Security obstacles abound
As in other areas, he blithely promised to do better than the president — cutting the time required from 13 years to just four — without making clear how this would be accomplished.
Unfortunately, the problem is not simply one of American money or desires. There are several other factors at work that make securing Russia’s nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) problematic:
The Russian government continues to conceal the full extent and whereabouts of all of its WMD. Notwithstanding the openness (glasnost) former president Mikhail Gorbachev promised before the end of the Soviet Union and pledges by his Russian successors to permit greater transparency, even now only the Kremlin knows how much of its arsenal remains undeclared and hidden. We can’t secure covert biological and other weapons we don’t know about.
As long as Russia continues to produce more nuclear materials and weapons, American funds supplied to secure older ones can amount to little more than a subsidy for their replacements. At a minimum, money being fungible, Russia is freed from spending its own resources on what should be as much of a priority for it as for the rest of us: putting WMD beyond the reach of terrorists — be they Chechens or others.
American money spent on better sensors, locks, fences and the like to protect former Soviet WMD may be worse than wasted if those responsible are corrupt members of the KGB or mafia. Russian police officers have taken relatively small bribes to allow suicide bombers onto passenger planes. Our security assistance may simply enable their counterparts to enjoy a more certain monopoly, thereby commanding higher prices for betraying their duties.
As long as the Russian government and its personnel are an increasing problem — something Sen. Kerry seemed more inclined than President Bush to acknowledge last Thursday — giving them still more U.S. money for loose nukes may make us feel better, but not more secure.
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is an associate author of highly acclaimed Shariah: The Threat to America and the publisher of over a dozen other books and monographs from the Center for Security Policy Press.
In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving U.S.-USSR relations, nuclear forces, arms control, missile defense policy and U.S.-European defense ties. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle.
From February 1981 to August 1983, Mr. Gaffney was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by the late Senator John Tower (R-Texas). And, in the latter 1970’s, Mr. Gaffney served as an aide to the late Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) in the areas of defense and foreign policy.
Mr. Gaffney holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mr. Gaffney’s leadership has been recognized by numerous organizations including: the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award (1987), the U.S. Business and Industry Council’s Defender of the National Interest Award (1994), the Navy League of the United States’ Alfred Thayer Mahan Literary Achievement Award (1999), and the Zionist Organization of America’s “Louis Brandeis Award” (2003), the Western Conservative Summit’s Stephen H. Long Award (2015), the Council for National Policy’s George Washington Military Leadership Award (2016) and the IMPACT Award from Ginni Thomas and United in Purpose (2017).
Mr. Gaffney was born in 1953 and resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
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