But where were these Democratic and left-wing Krakatoas [Ponuru uses "volcanoes" as a metaphor for Democrats suddenly erupting with natsec Concern -- ace ] when Obama gave Putin the identity and whereabouts of Great Britain's nuclear missiles? The Telegraph of London cited U.S. Embassy cables that it received via Wikileaks and summarized in its February 4, 2011, edition. "A series of classified messages sent to Washington by US negotiators show how information on Britain’s nuclear capability was crucial to securing Russia’s support for the 'New START' deal," Matthew Moore, Gordon Rayner, and Christopher Hope wrote.
According to their report on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), "the leaked cables show that Russia used the talks to demand more information about the UK's Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in the US."
The authors continued:
Washington lobbied London in 2009 for permission to supply Moscow with detailed data about the performance of UK missiles. The UK refused, but the US agreed to hand over the serial numbers of Trident missiles it transfers to Britain. "This appears to be significant because while the UK has announced how many missiles it possesses, there has been no way for the Russians to verify this," Professor Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute told The Telegraph. "Over time, the unique identifiers will provide them with another data point to gauge the size of the British arsenal."
Obama's treaty was amazingly cold as it back-stabbed America's cousins, from the Scottish Highlands to the white cliffs of Dover. The secret U.S. cable originated in "Mission Geneva." Dated February 25, 2010, it summarizes a meeting that had occurred on February 9 between American and Russian arms negotiators, including decisions on submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Item No. 13 detailed "An agreed statement on the transfer of Tridents II SLBMs to the United Kingdom."
The Parties agree that, in order to increase transparency in relation to the use of "Trident-II" SLBMs, transferred by the United States of America to equip the Navy of Great Britain, the United States of America shall provide notification to the Russian Federation about the time of such transfer, as well as the unique identifier and the location of each of the transferred missiles.
