The news today is that the USA is about to pull out of the intermediate range missile control treaty with Russia. The mainstream media pundits and self-proclaimed experts are aghast at this "attack" on arms control. They say that this could start a new nuclear arms race. That's nonsense.
Here's the point. The USA has been aware for almost a decade that Russia has been ignoring the treaty and deploying missiles in violation of its terms. America has been complying with the treaty while Russia has been violating it. Under president Obama, the USA did nothing in response to the Russian violations other than to raise them with Moscow. The Russians denied that they were deploying missiles in violation of the treaty. Despite clear evidence that the Russians were lying, president Obama did nothing in response to those lies. He didn't want to upset the arms control framework (which wasn't working). President Trump has reacted differently to the Russian false denials. He warned the Russians that if they continued their violations, he would pull the USA out of the treaty. Nothing changed, so now the President is going to pull America out of the treaty. There's no reason for the USA to adhere to rules which the Russians ignore.
As for the possibility of a new arms race, that is ridiculous. The Soviet Union ultimately collapsed because, in part, it realized that it could not keep up with the USA in new armaments. The Reagan military buildup showed the Kremlin that they were so outclassed economically, that they could never match America. Today's Russia is a pale shadow of the old USSR. The Soviet Union had twice the number of people, much more territory, and a substantially bigger economy. Right now Russia's economy is about 7% the size of the US economy. Russia's economy is smaller than that of Canada or South Korea. Also, the Russian economy is totally dependent on oil and gas prices and those have fallen as of late. An actual nuclear arms race would bankrupt Russia in a very short time. The Russians know this and would never attempt an actual arms race.
It's also worth noting that under Obama, the USA bowed to the Russian violations and took no action to confront the Russians. Under Trump, the USA is taking it to the Russians and threatening them for their violation of the treaty. No doubt, the mainstream media will try to find a way that this move is being done to "help" Putin, but there's no honest way to twist it in that manner. This is just more proof that the non-stop innuendo in the mainstream media and from Democrats that Trump is under Putin's control is silly.
Here's the point. The USA has been aware for almost a decade that Russia has been ignoring the treaty and deploying missiles in violation of its terms. America has been complying with the treaty while Russia has been violating it. Under president Obama, the USA did nothing in response to the Russian violations other than to raise them with Moscow. The Russians denied that they were deploying missiles in violation of the treaty. Despite clear evidence that the Russians were lying, president Obama did nothing in response to those lies. He didn't want to upset the arms control framework (which wasn't working). President Trump has reacted differently to the Russian false denials. He warned the Russians that if they continued their violations, he would pull the USA out of the treaty. Nothing changed, so now the President is going to pull America out of the treaty. There's no reason for the USA to adhere to rules which the Russians ignore.
As for the possibility of a new arms race, that is ridiculous. The Soviet Union ultimately collapsed because, in part, it realized that it could not keep up with the USA in new armaments. The Reagan military buildup showed the Kremlin that they were so outclassed economically, that they could never match America. Today's Russia is a pale shadow of the old USSR. The Soviet Union had twice the number of people, much more territory, and a substantially bigger economy. Right now Russia's economy is about 7% the size of the US economy. Russia's economy is smaller than that of Canada or South Korea. Also, the Russian economy is totally dependent on oil and gas prices and those have fallen as of late. An actual nuclear arms race would bankrupt Russia in a very short time. The Russians know this and would never attempt an actual arms race.
It's also worth noting that under Obama, the USA bowed to the Russian violations and took no action to confront the Russians. Under Trump, the USA is taking it to the Russians and threatening them for their violation of the treaty. No doubt, the mainstream media will try to find a way that this move is being done to "help" Putin, but there's no honest way to twist it in that manner. This is just more proof that the non-stop innuendo in the mainstream media and from Democrats that Trump is under Putin's control is silly.
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