Very quietly, underneath it all
The Bush administration sets forth to let the START treaty lapse.
After all, who needs to keep track of those pesky Russian rogue nukes. We're going to pursue a non-functional missile defense.
The United States plans to let a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia expire in 2009 and replace it with a less formal agreement that eliminates strict verification requirements and weapons limits, a senior U.S. official says....
In the post-Cold war era, many provisions of the 1991 START accord, which mandated deep nuclear weapons cuts, "are no longer necessary. We don't believe we're in a place where we need have to have the detailed lists (of weapons) and verification measures," added DeSutter, who handles arms control and verification issues.
After all, who needs to keep track of those pesky Russian rogue nukes. We're going to pursue a non-functional missile defense.
posted by mikevotes at
9:06 PM
4 Comments:
why does this not surprise me?
By
Anonymous, at 7:01 AM
Because it's a frighteningly similar parallel to ignoring Al Qaeda before 9-11 to pursue an administration wanted goal.
By
mikevotes, at 7:36 AM
This totally unnecessary anti-missile system represents another multi-billion GOP give-away to friends in the defense sector. The only thing sadder than spending billions on an acknowledged boondoggle is the realization that while America builds its 21st Century version of the Maginot Line, our European trading partners are building the educational and infrastructure resources required to dominate world trade.
The primary mistake of our intellectually-challenged leaders said Jonathan Schell in Too Late for Empire is a failure, “to realize that power itself, whether wielded by the United States or anyone else -- if conceived in terms of military force -- has been in decline. By imagining otherwise, the United States has become the fool of force -- and the fool of history.” And as Professor Cook of the University of Toronto suggests, America may find its future, “Played out in the only realm that America still holds the edge — violence both inside and outside the nation.”
By
BobbyV, at 11:27 AM
As far as I've seen, I've never seen anything to justify the reality of a substantial effective missile defense system.
The problem is, the idea is so sellable to politicians that the program and the pork is nearly impossible to kill.
And the quote you excerpt is dead on, and I would certainly agree that it applies more broadly than just missile defense.
US supremacy is based on the US economy. The US economy is built on infrastructure/capitol investments, and now we're "eating our seed corn" by spending on war rather than education, infrastructure, etc.
That's why I believe the empire is past its peak.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 11:56 AM
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