Russia Violated the ’91 START treaty. Who knew???
Well knock me over with a feather…
From Bill Gertz at the Washington Times
Russia continued to violate provisions of the 1991 START nuclear-arms treaty up until the agreement expired in December, raising new concerns that Moscow will violate the pending “New START” treaty now being debated for ratification in the Senate.
So here’s a great idea…Let’s do it again!!!
Under pressure from the Obama administration, Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hope to approve the treaty and send it to the full Senate before the monthlong August recess.
And the State Departments take on it…
Release of the compliance report followed dispatch of an earlier State Department analysis to Congress on arms verification that concluded that Russian cheating on the new START treaty would not be significant.
Really, they won’t cheat…..that much…
When exactly was it that the Russians became our “friends”?
Category: Foreign Policy, Politics
The Russians know what’s happening in the Middle East as well as we do. They’ve had their share of problems with militant Islamic factions, also. My question is this:
Why do they still think WE’RE the enemy?
Reset button.
Fail.
Pinto,
The violations included telemetry data, multiple warhead missile developement and long range capabilities. They also blocked our access to mobile platforms. Things Russia doesn’t really need to deal with radical islamists in what is essentially their backyard.
“Why do they still think WE’RE the enemy?” Maybe because after the USSR broke apart, we paid lip service to what a great thing it was for them to embrace democracy, and then threw them to the wolves. The 90’s were dire, dire times in Russia, and we just stood by and watched. We could have had an ally for life if we’d behaved as if we have more things common than differences, if we had stepped in with substantive measures to prevent their freefall, and just used the bully pulpit to support thier democratization – instead we danced on the USSR’s grave, and gloated about the triumph of capitalism. I don’t blame them one bit for harboring a grudge. I’d still be pissed to.
Joe,
If the times were so “dire” in Russia why were they still spending money on nucs? Their big problem was trying to adopt our tax system…epic fail. An American economist said “try a flat tax” and the coffers over flowed. You’d be pissed enough to nuke someone? We didn’t throw them to the wolves, we gave them money to help them dissarm…get a little historical perspective please.
Joe,
You have a very utopian view of what Russia is trying to do, why they are holding a grudge, etc. We didn’t throw anyone to the wolves. The Russian mafia took over after the fall of communism (you know, that system you think is so fricken wonderful) and once the dust cleared from all that, they moved forward, even though the mafia is still entrenched in many facets of the Russian economy.
Like a typical liberal/leftist/utopian, you have this aversion to our way of government, and economic system, and disparage it at any given time; yet now you are whining because we didn’t bring forth help to Russia using the same principals and economic models that you blubber about here in this country? It’s time for your meds. Maybe after that you will have a semi-lucid thought before posting.
#3 Old Tanker:
I was remembering the old saw about “the Russians ALWAYS play chess,” meaning they always keep their secrets and have their maneuvers. And while I don’t agree with Joe’s slant entirely, I know the Russians do blame us – to some extent – for the freefall they went through right after the Berlin Wall came down. But shouldn’t the Russians realize that in the current situation, the muslim extremists pose a much greater threat – albeit an immediate one – to modern society than both our country’s nuclear weapons do? The Russians have been our allies in the past; they KNOW us. They know we can be treated with. Do they think they can placate or treat with the militants? I just don’t understand why the Russians continue to play games, when such dire threats as the islamic terrorists are a reality for all of us.
Pinto,
I’d agree that the Russians still hold a grudge but Joe’s assertion that we deserve it is ridiculous at best.
I just don’t understand why the Russians continue to play games
You and me both. It just goes to show that we play by the rules and they don’t. My question is, why the hell sign a new treaty for them to break?
I think we try to engage the Russians as best we can. I also think we’re missing something in our contacts with them; some vital component of the Russian psyche that would yield better results. I’m not talking about their politics, exactly; something more like their own view of themselves, or something.
Russia cheated on an arms control treaty? Duh!
While the US was growing and expanding, the Russians have had a backbeat of deprivation and suffering, for centuries. Many are highly educated, but have faced a hardscrabble existence with many uncertainties and thus have developed a somewhat cynical, hardbitten view of the world. When they were at low ebb in the mid to late 90’s, if we had really offered them sincere help it might have made a world of difference. We missed our window of opportunity. Now our behavior, both Clinton’s and Bushes, have reenforced their cynical view of us. To some extent, I think they view our current economic problems as justly deserved payback.
So, Joey, your answer is the answer that all libs come up with? We should have given them welfare? The Russians suffer from envy, Joey, look at their weapons systems, .50cal isn’t good enough for them, it has to 12.7mm, 20mm? Nope, gotta be 23mm. They seem to suffer from a totally male version of penis envy, transferred to everything worldly.
“Many are highly educated, but have faced a hardscrabble existence with many uncertainties and thus have developed a somewhat cynical, hardbitten view of the world”. Yup, sounds like somewhere else I’ve studied, the U.S. in the late 1700’s. So, they, like you, should just suck it up and continue to march.
Up North, thank you for pointing out our own far from comfy beginnings as a nation, you beat me to the punch.
I’d also point out that Russia’s national ‘psyche’ hasn’t changed much in the last 200 years. Their national emotional anything hasn’t changed much in the last two hundred years. Their plight is in no way shape or form our fault and if they want to truly excel going forward they need to find a way to break the grip of the corruption that has ruled their lives for over 2 centuries.
#11 Joe:
Russia has extensive natural resources, heavy industrial ability, and no small amount of talent to develop both. Russia is not a third-world country, and has (or SHOULD have)a great deal of pride in itself. I know they went through the wringer after the Fall, but the fact is, they’ve been through a LOT worse.
Russia doesn’t need us to develop her potential. What she needs to do is quit looking over our shoulder and start applying the concept of “original thought” for herself. If Russia can stop being afraid of originality, both in thought and action, I think she’d give everyone a run for their money.
UpNorth and Jacobite; you fail to understand that Joe is still under the leftist delusion that everything negative in the world is our, the US, fault. Anything and everything from 3rd world living conditions to the Mexican drug war, and everything in between, is our fault. He can’t help it, because that’s his many years of liberal/leftist/progressive indoctrination talking. If he would pull his head out, he would realize that the system he espouses is the system that creates more misery and oppression on the planet than anything the US could do. For example; Joe, just like every other liberal/leftist/progressive blames our non-trading with Cuba as the reason it’s a shithole, yet we are the only country out of 192 that doesn’t trade with them, yet it’s our fault.
“Blame America” is the only thing they know. They have no other solutions.
OT, spot on, I was just pointing out Joey’s favorite theme, the idea that to be “fair”, we should have given the
SovietsRussians the state to state equivalent of welfare. That’s the lib’s solution for everything. It applies to Cuba, Peru, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Russia and everywhere in between.But, you’re right, he is blinded to the fact that his system is the one that beats people down, exterminates initiative and, ultimately, people.
In the last 2 years I spent one of them unemployed and have now been employed for the last year. While grateful to have a job I now make half of what I used to. Funny thing is that my house payment isn’t half of what it used to be and oddly my kids aren’t eating half of what they used to. In fact, my kids eat probably double what they used to.
Using Joe’s logic, if he would just pay my mortgage for me I’ll stop calling him a douCHE because after all, if he can afford my mortgage he therefore must be the reason I can’t. See the logic?
OT, I ‘understand’ Joe just fine. I was just airing my personal opinion on the current state of affairs in Russia, I frankly could care less what he thinks. 😉
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