Did the Russians Win on Missile Defense in the New START Treaty?
Baker Spring /
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations met on May 18 to hold a hearing with Secretaries Clinton and Gates and Admiral Mullen on the new U.S.-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction (New START) Treaty. The three officials gave testimony and urged ratification saying the treaty will enhance U.S. security and aid nuclear non-proliferation efforts. In a near-herculean effort, the witnesses, over and over, sought to persuade lawmakers that divergent views with Russia on the key issues of missile defense should not be an obstacle to ratification, reiterating that nothing in New START will prevent the U.S. from deploying missile defenses.
Secretary Clinton, for example, stated that “nothing in the new treaty constrains our missile defense;” while Secretary Gates said, “there are no limits [for deploying missile defense] on us.” More than a couple members on the committee were skeptical, however.
At issue regarding the question of New START’s impact on U.S. missile defense plans is the legal standing of a Russian unilateral statement on missile defense issued by the Kremlin on its website at the time of signing which states: “[New START] can operate and be viable only if the United States of America refrains from developing its missile-defense capabilities quantitatively or qualitatively.” Also at issue is whether language in the preamble linking offensive and defensive weapons is legally binding and will restrict the U.S. from building missile defenses. (more…)