another pile of PR known as "save me, I'm drowning!!!". Georgia tries so hard to push US into helping them with their republics even to the point of linking trade of nuclear materials with "that damn russian bear". But on a bright side: with all color revolution making a massive anti-American leap with their new presidents, his tern i will guess will be next.

While linking the smuggling to the Russians is 99.9% false, the fact is they still catch nuclear smugglers. Considering they've caught 8 in the last 4 years or so, how many have made it through, I wonder? And where has this successful smuggling gone?

If this article is correct, the "nuclear bazaars " in Georgia and Turkey are relatively of small concern, at least in comparison to nuclear materials missing from official stockpiles.

I read awhile back how much such official nuclear materials, though I don't recall the amount, other than it was surprisingly (to me, anyway) large. If the nuclear bazaars are relatively unimportant -- and I may well be wrong in that assessment; perhaps another reader with more knowledge can shed further light on that -- then perhaps missing official stores are of graver concern.

I wonder if there are channels through which countries with nuclear capabilities, in the areas of both military and civilian use, exchange information. If there aren't such channels. at least unofficial, off-the-record ones, one has to wonder, "Why not?"

Assuming there's no formal structure in place, would it be beneficial to establish an international working group that included forensic *accountants* among other kinds of experts. Maybe forensic accountants with employment backgrounds using their skills in law enforcement, military, or intelligence backgrounds.

I also wonder how well, if at all, the sales and movement of rocket systems are monitored. It's surprisingly easy and inexpensive to build a fairly small surface-to-surface missile with an appreciable payload capability. I used to fly small (very small) model rockets when I was much younger, but I bet I could do a bit of reading to refresh myself and build such a missile, and that anyone could. And that's reason to pause and reflect. Imagine the bad guys getting their hands on such a missile with even just a 10- or 20-mile range *and* having access to the material necessary to construct a dirty bomb one using conventional explosives to spread radioactive material). I'm quite certain relevant authorities think about this all the time; my only real question regards what they're doing about it.

Finally, I also wonder about current command-and-control systems in various nuclear-armed countries' military forces. During the Cold War, for example, Soviet field commanders down, as I recall, to the division level could make the decision on their own -- without higher confirming higher authority -- to use tactical nuclear weapons such as nuclear artillery shells. Obviously, the record shows that no such Soviet commander ever went rogue and fired such artillery but such low-level authority was worrisome. (I was in ROTC during the early and mid-1970's, and this was something that came up in our military science studies fairly routinely.) Just one -- one! -- such shell, if actually fired, would cause widespread shock and even panic.

Perhaps the U.S.'s disclosure a few days ago of how many active, deployed nuclear weapons we have will help. We'll just have to wait and see.

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