NUCLEAR TERRORISM: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe -- by Graham Allison

Basic Premise: Nuclear terrorism is inevetable unless prevented. Stopping nuclear terrorism is a simple expedient of controlling any and all materials which could be used to make atomic weaponry.

What's Happening Now: Mr. Allison, previously an assistant Secretary of Defence (under President Clinton I believe), says that our war on Iraq is not only unconsionable but stuipd. Mr. Allison writes "This [President Bush's] preference for the offensive manifested itself on multiple levels. The Bush administration asserted America's global military dominance and its readiness to use its unique capability to protect and advance American interests. Since Amerca's military could destroy just about any government in the world, leaders of other countries ruled at our sufferance. As one disillusioned State Department official wrote in a letter of resignation in February 2003, the adminstration seemed to have adoped the Roman emperor Caligula's dictum Oderint dum metuant: "Let them hate as long as they fear.""

Mr. Allison goes on to say that the Bush administration has done a few things right. They are:
1. a conceptual breakthrough: "the gravest danger to freedom lies at the perilous crossroad of radicalism and technology." - i.e. terrorists w/ nukes
2. it recognized that terrorists are threats to international law
3. unless America takes the lead and carries most of the load the "war on terrorism" will falter
4. full-spectrum military dominance will be used to defeat terrorist whenever they're found
5. revision of Cold War tatics- retaliation against a nonstate terrorist is stuipd.

and , while all of that is nice, it dosn't address the fact that
1. the U.S. is seen as the greatest threat to world peace in the world (due to the administrations habit of shooting first and not listening to questions later.)
2. it's just as easy now to get stuff to make bombs with as it was before we declared "war on terror"
which is a huge problem since now even more people hate us and wish us ill. (Bin Laden's declaration that "a blood debt of 4 million Americans is due to the Muslim community" makes me a bit apprehensive, particullarly when his numbers are all based on fact...)

Generally speaking, i like this "control the resources" approach to avoiding nuclear events. If they can't get the stuff, they can't make the bomb. And, while everyone has access to styrofoam and gasoline to mix up themselves a little napalm, if no one can get their hands on high grade uranium we'd all be better off. It's more of a "bunker down" approach, one which would require our working cooperation with the other nations of the world (in particular the former U.S.S.R.) and would be more effective than starting wars based on false information in order to protect our oil (which is now not so protected -- at least not at the pump.)