Conversations with History - Siegfried S. Hecker

"Science Diplomacy and Nuclear Threats"
Siegfried S.Hecker, Co-Director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Siegfried S. Hecker, former Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, for a discussion of scientists, the national laboratories, and the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Hecker traces his career in material sciences, describes the evolution of his intellectual focus, and recalls his leadership of Los Alamos. He then traces the changes in the international security environment in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union discussing the response of the U.S. and the weapons laboratories to the momentous events that created a qualitatively different set of security challenges. Hecker then analyzes the threats posed by terrorist organizations, the dangers of nuclear proliferation, and the challenges for U.S. policy in assessing the motivation and capabilities of Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the political and technical dimensions of the international security landscape.

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/iis/Kreisler.html
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/
http://conversationswithhistory.typepad.com/conversations_with_histor/
http://www.thenewpress.com/index.php?option=com_title&task=view_title&...

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[JohnLloydScharf]

@MultiUniv3rsal It apt, rational, and informed. I am certain you have difficulty understanding it and actually think your reponse was insightful.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@JohnLloydScharf Wow, that was an absurdly thick statement. Good day.

[JohnLloydScharf]

@MultiUniv3rsal Obviously, Iran's populus would not know who set off nukes in the the US anymore than we would. It would just be the death of millions of "Infidels" they could celebrate without any need to take direct responsibility for. MAD as a policy was based on the assumption that the USSR's planes or ICBMs could be tracked to their source. Are you this stubbornly and willfully ignorant about everything? Or is it just your sacred duty to Obama?

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@JohnLloydScharf Well I base MAD on the fact that they know, just like the N. Koreans, that if they pulled something like that they would literally be committing genocide against their own people.

They are just going to mull around and bargain with their bombs, otherwise why wouldn't the Koreans already have used a dirty bomb tactic?

Here's another almost-certainty; if Iran went to war by sending bombs, it's already unruly populous would hang every government official within a week.

[JohnLloydScharf]

@MultiUniv3rsal We are fighting wars based on reducing the probability that al Qaida will do a repeat of 9/11. Iran has nuclear weapons now. To claim otherwise is willing ignorance. The US created a uranium and a plutonium bomb in less than 3 years. Iran has had six years, a reactor, centrifuges, and Russian technition. Nukes are about 100 lbs and smaller than a beach ball. It is a rational assumption not dependent on the your Obama based theology or theocracy.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

And anyway I'm 100% for regime change in Iran due to it being a theocracy, not their capabilities.

Unlike Iraq, though, it's someone else's turn besides the US to do the right thing.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@JohnLloydScharf Do you have anything to back that up or are you just assuming it to be the case because it's a possibility?

[JohnLloydScharf]

@MultiUniv3rsal The difference between the truth and your perspective is reality. We have hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal immigrants arriving every day. We have 100s of tons of drugs that arrive in the US every day. The number of nuclear weapons that arrive every day is not known.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@JohnLloydScharf The Iranians aren't a threat to the US, it's our job to make sure they aren't a threat to their neighbors. Israel, Saudi, Iraq, and India really, really dislike Iran having bombs. Problem is how little anyone can do about it.

[JohnLloydScharf]

Iran has had 9 years to produce a uranium and/or nuclear bomb with 2001 technology, Russian technitions, and Russian. We did it from 1942 to 1945. Iran may be backward, but they have a nuclear bomb. THe Pentagon says they can shoot down their ICBM, so they will have to ship it FED-EX or drive them over the Mexican border in a pick-up truck.