|
"Pete Hegseth Is Right for the DOD"
"Why Our Constitution Secures Liberty, Not Democracy"
Woodworking and Construction Hacks
"CNN: Reporters Were Crying and Hugging in the Hallways After Learning of Matt Gaetz's AG Nomination"
"NEW: Democrat Officials Move to Steal the Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Admit to Breaking the Law"
"Pete Hegseth Is a Disruptive Choice for Secretary of Defense. That’s a Good Thing"
Katie Britt will vote with the McConnell machine
Battle for Senate leader heats up — Hit pieces coming from Thune and Cornyn.
After Trump’s Victory, There Can Be No Unity Without A Reckoning
Vivek Ramaswamy, Dark-horse Secretary of State Candidate
Megyn Kelly has a message for Democrats. Wait for the ending.
Trump to choose Tom Homan as his “Border Czar”
"Trump Shows Demography Isn’t Destiny"
"Democrats Get a Wake-Up Call about How Unpopular Their Agenda Really Is"
Live Election Map with ticker shows every winner.
Megyn Kelly Joins Trump at His Final PA Rally of 2024 and Explains Why She's Supporting Him
South Carolina Lawmaker at Trump Rally Highlights Story of 3-Year-Old Maddie Hines, Killed by Illegal Alien
GOP Demands Biden, Harris Launch Probe into Twice-Deported Illegal Alien Accused of Killing Grayson Davis
Previously-Deported Illegal Charged With Killing Arkansas Children’s Hospital Nurse in Horror DUI Crash
New Data on Migrant Crime Rates Raises Eyebrows, Alarms
Thousands of 'potentially fraudulent voter registration applications' Uncovered, Stopped in Pennsylvania
Michigan Will Count Ballot of Chinese National Charged with Voting Illegally
"It Did Occur" - Kentucky County Clerk Confirms Voting Booth 'Glitch'' Shifted Trump Votes To Kamala
Legendary Astronaut Buzz Aldrin 'wholeheartedly' Endorses Donald Trump
Liberal Icon Naomi Wolf Endorses Trump: 'He's Being More Inclusive'
(Washed Up Has Been) Singer Joni Mitchell Screams 'F*** Trump' at Hollywood Bowl
"Analysis: The Final State of the Presidential Race"
He’ll, You Pieces of Garbage
The Future of Warfare -- No more martyrdom!
"Kamala’s Inane Talking Points"
"The Harris Campaign Is Testament to the Toxicity of Woke Politics"
Easy Drywall Patch
Israel Preparing NEW Iran Strike? Iran Vows “Unimaginable” Response | Watchman Newscast
In Logansport, Indiana, Kids are Being Pushed Out of Schools After Migrants Swelled County’s Population by 30%: "Everybody else is falling behind"
Exclusive — Bernie Moreno: We Spend $110,000 Per Illegal Migrant Per Year, More than Twice What ‘the Average American Makes’
Florida County: 41 of 45 People Arrested for Looting after Hurricanes Helene and Milton are Noncitizens
Presidential race: Is a Split Ticket the only Answer?
hurricanes and heat waves are Worse
'Backbone of Iran's missile industry' destroyed by IAF strikes on Islamic Republic
Joe Rogan Experience #2219 - Donald Trump
IDF raids Hezbollah Radwan Forces underground bases, discovers massive cache of weapons
Gallant: ‘After we strike in Iran,’ the world will understand all of our training
The Atlantic Hit Piece On Trump Is A Psy-Op To Justify Post-Election Violence If Harris Loses
Six Al Jazeera journalists are Hamas, PIJ terrorists
Judge Aileen Cannon, who tossed Trump's classified docs case, on list of proposed candidates for attorney general
Iran's Assassination Program in Europe: Europe Goes Back to Sleep
Susan Olsen says Brady Bunch revival was cancelled because she’s MAGA.
Foreign Invaders crisis cost $150B in 2023, forcing some areas to cut police and fire services: report
Israel kills head of Hezbollah Intelligence.
Tenn. AG reveals ICE released thousands of ‘murderers and rapists’ from detention centers into US streets
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
International News
See other International News Articles Title: INF off: US officially withdraws from nuclear-arms treaty
Source:
HotAir
URL Source: https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morr ... withdraws-nuclear-arms-treaty/
Published: Aug 2, 2019
Author: Ed Morissey
Post Date: 2019-08-02 11:41:39 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 1648
Comments: 7
Will the last one out of the INF room please turn off the glowing lights? The US has formally withdrawn from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces pact signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the death of the Cold War pact this morning, but in truth it had been in the go-through-its-pockets-and-look-for-loose-change state for the past several years: | On Feb 2nd, 2019 the U.S. gave Russia six months to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Russia refused, so the treaty ends today. The U.S. will not remain party to a treaty when others violate it. Russia bears sole responsibility. — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) August 2, 2019 |
| The United States announced Friday it has formally withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Moscow, putting an end to a landmark arms control pact that has limited the development of ground-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. “Russia is solely responsible for the treaty’s demise,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Friday announcing the US’ formal withdrawal from the Cold-War era nuclear treaty. Pompeo said “Russia failed to return to full and verified compliance through the destruction of its noncompliant missile system.” |
While the initial announcement late last year surprised US allies, they quickly rallied behind the decision. The Trump administration had worked with its allies in Europe to build consensus on the withdrawal, most of whom have the same concerns over Russian mid-range missile systems. NATO had sharp words for Russia after Pompeo made it official: | NATO added its weight to the U.S. position Friday, stating that Russia “bears sole responsibility” for the treaty collapse and that the military alliance would now respond in a “measured and responsible way” to “risks posed by the Russian 9M729.” 9M729 is an alternative name for the SSC-8. NATO said in June that Russia must dismantle the short-range system, or the military alliance will be forced to respond, adding that NATO-member defense ministers would now look at next steps “in the event that Russia does not comply.” |
What next steps would that be? The US already has one answer and plans to test a new missile system to match the SSC-8, eventually. The US has other concerns than just Russia now, and the new system is also being designed to match another superpower who hadn’t been part of the INF: | The United States plans to test a new missile in coming weeks that would have been prohibited under a landmark, 32-year-old arms control treaty that the U.S. and Russia ripped up on Friday. … But the U.S. also sees an upside to exiting the treaty. Washington has complained for years that the arms control playing field was unfair. U.S. officials argued that not only was Russia violating the treaty and developing prohibited weapons, but that China also was making similar non-compliant weapons, leaving the U.S. alone in complying with the aging arms control pact. Now, the U.S. is free to develop weapons systems that were previously banned. The U.S. is planning a test flight of such a weapon in coming weeks, according to a senior administration official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the weapons development and spoke only on condition of anonymity. |
If the only other country in a bilateral treaty is cheating on the core issue of the pact, a formal withdrawal changes nothing except to remove unilateral handcuffs. While an arms race is hardly good for anyone’s security or economy, adhering to a sham treaty is worse for both. If Russia and China want to compete economically and militarily with the US, we should at least have a level playing field. What’s next? Most likely a few years of military spending on intermediate-range missile systems and missile-defense systems by all three nations, followed by the realization from Russia that it can’t afford an arms race on any scale while oil prices remain low. Vladimir Putin is already facing unrest at home, and further pressure on the economy will make that worse. China has its own economic woes at the moment, although this may not be as serious an issue for them. Eventually, talks will begin on a trilateral INF replacement, likely led by the EU, and the US will get a chance to force both Russia and China into compliance. At least, that’s what the West hopes will happen. Unfortunately, the only two choices Russia left for the West was hope or capitulation. |
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
Replies to Comment # 1.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
|
