Center for American Progress Center for American Progress
Issues National Security Nuclear & Biological Weapons

Iraq: Nuclear Boomerang

What does the war in Iraq mean for the future of nuclear proliferation?

It was supposed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to evil regimes. The target of the invasion four years ago was Iraq, but the goal was to stop not just the nuclear weapons that administration officials said the country was developing, but similar programs in other states. When then-Undersecretary of State John Bolton was asked what lesson Iran and North Korea should draw from the Iraq war, he replied, “Take a number”.

Read more here.

This article was originally published in The Guardian.

To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

For print and radio, John Neurohr, Deputy Press Secretary
202.481.8182 or jneurohr@americanprogress.org

For TV, Sean Gibbons, Director of Media Strategy
202.682.1611 or sgibbons@americanprogress.org

For web, Erin Lindsay, Online Marketing Manager
202.741.6397 or elindsay@americanprogress.org

Subscribe to RSS Feeds

RSS IconSite-Wide and Issue-Specific RSS Feeds

Related Articles

Orienting the 2009 Nuclear Posture Review, by Andrew J. Grotto, Joseph Cirincione

Think Again: Meanwhile, Back in Baghdad..., by Eric Alterman, George Zornick

Power Is Decided by the Gun, by Peter Juul

Public Opinion Snapshot: Fix the Economy, End the War, by Ruy Teixeira

Senator Kyl’s Straw Men, by Andrew J. Grotto

Also by Joseph Cirincione

Orienting the 2009 Nuclear Posture Review, November 17, 2008

The Eliminators, January 17, 2008

Ask the Expert: The Death of a Doctrine, January 16, 2008