The National Security Strategy: Show Me The Money

The president will unveil his new national security strategy tomorrow, and early signs are pointing toward "preventing nuclear proliferation" being one of the core goals of this new strategy. Let me, then, pour a bucket of ice water on that by way of Adams & Williams:

National security budgets are the most dependable reflection of US security policy ... Republican and Democratic leaders often say that the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and the prospect of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists are among the greatest threats facing the United States. Yet only two-tenths of 1 percent of national security spending goes toward helping other governments prevent the dispersal or theft of nuclear materials or weapons, and an even smaller share goes toward inspecting US-bound shipping containers for nuclear materials. The Department of Energy spends nearly as much annually on new earth penetrating and low-yield nuclear weapons as on securing Russian fissile material.

Have a great day!