Clarifying the Debate

Eli Jacobs at CSIS’s Project on Nuclear Issues has taken a long hard look at the debate over nuclear weapons related costs before, and found “tons of uncertainty.”  That is just what we tried to mitigate in our recent report, Resolving Ambiguity.  Keeping with his critical approach, Jacobs notes where our estimate could be expanded using our inductive methodology, especially regarding aerial refueling tankers. He also notes that a better accounting of costs doesn’t answer what savings can be expected if cuts to strategic nuclear offensive forces are made. He concludes overall:

“Ultimately, this is even more reason to praise Rumbaugh and Cohn’s report. Their inductive approach ties capabilities to costs in the greatest amount of detail that can be reasonably expected, in the face of DoD classification…Like its predecessors, the Stimson Center report is certainly vulnerable to misuse. Unlike its predecessors, it does the rigorous methodological work that could allow it to be put to good use.”

We’re glad to know that the study is helping clarify the debate rather than further muddying the waters.