Charles Krauthammer posted an article at the National Review about the arms-reduction agreement Barack Obama recently signed in Moscow. The President hailed it as the end of the 'drift' in relations between America and Russia.
We need to remember the political situation in Russia. Vladimir Putin openly acknowledges that he was formerly a member of the KGB. I have no idea whether the organization still exists, but I would not doubt that the mindset is still there. Putin has stated that he would like to restore the former glory of the Soviet Union, I have no reason to doubt this---nor should President Obama.
The article states:
"The pursuit of such an offensive weapons treaty could nonetheless be detrimental to us. Why? Because Obama's hunger for a diplomatic success, such as it is, allowed the Russians to exact a price: linkage between offensive and defensive nuclear weapons.
This is important for Russia because of the huge American technological advantage in defensive weaponry. We can reliably shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile. They cannot. And since defensive weaponry will be the decisive strategic factor of the 21st century, Russia has striven mightily for a quarter-century to halt its development. Gorbachev tried to swindle Reagan out of the Strategic Defense Initiative at Reykjavik in 1986. Reagan refused. As did his successors -- Bush I, Clinton, Bush II".
Meanwhile, Poland and the the Czech Republic, who joined NATO with the hopes of being under the protective umbrella of the United States, have had their missle defense shield put in limbo because President Obama wanted to be friends with Russia. He has again thrown friends under the bus to appease enemies. The article states:
"Then comes the "pause" (as Russia's president appreciatively noted) in the planned establishment of a missile shield in Eastern Europe. And now the "Joint Understanding" commits us to a new treaty that includes "a provision on the interrelationship of strategic offensive and strategic defensive arms." Obama further said that the East European missile shield "will be the subject of extensive negotiations" between the United States and Russia."
This treaty does not make the world a safer place for anyone--it gives permission to Russia to return to the old aggressive ways of the Soviet Union.
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