Amid the Administration’s full-court press to get the Senate to consent to ratify New START, a strategic offensive arms control treaty with the Russian Federation, Moscow is being described as a responsible, reliable, and cooperative international partner. However, these descriptions do not comport with reality, as Heritage’s “Top 10 Reasons Not to Trust Russia” fact sheet made clear. Russia’s domestic and international policies are often contrary to U.S. and allied interests and in breach of contractual obligations. There are even more reasons to reconsider signing such an important treaty with …
Why is the Obama administration frantically trying to push New START, a strategic arms-control agreement with Russia, through the “lame duck” session of Congress? Because of the president’s deep commitment to U.S. nuclear disarmament. He fears that New START may not garner the necessary votes in the new Congress. He also realizes that a failure to approve the treaty in the departing Senate could undermine his broader policy to curb nuclear weapons and eventually eliminate them. But these concerns shouldn’t trump the newly elected senators’ opportunity to review a significant …
As newly-elected members of the Senate pointed out in a letter to Majority Leader Reid: “no bilateral strategic arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union or Russia has ever been ratified during a lame duck session.” Let’s go further: Has any major bilateral U.S. treaty ever been ratified during a lame duck session? The 20th Amendment (ratified in 1933) established the current dates of Federal office terms, and consequently made possible the modern Congressional “lame duck” session. Since 1933, there have been a total of eighteen lame duck sessions, including …
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia have dismantled over 75 percent of their nuclear weapons. Yet the spread of nuclear weapons has continued apace. The latest issue of the Journal of International Security Affairs provides insight into the question of the next stage of proliferation. As Heritage’s senior analyst Peter Brookes writes in the journal, Iran is one of the hottest candidates for obtaining nuclear weapons capability. The ayatollah regime in Tehran appears determined to continue with uranium enrichment, an essential step for developing …
New START, a strategic offensive arms reductions treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation, would limit the U.S. ability to defend against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. According to experts James Carafano and Richard Weitz, “A nuclear device detonated high in the atmosphere above the American mainland can easily disable the country’s electrical grid.” Currently, the United States does not have missile defenses that would protect it against this “Scud in a bucket” scenario. By limiting U.S. ballistic missile defense options, New START would contribute to leaving the …
The Wikileaks revelations have been described as the “9/11 of diplomacy”. One not-so-secret revelation, however, is news that the Obama Administration doesn’t hold the transatlantic alliance in particularly high regard. For Obama, America’s European allies are like pawns on a chess board—to be arm twisted into supporting the Democrats political agenda wherever necessary. And nothing is higher on Obama’s agenda right now the New START Treaty. The latest European voice ‘spontaneously’ calling for ratification of the treaty is Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary general of NATO. Rasmussen states: “As a former …
The bilateral arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, known as New START, has critical implications for the security of the U.S. and its allies. In a recent article, Senator John Barrasso (R–WY) addresses concerns regarding the treaty. They include limits on U.S. missile defense capabilities, a weak verification regime, and an outdated view of the world that embraces the paradigm of the Cold War by focusing only on Russia with its porous limits on nuclear warheads, delivery vehicles, and inspection regimes instead of looking at the new …
On December 7, 1941 the United States of America was attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii counted 2,390 Americans dead and 1,282 wounded. Eight battleships, three destroyers, three cruisers and one minelayer were destroyed along with 188 aircraft. Most of us were not alive then yet we can understand how they felt. We experienced something similar on September 11, 2001. Our job is to remember and never forget that evil men hate the goodness of America. They always have and they always …
The New START Treaty is promoted by the Obama Administration as a means toward a reduction of nuclear weapons.The Treaty is fatally flawed within the four corners of the document and in a side agreement to dismantle missile defense in consideration for Russia’s signature. And now the Obama Administration and allies in the House and Senate have inserted a position in a draft of the Continuing Resolution to condition money for nuclear modernization on ratification of the Treaty. The Continuing Resolution is the appropriations bill that will keep the government …
In his most recent op-ed, Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, asks why there is a rush to pass New START, a strategic offensive arms control treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation signed this April in Prague. Romney rightly observes that the treaty “deserves a careful, deliberative look by the men and women America has just elected.” If the Administration and Senate leadership push for a vote on New START during the lame duck session, the Senate would not have time to adequately evaluate it, especially …
