Last Monday, Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, made clear yet again that Moscow reserves the right to withdraw from New START, a strategic nuclear weapons arms control agreement with the United States. Ryabkov threatened that if the U.S. expands its missile defense system qualitatively or quantitatively, the Kremlin would retaliate with military or technical measures.
In addition to these threats, the Russians are also preventing any negotiations about tactical nuclear weapons until the United States reconsiders the plans for the NATO missile defense shield in Europe and dismantles its tactical nuclear weapons. Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister, said that any U.S. missile system in Europe would be aimed only at Russian missiles. Russia admitted that it is ready to continue to discuss future disarmament with other nuclear powers; however, “it would be better to start with the withdrawal of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe,” according to Ryabkov. The fact that the Russians are able to make these demands is another poke in the eye to the Obama Administration’s statements about how New START will lead to an agreement on reductions of tactical nuclear weapons.
All these statements, voiced in a very aggressive language in the Russian media, point to a failure of the Obama Administration’s “reset” policy. Instead of expanding cooperation of both countries in the prevention of nuclear terrorism, the Obama Administration signed a treaty that prevents the United States from defending itself against the threat of ballistic missiles.
In addition, because the Duma’s ratification law contains provisions that are diametrically opposed to those adopted by the U.S., it is clear that there is no meeting of the minds between the parties in these two areas. Instead of being a driver for more cooperative relationship, the treaty might easily become another means to escalate the tension and emphasize the differences between the two countries. So far, the bellicose Russian statements do not give much hope for a “reset” in the relationship.
Co-authored by Haley Parks. Parks is currently a member of the Young Leaders Program at the Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please visit: http://www.heritage.org/about/departments/ylp.cfm
It is becoming clearer by the day that the New Start Treaty is an absolute failure. All Obama has done is weaken us militarily.
We have a crumbling nuclear weapons infrastructure and delivery systems that are old and deteriorating every day. In the 2012 DOD budget the Air Force has asked for funds to maintain the Minuteman III ICBM to 2030. At that date the missiles will be 60 years old while Russia is quickly modernizing its entire force.
Russia also has ACTIVE nuclear weapons production lines and research and development while the US has nothing but people monitoring the existing stockpile that has not seen a new weapon or test in 20 years.
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Yep. Full view of an Ameracan position. DONT even think about your interests, just OBEY.
Obama snookered again. Russia is not a friend.
What's new about the Smartest President in American history, we are sorry for saving the world twice in World Wars One and Two, apoligizing to the Germans for being arrogant (not proud) bowing to Japan and all the Muslim nations, allowing 10's of thousands of radical muslims thru our mexico border and wanting to legalize 40 Million Illegals into our Bankrupt Country so they can have a one party system. So whats new about bending over and taking it in the ass from the Soviets. You demo-rat voters are too stupid to realize this Half Breed is not black or white, but a Radical Muslim bent on destroying this country with your help. I could go on but this is falling on deaf ears and when he get's 40 million new votes from the ignorant America hating Illegals your votes will no count and your Constitution and your way of life will be gone.
Oh boy! Didn't HF see this one coming! We are vindicated on all our 'racist bigoted hateful' talk! We knew the NewSTART Treaty was in the Foreign Interest. Now that we know, if I were on Obama's Jury for operating in the Foreign Interest while President? Hey! I have seen enough to call it! Guilty! As if the Soviets didn't get enough from Obama the Duma calls for more! The Audacity!
Steven Coy, please get yourself a history text book and read it again. There is a lot of facts that you have never heard about.Also I would recommend you to stop listening to the COlorado-radical-republican radio.Just take a wa;l and buy couple of newspapers . When you put those together you will find out:
1)States did not save world in 1-st and second world wars. so USA do not have to be sorry about that fact/
2).There are no soviets since 1991. And they are not planning to stick anything "up yours. They have their own problems and fighting with USA is somewhere in the very end of a list.
3) 40 mln illegals? Are you trying to be funny?
4) 10's thousands of radical muslims walking through the border?
Denis Volk,
I don't know what history books you have read, but the resultant facts speak for themselves with regard to WWII. The US intervention into the European Theater of Operations was the deciding factor in the elimination of the Third Reich and the resultant ability for each European nation to chart their own course in history.
As to no Soviets since 1991, that is true, but Russia remains a substantial force in the world and its current ability to create and deliver nuclear weapons has not diminished substantially since the first START treaty.
As to the number of illegals here in the US, I would say that very few people have any idea as to how many there are, Muslim and/or Central American, Mexican, etc. Unfortunately, neither political party has had the kahunas to really address the immigration and naturalization issue for the past fifty years.
Russia's greatest desire is to replace the USA as the #1 military power.
And China's greatest desire is to replace us as the #1 economic power.
They see the USA as being weak right now and they will do their utmost
to take advantage of the incompetents we have running this country.
If this bunch of clowns get reelected for 4 more years our country will
go down in flames.
It should be no surprise that the Russians will do exactly what they want to, without regard to the terms of this "treaty". This is the result of the American people electing to the White House a foreign policy dilettante whose far-left ideas have no grounding in reality and directly threaten our security and, because of that, the security of the world. Worse, the dilettante has surrounded himself with like-minded idealogues and/or amateurs, who form the top rung of our policy apparatus. Thus, the professionals as State and Defense–who earned their positions by merit and without political interference–are unable to influence the outcome. START is but one example of such policy disasters; stand by for more.
This debacle is enough to make even an atheist turn to prayer.
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