The simple fact is that per President Obama, whom we all on this web-site trust, the Russians have been in violation of the INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) Treaty since 2014.
July 28, 2014
WASHINGTON — The United States has concluded that Russia violated a landmark arms control treaty by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile, according to senior American officials, a finding that was conveyed by President Obama to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in a letter on Monday.
That was at the testing of the missile. The Russians have since gone from testing to actual deployment of the missile.
The point is we don’t have to take Trump’s word for it that the Russians are in violation of the INF.
Back in June of this year, Gorbachev issued a statement:
MOSCOW (AP) — Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says if Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump hold a summit, they should focus on curbing the U.S.-Russia arms race and ensuring strategic stability.
Gorbachev’s comments Friday to the Interfax news agency comes amid speculation that the U.S. and Russian presidents will meet next month. He hopes the two leaders “will confirm adherence to the main nuclear disarmament treaties — the START and INF Treaties.”
Both the United States and Russia have accused each other of violating the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which calls for eliminating stockpiles of ground-launch and cruise nuclear missiles with a range of between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles).
Trump reportedly has criticized the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which succeeds the one signed by Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan in 1987.
Now, we clearly expect Trump to use his “special relationship” with Putin to resolve the issue, and keep the INF treaty alive. But living in our own bubble universe, we confuse the strange personal relationship Trump has with Putin, with the formal relationship the US has with Russia.
For example, in December 2017
The United States has announced new licensing and export restrictions on Russian missile designer Novator and a military research company, charging both with involvement in a missile that Washington says violates a key Cold War arms-control treaty.
In its December 19 announcement, the Commerce Department said Novator and Titan-Barrikady were responsible for producing the cruise missile prohibited by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
The decisions tightens license and exports requirements for U.S. or other companies that might do business with either company.
Not to mention the various other sanctions in place against Russia.
If the Russians remain in violation of the INF Treaty — through two years of Obama and two years of Trump — then clearly, something needs to be done. Pretending that nothing was/is wrong is ostrich-head-in-the-sand. That Trump’s move to withdraw from the INF Treaty might not be the best move at this particular moment in time can be argued. But this is an issue of vital importance to the US national security, and should not be reduced to
Killing the INF is the pure, distilled essence of wet dream for John Bolton.
PS:
- Why has this issue going on for four years become an issue only now? In part because instead of treating the Trump circus as a sideshow, and having a focus on serious issues, the media is all about “give us this day our daily outrage”.
- The Russian violation of the treaty is four years old. Surely the Democrats have a position ready to trot out whenever the media does pay finally attention to the issue? Of course not, the Democrats are purely reactive, and have nothing prepared to say how a Democratic President, {Senate, Congress} would deal with a serious issue like this, and better than Trump.
- Had Trump not said anything, no doubt the issue would continuing festering, and moreover, the Democrats wouldn’t be saying anything. Now it is, “we would be doing something, anything, just not what Trump is doing”. I don’t defend Trump’s action at all, just pointing out the fecklessness of the Democratic Party. The party apparatus, not the general party member needs to develop and have a current position on all issues of importance.
- IMO, the order of priorities has to be the truth, national interest and partisanship in that order; but we typically have it inverted. How well we stick to that is a question each person will have to answer for themselves.