JRL NEWSWATCH: “Don’t Tear Up This Treaty; Arms control isn’t perfect. But abandoning treaties without a plan for the future is dangerous.” – New York Times Editorial

Iskander Missile with Launch file photo

“… Owing to [various] treaty commitments, [the United States and Russia], which still hold the vast majority of … nuclear weapons … have reduced their combined total of warheads from roughly 63,000 in 1986 to about 8,100 today. … the agreements helped avoid nuclear conflict …. The Russian violation of the I.N.F. Treaty centers on an SSC-8 land-based cruise missile. American officials say it can carry nuclear and conventional warheads, is fired from a mobile launcher and has been tested at a distance of between 300 and 3,000 miles, the range prohibited by the treaty. The missiles, located in western and central Russia, are intended to intimidate Europe, especially former Soviet states …. Russia so far probably has no more than 50 …. [T]he Russian foreign ministry said it would be willing to discuss mutual inspections …. Given … wrenching political division at home; Russia’s new aggression against Europe and America; threats from a rising China; missile proliferation by India, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran; other technological changes and cyber warfare – it makes sense to rethink whether new approaches to arms control are needed or whether the old system remains sound. One major question is … talks with China and other countries … with missiles and nuclear weapons. … [that have] resisted … such a process, at least until the United States and Russia shrink their arsenals even more. …”File Photo of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan at Table Signing Documents

Click here for: “Don’t Tear Up This Treaty; Arms control isn’t perfect. But abandoning treaties without a plan for the future is dangerous.” – New York Times Editorial

[featured images are file photos]

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