James Carafano: Scare Tactics on New START
From James Carafano’s blog post at Big Peace:
“More pressure to just ‘sign the treaty so we can purge the world of nuclear weapons’ will be fueled by the premiere this week in Washington and New York of ‘Countdown to Zero,’ a documentary on the threat of nuclear weapons. As one reviewer notes, the ‘film asserts that the United States and Russia, the entities with the most weapons by far, should lead the other nuclear countries toward a total disarmament initiative.’
“The sudden surge of concern over the treaty started with a blast from Mitt Romney, who declared the treaty ‘Obama’s worst foreign policy mistake.’ Sens. John Kerry and Richard Lugar have both been cheerleading the treaty, as the administration quickly counterattacked. They were later joined by Sen. Carl Levin. But rather allay the concerns, the exchange only raised more questions.
“The administration quickly dispatched Defense Secretary Robert Gates to calm Republican concerns. Apparently, that didn’t work. In the latest round of hearings, after U.S. officials stated they weren’t concerned that the Russians cheat on implementing arms control, Sen. John McCain declared, ‘Well, what this brings to the casual observer’s mind, general, is if it doesn’t have any consequences if they do any cheating, what’s the point in having a treaty?’
“In a further sign of panic, there are reports of furious backroom dealings, negotiations, and threats of retaliation from the administration to get enough Republicans to sign on to approving the treaty.”
Tags: James Carafano, START