Thursday, July 31, 2014

Is Russia's Violation Of The INF Treaty A Military Threat?

President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev signing the INF Treaty in the East Room of the White House. 12/8/87. Reagan Library

Does Russian Treaty Violation Pose Military Threat? -- Voice of America

The United States upped the diplomatic pressure this week by saying Russia has violated provisions of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty - or INF - a treaty considered to be the cornerstone of the U.S.-Russian nuclear disarmament structure.

This is a serious accusation, analysts say, and one that has roots dating back to the close of the Cold War.

The INF treaty was signed in December 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev. It entered into force in June 1988.

Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association, a private research firm, said it was a historic treaty because it eliminated an entire class of weapons

Read more ....

My Comment: The world has changed a lot since the mid 1980s. It was a historic treaty then .... but sadly missile proliferation and more advanced missiles are now changing the landscape and making that treaty irrelevant.

Update: US-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty lapsing: Cui bono? -- RT

2 comments:

Ropestuff said...

Am I wrong or did the spirit of these treaties die when we started on the missile shield? And isn't the missile shield a violation a non-proliferation treaty?

War News Updates Editor said...

Definitely Ropestuff .... and it certainly did not help with the spirit of the treaty. I can only speak to what Moscow was thinking at the time .... and they were hoping for future concessions from the West on missile defense and to keep the Warsaw pack alive. None of this happen.