterrence won't even be limited to nuclear weapons and "agent defeat", at the outer edge of speculation, could even mean agent defeat warheads hence the reliable refurbished warhead.
That's the outer edge though.
The statement on nuclear forensics really did grab my attention. I mean, really, really grabbed my attention. I am finding it difficult to stop myself from getting a cup of tea again
...Improving our ability to attribute nuclear threats to their source can help deter aggressors from considering the use of nuclear weapons, as well as deter state and non-state actors that may provide direct or indirect support of nuclear terrorism and prevent follow-on attacks through more rapid identification and apprehension of an attacker. Research is underway to identify new means by which we can arrive more quickly at reliable technical nuclear forensic assessments. Improving the ability to determine the source of material used in a nuclear attack will strengthen deterrence. Additional resources will enhance DoD’s air and ground sample collection mission as well as augmenting current laboratory assessment capabilities. In this regard, the Department is examining new platforms for conducting nuclear/radiological air and ground sampling...
Yep, my attention was directed towards deterring "indirect support" of nuclear terrorism. That's basically the negligence doctrine for the deterrence of nuclear terrorism. I submit that we now know, at the very least, that Obama has adopted a type of conventional negligence doctrine.
Bring on the NPR.
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Marko is also interested in philosophy, especially the theory of knowledge, and science, especially physics, and considers himself to work within the naturalist and enlightenment tradition. He is writing a book on nuclear terrorism.