When Will The U.S. - Russian START Agreement Be Approved By The U.S. Senate

U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, display their signatures on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) at Prague Castle on April 8, 2010. (Reuters)

Senate May Not Approve START Until Early 2011 -- Yahoo News/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It may be early next year before the U.S. Senate approves a major arms reduction treaty that President Barack Obama signed last week with Russia, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday.

Reid, a Democrat, said he could not imagine Republicans rejecting the pact, which would reduce the deployed nuclear warheads of the United States and Russia by about 30 percent and follows up on the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

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More News On The START Agreement

Senate Might Not Ratify START Pact Until Next Year, Reid Says -- Global Security Newswire
Will the START Treaty Be Approved This Year? -- FOX News
Will New START Treaty Boost US-Russian Relations? -- Voice of America
How to Build on the Start Treaty -- New York Times opinion

My Comment: If Democrat Senate majority leader Reid is telling us that it will only be next year before the treaty is looked at by the Senate, he is actually telling us the following. (1) There is not enough support in the Senate to approve the treaty right now. (2) U.S. public opinion polls indicate that there is strong opposition to this treaty .... a prospect that is very unappetizing in an election year. (3) Senators have questions that want to be answered .... especially in regards to U.S. missile defense in Europe. Sen. Reid does not have the answers yet, so he punts it down to be looked at in the next Congress.

President Obama, many Democrats, and much of the media are in support of the treaty .... but opposition to the treaty is very strong (from many quarters), and this is the reason why it will not be put on the agenda for debate this year.