Ronald Reagan did few things right, but beginning nuclear arms reduction between the US and the USSR was one of them. Assuming this treaty is ratified, almost one third of the world’s nuclear emissions will be eliminated.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, signing a new nuclear arms reduction pact today in Prague, said the treaty reflects a great improvement in relations between the former Cold War enemies since Obama took office last year and called for a "reset."
Obama, speaking at the signing ceremony for the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, predicted "strong, tough" sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program will come next, sometime this spring. Working together, he said, the U.S. and Russia should be able to reach an agreement with other key nations on the terms of those sanctions.
The treaty, Obama said, also demonstrates that the two countries have “stopped that drift” that occurred during the Bush administration “and proven the benefits of cooperation. Today is an important milestone for nuclear security and non-proliferation, and for U.S.-Russia relations.”
Medvedev said the treaty represents “a win-win situation."
"No one stands to lose from this agreement," Medvedev said. "I believe that this is a typical feature of our cooperation. Both parties have won. And taking into account this victory of ours, the entire world community has won.”…
Inserted from <McClatchy DC>
Old line GOP diplomats have endorsed the treaty, but there may be trouble from the GOP leadership. Mitch ‘the filibastard’ McConnell has indicated opposition, as has Mooseolini, aka the Tweeting Tundra Twit.
Keith Olbermann and Adm. Richard Burt provided some excellent background.
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Keith certainly called it right, when he said. “That woman is an idiot!”
Clearly the GOP is looking for any excuse to oppose this, indicating that they prefer political gamesmanship to national security.
Although there are issues over which I feel quite upset with Obama, for this he deserves high praise.
10 Responses to “Obama/Medvedev Sign Arms Reduction Treaty”
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A great accomplishment for a guy with no prior foreign policy background. Just hearing what Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin had to say about this tells me Obama did the right thing, and that this is a major accomplishment.
Jack, disapproval from those two wackos is the highest recommendation possible.
That idiotic Palin said today that the president was too busy “wooing” potentially hostile nations, implying of course that dropping nukes was no doubt the way to go. What idiots the idiots are…
But Mike, she can see Russia from her porch! 😉
First, he has no foreign policy experience, second he’ alienating foreign nations, now he’s too busy ‘wooing’ potential hostile nations. Which is it?
Whichever one best fits the GOP lie of the moment.
What worried me the most about the Bush years was when Georgie said, about 7 years ago, that the nukyular option was an option. This was in a 2 paragraph story buried on the back page of my local rag. The Russian ambassador was quoted as saying something along the lines of how disturbed they were at Bush’s talk of the nukyular option. Read: Shitting themselves, re-arming, ramping back up that cold-war nuke policy, etc. etc. etc.
This, friends, is a good thing. Bush poked that potential hornet’s nest too many times for my taste.
He certainly instituted Texas Taliban diplomacy, alianated our friends except Saudi Arabia and Israel, and antagonized everyone else, except his own puppet dictators.
Clearly the GOP is looking for any excuse to oppose this, indicating that they prefer political gamesmanship to national security.
Clearly.
All too, Ivan.