Already the warmongers and America first obsessives are agitating against the new strategic arms limitation treaty signed this year to replace the expired
START I. The new treaty requires ratification by the Senate, and a vote is expected on the treaty next week. Both major
Washington papersran headlines claiming or implying that the Russians cheated on START I. But the US State Department begs to differ with the COM. A State spokesperson for compliance issues said there was nothing in the recent
compliance report that accused Russia of cheating. The history of Russian compliance is good according to the spokesperson. But reality never stopped Repugnants from trying to build momentum against a major foreign policy accomplishment of a Democratic administration. The
Post story focused on Russian compliance with two other treaties covering biological and chemical weapons, not part of the START I agreement. The most the State Department report could say about those issues was that the US was "unable to ascertain whether Russia had" fulfilled its treaty obligations as interpreted by the US. The irony of the situation is that the more the war hawks try to delay ratification, the longer the US will be without inspectors inside Russia verifying compliance. With the expiration of START I all US technicians monitoring Russian stockpiles have been removed.
[Photo: a supersonic strategic weapon of a bygone era, B-58 "Hustler". The jet bomber was capable of Mach 2 at high altitude but it was never easy to fly, and the USAF loss 26 of the expensive bombers in accidents. The standard comment about the Hustler was that it cost more than it's weight in gold--when gold was $35 an ounce. Improvements in Soviet surface to air missile defense quickly forced the delta wing bomber into a low-altitude penetration mode where it lost the speed advantage. The aircraft therefore had an operational lifespan of just ten years.]
