Additional reports from the Congressional Research Service that are newly available online include these (all pdf):
“Department of Defense Fuel Costs in Iraq,” July 23, 2008.
“The Global Nuclear Detection Architecture: Issues for Congress,” July 16, 2008.
“Foreign Science and Engineering Presence in U.S. Institutions and the Labor Force,” updated July 23, 2008.
“Intelligence Reform at the Department of Energy: Policy Issues and Organizational Alternatives,” July 28, 2008.
“Retroactive Immunity Provided by the FISA Amendments Act of 2008,” July 25, 2008.
As useful as some CRS reports are, they are rarely if ever the last word on any given subject. The new CRS report on retroactive immunity and the FISA Amendments Act, for example, does not encompass the challenging constitutional questions discussed by Glenn Greenwald in this ACLU blog entry.
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.