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FAS Public Interest Report
The Journal of the Federation of American Scientists
May-August 2001
Volume 54, Number 3-4
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The Central Deception of National Missile Defense

by Robert Sherman
So long as the American people think "nuclear defense" when they hear "missile defense," popular support for NMD is likely to remain substantial. One of the most effective lines of attack against NMD is to educate the American people to the fact that even a successful defense against ballistic missiles will not protect us against weapons of mass destruction. More...


If Not NMD, Then What?

If we accept the unpleasant fact that an aggressor would render missile defense irrelevant by using clandestine delivery methods, we are not helpless against it. On the contrary, we have at least three countermeasures available. More...

Sharing Missile Defense

Some commentators have recently suggested that President Bush offer to negotiate a missile-defense sharing arrangement with Russia and China, but there are several reasons why sharing fails to pass the straight-face test. More...


Intelligence Oversight Faces New Obstacles

A change in the rules of the House of Representatives poses a new obstacle to congressional oversight of intelligence. That is what the House Government Reform Committee discovered when the CIA blocked one of its investigations. More...

Controversy over Wen Ho Lee Persists

It has been nearly a year since former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee, once suspected of espionage, was freed from jail with an apology from the judge after he pled guilty to illegally downloading classified information. But the handling of his case continues to be a source of controversy and confusion. More...


FAS Status Report

Hail and Farewell to FAS Staff

US Government Fails to Lead on Small Arms

by Tamar Gabelnick

At the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, held from 9-20 July in New York, the US government blew a great opportunity to mend its international image on arms control.

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US Policy and the BWC Protocol

Testimony by Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, Director of the FAS Chemical and Biological Weapons Arms Control Project, made before the House Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations on June 5 urging the US not to abandon the verification protocol.

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