Slashdot Mirror
US, Russia Reach Nuclear Arsenal Agreement
Peace Corps Library writes "The United States and Russia, seeking to move forward on one of the most significant arms control treaties since the end of the cold war, announced that they had reached a preliminary agreement on cutting each country's stockpiles of strategic nuclear weapons, effectively setting the stage for a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), a cold war-era pact that expires in December. Under the framework, negotiators are to be instructed to craft a treaty that would cut strategic warheads for each side to between 1,500 and 1,675, down from the limit of 2,200 slated to take effect in 2012 under the Treaty of Moscow (PDF) signed by President George W. Bush. The limit on delivery vehicles would be cut to between 500 and 1,100 from the 1,600 currently allowed under Start. Perhaps more important than the specific limits would be a revised and extended verification system that otherwise would expire with Start in December. The United States currently has 1,198 land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based missiles and bombers, which together are capable of delivering 5,576 warheads, according to its most recent Start report in January, while Russia reported that it has 816 delivery vehicles capable of delivering 3,909 warheads. 'We have a mutual interest in protecting both of our populations from the kinds of danger that weapons proliferation is presenting today,' said President Obama."
the worst part is the Congress using the death as a distraction to get some of their less savory items into law
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
> You forgot the part where the crazy probable child molester pushed the
> coverage of the struggle in Iran off the front pages.......
Only because they wanted a reason to stop covering Iran anyway. The administration clearly didn't want to be talking about Iran. Because it is becoming increasingly clear that they are on the other side of that issue from where the civilized world is and know it is a losing issue for them.
Think I'm being extreme by implying we are now part of the Axis of Evil? Well consider the available evidence. Our government supports the Mad Mullahs in Iran. We support Castro, Chavez and Danny Ortega in trying to put a tyrant back in Honduras. We have accepted the Nork's Nuke ambitions as a fait accompli[1] and have all but admitted we can't/won't stop Iran from getting the Bomb. And on today's topic we still deal with Russia as if they were still the Soviet Union... as if they still mattered; when in reality petty Evil is about all they are good for these days. The Russians are going to reduce their nuke stockpiles anyway, they can't afford to maintain their old stockpiles, have few resources to devote to designing new ones, etc.
It is clear the average Iranian no longer wants to be a part of the Axis of Evil, I'd bet good money the average Nork wishes Kim would frickin' die and they could reunify with the South and get a square meal once in awhile. Cubans vote with their boats even though many die trying to escape. The Hondurans are pretty much unified in their desire to keep their Republic but will almost certainly end up being invaded while we either stand silent or actually help oppress them. So now we join the list of Axis members whose people don't approve of the evil being done in their name but are apparently powerless to change their regime.
Democrat delenda est