URGENT and CRUCIAL: Do not let Trump trash the New START treaty!!! We must limit nuclear weapons!!!

Trump keeps saying he is a great deal-maker, but really all he does is DESTROY GOOD DEALS and fail to negotiate good ones.

He has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, destroyed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that Reagan and Gorbachev had passed in 1987, destroyed the JCPOA (the “Iran Nuclear Deal”) and threatened war against Iran so he forced Iran to start enriching uranium for their own self-defense, and he kept trying to repeal the ACA (“Obamacare”).

Now the ONE REMAINING TREATY between the U.S. and Russia that limits nuclear weapons — the START Treaty — WILL EXPIRE in February 2021.  Putin is eager to renew it, but Trump seems hostile to it.  Trump thinks he can cut a better deal, but he should support the New START now — and if he wants to cut another deal with Putin he could do that once our safety has been secured by renewing the existing treaty.

Here is some information about New START:

This summary is from January 2020:  New START at a Glance.1

These came out on February 5, 2020:

The Arms Control Association is an EXCELLENT source of information about nuclear weapons!  On February 5, 2020, they posted this information that replies to some common objections to extending New START:  https://www.armscontrol.org/issue-briefs/2020-02/responses-common-criticisms-about-extending-new-start

The Arms Control Association encourages you to tell the government to extend New START.  Use this link:  https://www.armscontrol.org/take-action/extend-new-start

They also posted new information on March 13, 2020, in addition to other information it had posted previously about this:  https://www.armscontrol.org/blogs/us-russian-nuclear-arms-control-watch

Here is one of their previous posts about New START:  https://www.armscontrol.org/take-action/extend-new-start

 

The Quaker-based lobby — Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL, www.fcnl.org) provides this information and this encouragement to contact Congress to support New START:  “The alternative to New START extension is a nuclear free-for-all,” said Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a congressional hearing late last year.  Congress should support extension and encourage the president to make the choice that so many national security experts recommend. Urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 2529/S. 2394 and extend the New START Treaty until 2026.  Use this link:  https://cqrcengage.com/fcnl/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=506187&utm_campaign=lam&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ak

 

Another expert organization, Global Zero (www.globalzero.org) issued this statement on February 5, 2020:  Expiration of New START Means Nuclear Chaos  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, February 5, 2020:

On February 5, 2021, just one year from today, the last remaining nuclear pact between the United States and Russia will expire – ending more than a half century of arms control between the two most nuclear-armed nations on the planet. A simple signature by Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin would extend the treaty through 2026.  The 2010 New START agreement is the last remaining restraint on both nations’ strategic nuclear arsenals. The treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 strategic, offensively deployed nuclear weapons, and verifies compliance through robust on-site inspections and data exchanges.   Russia has twice offered to extend the agreement. In his first phone call with Putin in January 2017, Trump reportedly rejected this suggestion and denounced New START as a “bad deal.” In December 2019, Putin again offered to extend the treaty – this time immediately and without preconditions. To date, the United States has failed to accept this offer.

 

These four articles came out in December 2019:

Putin offers immediate extension of key nuclear treaty: New START:  Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to extend a key nuclear treaty with the United States immediately without preconditions, he said Thursday. “Russia is ready to extend the New START treaty immediately, before the year’s end and without any preconditions,” Putin said at a meeting of military officials, according to The Associated Press. According to the Federation of the American Scientists, “there is nothing other than personalities and bad advice that is preventing Moscow and Washington from extending New START. Retaining the treaty is clearly in the interest of both countries, particularly as other arms control agreements have been abandoned and military tensions are steadily increasing”. The New START Treaty keeps nuclear arsenals in check and President Trump must act to preserve it. Read more at this link:  https://thehill.com/policy/defense/473233-putin-offers-immediate-extension-of-key-nuclear-treaty

The New START Treaty Keeps Nuclear Arsenals in Check and President Trump Must Act to Preserve It, Hans Kristensen, Forbes Magazine.  Read article at this link:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanskristensen/2019/12/10/the-new-start-treaty-keeps-nuclear-arsenals-in-check-and-president-trump-must-act-to-preserve-it/#47b7325a6e74

No Brainer, Anti-Nuclear Movement Urges Trump to Accept Putin Offer Renew START Treaty, John Queally, Common Dreams.  Read article at this link:  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/06/no-brainer-anti-nuclear-movement-urges-trump-accept-putin-offer-renew-start-treaty

For Once Trump Should Listen to Putin, Joseph Cirincione, Inkstick Media.  Read article at this link:  https://inkstickmedia.com/for-once-trump-should-listen-to-putin/

 

 

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org