Parsing the ‘Partisan’ Politics of New START

James Carafano / August 12, 2010

In recent weeks, WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of classified documents, giving Taliban fighters a virtual death list of Afghan “collaborators.” At the same time, critics of the New START pact with Russia argued that the Senate should give the arms control treaty more deliberate, careful scrutiny before voting on it.

Guess who the Left criticized more.

Leaving friends exposed to brutal retribution from sworn enemies is one thing. But in the eyes of the Left, New Start critics were guilty of something far more heinous: undermining presidential leadership. “A delayed ratification with a close vote would be a blow to U.S. leadership around the world,” Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a foundation that advocates a nuclear weapons-free world, told the Associated Press, “People would doubt the president’s ability to negotiate other agreements.” (more…)