Panel Cites 'Tipping Point' On Nuclear Proliferation

[jpak]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/15/AR2008121502715.html

The development of nuclear arsenals by both Iran and North Korea could lead to "a cascade of proliferation," making it more probable that terrorists could get their hands on an atomic weapon, a congressionally chartered commission warned yesterday.

"It appears that we are at a 'tipping point' in proliferation," the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States said in an interim report to lawmakers that was released yesterday.

The bipartisan panel, led by former defense secretaries William J. Perry and James R. Schlesinger, added that actions by Tehran and Pyongyang could lead other countries to follow, "and as each nuclear power is added, the probability of a terror group getting a nuclear bomb increases."

Congress established the commission this year to "examine and make recommendations" on strategic policy and force structure, as well as to consider other ways to counter the nuclear threat. The final report and recommendations were due this month, but after a slow start to its work, the panel pushed that date back to April.

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