Bob Peters
@RealBobPeters
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Husband, Dad, Boy Scout leader. I do nukes and missile defense at @Heritage. Think about China, Springsteen, and backpacking trips too much. Views are my own.
Washington, DC
Joined April 2023
Very proud to share the documentary: Breathtaking. It examines the implications of the 🇨🇳 nuke breakout. Thanks to @SenatorFischer; @RepChipRoy; @RLHeinrichs; ADM Chas Richard, Frank Miller, Bob Joseph, and the @Heritage team for making this happen. https://t.co/BjwdleeAxl
Let’s say the President of the United States wanted to respond to a Chinese nuclear attack on the American Air Force base in Guam by targeting a similar Chinese site with our own tactical nuclear weapon. We probably couldn’t do so if we tried. Our new mini-documentary explores
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No, which is why it would be done some place in the Pacific, as we did in the Cold War--as my paper explained. Again, I'm not advocating for testing or open air testing... but if you want to prevent above ground testing, we should at least have Nevada Test Site ready.
Open air testing might not be all that popular in Nevada and other states that matter to Trump, such as Utah.
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Sure. Because calling a President "stupid" and his decision "ridiculous" is a proven effective way to change policy, redirect a President, and stay employed by the time five o'clock rolls around.
The other alternative is to tell the President the truth about what a stupid idea it is to resume nuclear testing and get him to walk back this completely ridiculous decision.
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AUG: Putin offers to extend New START despite cheating & illegal arms control suspensions. No US response. OCT: RF thumps chest about novel nuke capabilities, thinking it will scare Trump into accepting. Yesterday: Trump goes opposite direction & suggests US will test nukes.
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Yes it would take 36 months or more to test at Nevada. Shouldn't we then get it ready to test sooner? Because the alternative is withdrawing from LTBT and doing open air testing, if the President, as commander in chief, decides to test. Is that what we want?
Trump is misinformed and out of touch. The U.S. has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992. It would take least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada. 1/
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As I said in January, there may be reasons as to why a President would want to restart testing. If we make it impossible to test underground (or impossible to do so quickly) a President may withdraw US from LTBT and conduct open air testing. That's why we should prepare now.
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New START "allows Russia to continue doing everything its doing outside New START while essentially restraining US" Exactly
@RealBobPeters It allows Russia to continue doing everything its doing outside New START while essentially restraining US — I mean Russia isn’t thinking of this in terms of holding both China and US at risk. It knows it can’t do that, hence all the novel systems and revival of IRBMs.
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Bingo 👇 And we must ask why Putin is now so desperate to maintain New START. Is it because he cares so deeply about international norms and stability?
I suspect all the recent noise about the novel weapons are to coax the US into some kind of arrangement before New START expires
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Another strong piece on why the offer from Putin to extend the New START arms control treaty is a trap.
nationalreview.com
New START should not be extended.
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Russia cheated on INF for 10 years before US pulled out, illegally suspended New START inspections, & rejected calls for more arms control. Now that US is talking about expanding its arsenal, RF wants arms control--& this time they promise NOT to cheat? Scout's Honor? Nope.
BREAKING: President Putin offers President Trump to extend the New START nuclear treaty for 1 year. 👉 START = US–Russia deal that limits nuclear weapons. 👉 Extension = no arms race, more trust, more time to negotiate a safer future. Peace > escalation. 🕊️
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Periodically Russia rediscovers a pair of old handcuffs and attempts to bait the US into wearing them. Hard pass.
BREAKING: President Putin offers President Trump to extend the New START nuclear treaty for 1 year. 👉 START = US–Russia deal that limits nuclear weapons. 👉 Extension = no arms race, more trust, more time to negotiate a safer future. Peace > escalation. 🕊️
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And on top of that, @house_dynamite says that the President MUST decide whether to respond to the attack in the 8 minutes before the missile hits... but never says WHY he must decide within those 8 minutes... against an unknown adversary. Again, the movie is simply bonkers.
One reason why actual nuclear policy analysts have such trouble taking this movie seriously. How do you retaliate against… an unknown source? To what end?
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Seriously?
The new movie “A House of Dynamite” questions the utility of protocols in a nuclear event. @HannaRosin speaks with the screenwriter Noah Oppenheim about the film, and @RadioFreeTom about today's nuclear-proliferation reality: Listen on "Radio Atlantic":
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It is difficult to express to people outside nuclear strategy fields just how incredibly stilted this movie is - the director said as much, it’s for disarmament. Builds the scenario to fit.
"A House of Dynamite is terrifying. It’s also shockingly realistic." By Fred Kaplan via Slate https://t.co/5Zl9uuyiJ4
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Russia: Cheats on all arms control & invades neighbors while threatening to nuke NATO. China: Fastest growing nuclear power on Earth. US years later: I guess we need some defenses. Pavel: Russian and Chinese nuke expansion is due to US agression. I'm a very serious analyst.
Taiclet is Lockheed-Martin CEO. https://t.co/fLWqj64pqP And some years down the road US pundits will be asking, Why is China building all these silos and Russia - all those crazy systems? Why, indeed?
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Russia: Cheats on all arms control & invades neighbors while threatening to nuke NATO. China: Fastest growing nuclear power on Earth. US years later: I guess we need some defenses. Pavel: Russian and Chinese nuke expansion is due to US agression. I'm a very serious analyst.
Taiclet is Lockheed-Martin CEO. https://t.co/fLWqj64pqP And some years down the road US pundits will be asking, Why is China building all these silos and Russia - all those crazy systems? Why, indeed?
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Defense Priorities for the U.S.–South Korean Alliance via @Heritage @realbobpeters
heritage.org
The new Administration in Washington has reshaped the strategic discourse on national security matters. Across the U.S. alliance network, allies of the United States are wondering which changes in...
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My latest along w/ @WilsonCBeaver Anthony Kim and Jim Fein on defense priorities for the US-ROK alliance. https://t.co/6JFHLSeHzK
heritage.org
The new Administration in Washington has reshaped the strategic discourse on national security matters. Across the U.S. alliance network, allies of the United States are wondering which changes in...
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Very strong piece by Michaela Dodge and Keith Payne on why we should not extend New START. https://t.co/HgSdGBmL6A
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