To the Point
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Shades of the Cold War...and Doctor Strangelove

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America's entire Air Combat Command will stand down tomorrow. Investigators want to know why a B-52 was loaded and flown with nuclear missiles for the first time in 40 years. That story and Russia's aggressive new posture. Why has it tested a powerful new weapon and resumed Cold War-style bomber patrols? Also, a preview of President Bush's prime-time speech tonight and, on Reporter's Notebook, General Patraeus, Ambassador Crocker and President Bush say the alliance with Sunni leaders in Anbar Province is a sign of success in Iraq. Today, one of those leaders was killed.

Photo: Paul Crock/AFP/Getty Images

Making News

President Bush Expected to Announce Troop Drawdown ()

For three days, Americans heard from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Tonight, President Bush will deliver his latest prime time speech from the White House on what's next for Iraq. Mark Silva covers the President for the Chicago Tribune.

Guests:
  • Mark Silva: White House Correspondent for the Chicago Tribune
Links:

Main Topic

The Cold War Revisited ()

The US stopped flying bombers armed with nuclear weapons back in 1968, after crashes in Greenland and Spain that contaminated the ground with Plutonium. But last month, a B-52 flew from North Dakota to Louisiana armed with six cruise missiles--each 10 times as powerful as the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.  Tomorrow 100,000 airmen at all Air Combat Command bases will stand down as investigators try to figure out how that happened. Meantime, Russia has tested what it calls the "Father of All Bombs" and resumed Cold-War type bomber patrols close to NATO airspace. What's behind Russia's aggressive behavior? Can the US keep track of its weapons of mass destruction?

Guests:
  • Dmitri Trenin: Deputy Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center
  • William Arkin: Online Columnist for the Washington Post
  • Philip Coyle: former Weapons Testing Director, Pentagon
  • Leon Aron: Director of Russian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute

Reporter's Notebook

US Ally Sheik Abu Risha Killed in Iraq ()

Last week, President Bush traveled not to Baghdad but to Anbar Province, one of the few bright spots for the US military in Iraq. One of the Sunni leaders who shook his hand was Abdul Sattar, head of a clan alliance called the Anbar Salvation Council. Today, Sheik Abdul Sattar was killed by either a roadside bomb or a bomb in his car. Phebe Marr, an advisor to the Iraq Study Group, is author of The Modern History of Iraq.

Guests:
  • Phebe Marr: former Senior Fellow at the US Institute for Peace
Links:

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