Cutting Budgets and Increasing Nuclear Dangers (Part 2)

PART 1 is here – click

The US defense budget was unveiled by the administration and sent to Congress February 9, 2016 and already the “military critics” and their long knives are anticipating how to disembowel critical elements of our nation’s military.

For example, Mr. Gordon Adams, previously at the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration and Mr. Lawrence Korb at the Center for American Progress, are both calling for the dismantlement of the US nuclear deterrent.

Mr. Adam’s proposals not only will save almost no money over the near term, any delay in the acquisition of the new submarine is fraught with danger. For example, already the hull life we are expecting from the current submarines will be greater than any other submarine in our nation’s history.

Gates: Russia Sought to Abandon Nuclear Missile Treaty in 2007

Moscow opposition to INF Treaty kept secret during 2010 New START ratification debate

The Russian government told the United States more than eight years ago that it wanted to abandon the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a Senate hearing last week.

“The Russian defense minister as early as 2007 approached me about doing away with the INF Treaty,” Gates said in Senate Armed Services Committee testimony Wednesday.

Gates said he was told by the Russian defense minister that the irony of the INF Treaty is that “the United States and Russia are the only countries that cannot have intermediate range missiles.”

Russian Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces: What They Mean for the United States

Abstract

The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was one of the most significant arms-reduction accomplishments of the Cold War. The INF Treaty led to the elimination of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges from 300 miles to 3,400 miles, their launchers, and associated support structures and support equipment. In 2014, the U.S. State Department officially accused Russia of violating the treaty. The allegation sparked renewed interest in the utility of the agreement for the United States, and in the implications of Russia’s violations for U.S. allies in Europe. Russia’s aggressive and illegal behavior and the inability of the United States to bring Russia back into compliance with the INF Treaty indicate that the treaty has outlived its utility and is no longer in the U.S. interest.

The 1987 Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles—known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty—was one of the most significant arms-reduction accomplishments of the Cold War era. The INF Treaty led to the elimination of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges from 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers (about 300 miles to 3,400 miles), their launchers, and associated support structures and support equipment.[1] In July 2014, the U.S. State Department officially accused Russia of violating the treaty.[2] The allegation sparked renewed interest in the utility of the agreement for the United States, and in the implications of Russia’s violations for U.S. allies in Europe. Russia’s aggressive and illegal behavior and the inability of the United States to bring Russia back into compliance with the INF Treaty indicate that the treaty has outlived its utility and is no longer in the U.S. interest.