OPINION:
President Obama is pushing the Senate to ratify a treaty that would undermine American security: the New START treaty (“Lugar adds GOP caveats to START,” Page 1, Tuesday).
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry is doing his part to ram the treaty through the Senate. Unfortunately, proponents of the New START treaty are desperately trying to avoid having a real debate on this fatally flawed document. Most glaringly, the treaty will place significant limitations on America’s ability to field a missile-defense system capable of protecting us against a nuclear missile. It also fails to stop rogue nations like North Korea and Iran from developing and deploying those weapons. And it contains extremely weak verification measures, making Russian compliance unlikely.
These flaws and many others are real and pose a serious threat to American national security. Compounding the problems is the administration’s refusal to release the treaty negotiating records and its insistence on questioning the motives of those who dare criticize the treaty. We’ve seen this playbook from President Obama before: Ignore valid concerns, hide key information and demonize the other side. Our senators should not play the game. They must reject the treaty now.
NATHANAEL YELLIS
Washington
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