Inkwell Institute

International Studies Group

European Desk

Our president, Barack Obama, is in Prague to meet with the prez of Russia to sign the latest incarnation of the Start treaty……the AP is reporting:

Seeking to end years of rancor, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed the biggest nuclear arms pact in a generation and envisioned a day when they can compromise on the divisive issue of missile defense.

The pact will shrink the limit of nuclear warheads to 1,550 per country over seven years. That still allows for mutual destruction several times over. But it is intended to send a strong signal that Russia and the U.S. — which between them own more than 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons — are serious about disarmament.

We can all sleep better at night knowing that the START Treaty has been signed…or can we?

Before I give my analysis of the latest treaty we need to do a little history lesson…in the beginning were the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)…..meetings between the US and USSR over the amounts and elimination of nukes…..SALT I was signed in 1974 by Pres. Ford and Breshnev…it  froze the number of missile launchers at the present number and dimantle some of the ICBMs….and we slept better…

SALT II was signed in 1979 by Pres, Carter and Brezhnev….this treaty was NOT ratified by the US Congress so it was a non-player…..why?….six months after the treaty USSR invaded Afghanistan and as they say, the rest is history….

Then came the first START Treaty which was signed by Pres. Reagan and Gorbachov among others….and this treaty expired on 08 April 2010…hence the new signing ceremony……

Now for the analysis of the treaty….after almost 40 years of negotiations and there is still 5000+ nukes somewhere in the world is just plain pathetic…all this signing and all the signings were is just a political game to make the players look more statesman-like…the fact that after such a long time and countless negotiations, NO one is serious about getting rid of any nukes….why?….it is the perfect bargaining tool…..why do you think that Iran and North Korea are busting their butts tryinbg to get a nuke?  The device will give them a bargaining position that they did not have in the past….it is just that simple.

The latest signing in Prague was NOTHING more than smoke….both leaders made a speech and looked very statesman-like which, as I have said, is the sole purpose of this political exercise……it also gives the US a shield against criticism that the rest of the world has laid on it….saying that the US can have nukes but no one else can….the US can now say, “look we are doing our part to eliminate the need for nukes”….while actually doing NOTHING…..