Morning Bell-Undermining National Security

A START towards Undermining Our Nuclear Security

Yesterday the Kremlin announced that the Obama administration and Russia had reached agreement on a new nuclear arms agreement intended to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

The declaration appeared to surprise the White House, as Press Secretary Robert Gibbs could only confirm that the two sides were "close" to a treaty. But U.S. officials confirm that "all major obstacles" in negotiations with Moscow have been cleared.Russian approval of a new START agreement has been the cornerstone of President Barack Obama's "long road toward eliminating nuclear weapons" policy. President Obama's desire to appease Russia is why he began negotiations by unilaterally surrendering to Kremlin demands that the United States betray our Czech Republic and Polish allies by going back on our promise to build ballistic missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe.

Russians took President Obama's easy and early capitulation on missile defense as a sign of naivete and weakness and concluded that the Obama administration was far more desperate for a new nuclear treaty than they were and, as The Los Angeles Times reports, "used that fact in negotiations."

The full text of the new agreement has not been released, but early reports indicate that it will not adequately address three key issues and would therefore compromise U.S. national security:

Verification: The Russians have a long and well documented history of violating arms control agreements. By focusing intently on the reduction in each nation’s strategic arsenal, the U.S. has lost some negotiating ground on the issue of verification. The Senate must ensure that the new treaty is adequately verifiable. There is no reason to sign the treaty if the verification mechanisms fall by the wayside.

Nuclear Modernization: Some arms control advocates insist that the U.S. has a robust nuclear modernization program. This claim is simply inaccurate. The truth is that America’s nuclear infrastructure is rapidly aging, in deep atrophy, and is losing its reliability and effectiveness. The U.S. is not producing new nuclear weapons, and its ICBM force is shrinking and not being modernized. In contrast, Russia and China are engaged in a major modernization effort. On December 16, 41 U.S. Senators voiced their concerns and signed a letter saying they will oppose the new treaty if it does not include specific plans for U.S. nuclear modernization as stipulated in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.

Missile Defense: It is absolutely imperative that a new START agreement not undermine our post-Cold War defensive posture by linking offensive weapons with missile defense. But early reports indicate that the treaty does exactly that. The New York Times reports: "Administration officials describing the draft treaty said its preamble recognized the relationship between offensive weapons and missile defense, but that the language was not binding." But the Times goes on to quote retired major general Vladimir Dvorkin who says Moscow will scrap the treaty if the U.S. pursues missile defense: "If, for example, the U.S. unilaterally deploys considerable amounts of missile defense, then Russia has the right to withdraw from the agreement because the spirit of the preamble has been violated."

The Obama Administration's arms control strategy has been deeply flawed. It is based on outdated 1970s arms control strategy and 1960s idealism and naivete. It will not work because it does not account for Russian nuclear strategy, which is based on approximate parity between the two sides, Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), denial of missile defenses to the U.S., and nuclear warfighting capability.

The U.S. needs to reset the reset before the Obama administration is allowed to seriously undermine our national security.

Obama Administration believes Russia

when they say that, "Of course we'll help you with that Iranian problem.....We'll get them to put away the nukes. We've only invested millions in helping them develop nuclear power....Don't worry about it. The check is in the mail. And we have a bridge to sell you. I promise not to c..."

You get the idea.

So.....Obama has betrayed two allies, Poland and the Czech Republic, by killing the missile defense idea. Russia is upset that we want to put DEFENSIVE, anti-missile systems in Europe. Why? Oh, that's right....they've already bullied two countries. Why not more? Georgia and Ukraine are screwed.

Let's see who is the wonderful negotiator for this travesty: Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Ellen Tauscher ‘The first member of her family to attend college, she graduated in 1974 from Seton Hall University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education.

I'm sure THAT will help in international relations. (Actually, it probably would.)

Here's the news from abroad:

From the AP: Obama scrapping missile shield for Czech, Poland

Premier Jan Fischer told reporters that Obama phoned him overnight to say that "his government is pulling out of plans to build a missile defense radar on Czech territory."

"The same happened with Poland. Poland was informed in the same way about this intention," Fischer said.

Under the plan, which had been proposed by the Bush administration to defend the United States and its European allies against a possible missile attack from Iran or elsewhere in the Middle East, 10 interceptor rockets were to have been stationed in Poland and a radar system based in the Czech Republic.

So, Obama called them up like a unfaithful girlfriend and said, "Honey, I think we should start seeing other people. Its not you. Its me....."

He's doing this WITHOUT Russian guarantees of sanctions against Iran. He's HOPING that Russia will CHANGE its mind about helping the US.

Kinda of like an insecure girl putting out just so the quarterback will date her.

Alexei Arbatov, head of the Russian Academy of Science's Center for International Security, told a Moscow radio station Thursday that the U.S. was giving in on missile defense to get more cooperation from Russia on Iran.

"The United States is reckoning that by rejecting the missile-defense system or putting it off to the far future, Russia will be inclined together with the United States to take a harder line on sanctions against Iran," he said.

But what happens to her reputation? Lets see:

The decision to scrap the plan will have future consequences for U.S. relations with eastern Europe.

"If the administration approaches us in the future with any request, I would be strongly against it," said Jan Vidim, a lawmaker with Czech Republic's conservative Civic Democratic Party, which supported the missile defense plan.

and

Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Lech Wałesa, has spoken out about media reports that the US has scrapped plans to install a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

“Americans have always cared only about their interests, and all other [countries] have been used for their purposes. This is another example,” Mr Wałęsa told TVN24. “[Poles] need to review our view of America, we must first of all take care of our business,” he added.

“I could tell from what I saw, what kind of policies President Obama cultivates,” the former president added. “I simply don't like this policy, not because this shield was required [in Poland], but [because of] the way we were treated,” he concluded.

The Czech government stood by us against opposition in their country because they knew it was the right thing to do. Poland has always been an American ally. Too bad they trusted us. I wonder why we have such a poor reputation among allies........

And Niles Gardiner of the UK Telegraph puts it just right: Barack Obama surrenders to Russia on Missile Defence.

He wrote:

“if enacted, this would represent a huge turnaround in American strategic thinking on a global missile defence system, and a massive betrayal of two key US allies in eastern and central Europe. Such a move would significantly weaken America’s ability to combat the growing threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile program, and would hand a major propaganda victory to the Russians.”

This is bad news for all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defence of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. A deal with the Russians to cancel missile defence installations sends a clear message that even Washington can be intimidated by the Russian bear.

President Jimmy Carter Barack Obama is swallowing it all,.......hook, line, and sinker.

Oh, and Obama had the class to do this on the 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INVASION OF POLAND BY THE USSR.

Classy.

Poland honors our dead and theirs...

h/t Little Green Footballs

Poland honors its dead and ours. If only we could show such taste in our memorials of 9/11. They do this for 2 of their fellow Poles and our firemen. While we have that travesty on Capitol Hill. Our Congress should be ashamed. Thank you, Poland.

I don't know if you can reach anyone at this link but if you want to say thanks, try this: Embassy of Poland, D.C.
E-mail:
polconsul.dc@verizon.net or polemb.info@earthlink.net (for general enquiries)