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President Obama (who campaigned for nuclear disarmament) is establishing a nationwide wave of atomic revitalization that includes plans for a new generation of weapon carriers and plants to modernize the aging weapons that the United States can fire from missiles, bombers and submarines. As the government pays for these upgrades, a recent federal study put the collective price tag, over the next three decades, at up to a trillion dollars. The original idea was that rebuilding of the nation’s nuclear complex would speed arms refurbishment, raising confidence in the arsenal’s reliability and paving the way for new treaties that would significantly cut the number of warheads (in other words build weapons to cut weapons). Those results have not yet taken root. With Russia on the warpath, China pressing its own territorial claims and Pakistan expanding its arsenal, Congress has expressed less interest in atomic reductions than looking tough in Washington’s escalating confrontations. Hawks view the situation as a positive step. They see the investments as putting the United States in a stronger position if a new arms race breaks out.
In Other News • Eric Frein, the suspected cop killer, has extensive training as a marksman. Police say he's a survivalist who knows his way around the woods where they think he's hiding. And authorities worry he may be on the hunt for more officers. Frein is a 31-year-old wanted for the death of Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryon Dickson and the shooting of another officer a week and a half ago. Up to 400 law enforcement officers are searching for Frein, including members of the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. His evasiveness has led schools to cancel classes and prompted authorities to ask hunters to avoid the woods in the area near his home, about 20 miles from where the shootings took place. • Three Afghan National Army soldiers, who were in Massachusetts for training, have gone missing after a trip to a shopping mall, authorities said. It's the second time in a week that Afghan security trainees in the United States have disappeared. The three soldiers do not appear to pose any threat to the public, the Massachusetts National Guard said. Earlier this month, two Afghan police officers training with the DEA wandered off during a sightseeing trip to Georgetown. They decided they wanted to stay in the United States, but authorities found them and sent them home. The three men currently missing in Massachusetts are Afghanistan National Army Soldiers Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, Cpt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada, and Cpt. Noorullah Aminyar. They arrived in the United States on September 11 for Exercise Regional Cooperation, an annual event, the guard said, and were quartered at Joint Base Cape Cod. The three were reported missing by base security late Saturday and were last seen at a Cape Cod mall in Hyannis. • The U.S. Secret Service is planning to boost its presence and its surveillance measures around the White House on Monday after an Iraq war veteran, who is apparently suffering from PTSD, jumped over a White House fence.
