“Making A Down Payment On His Goal Of A Nuclear-Free World”: Idiot And Medvedev Sign Treaty That Will Cut US Arsenal By 1/3 – With Video

Apr 8, 2010 9 Comments ›› Pat Dollard

Politico:

PRAGUE — Making a down payment on his goal of a nuclear-arms-free world, President Barack Obama signed a new treaty with his Russian counterpart Thursday to reduce nuclear arsenals on both sides by about one-third.

In a gilded hall here at a castle in Prague’s presidential complex, Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev put their signatures on a new Strategic Arms Reduction Talks treaty that calls on each country to reduce its number of warheads and long-range missiles — still maintaining plenty to ensure mutual destruction but a step toward reducing the nuclear threat worldwide.

For Obama, the treaty signing marks an important foreign policy accomplishment — building on the goal he laid out one year ago in this city, in a speech calling for an end to nuclear weapons worldwide. In the speech, Obama acknowledged it was a long-range goal that would outlive him and his presidency but that set him on a course of finding way to reduce the United States’ own arsenal.

“I believed then — as I do now — that the pursuit of that goal will move us further beyond the Cold War, strengthen the global nonproliferation regime and make the United States, and the world, safer and more secure. One of the steps that I called for last year was the realization of this treaty, so I am glad to be back in Prague today,” Obama said after signing the treaty.

Obama also predicted the U.S. Senate would ratify the treaty, despite some Republicans’ objections that it goes too far in reducing American military might.

Obama said the chamber has a “strong history of bipartisanship” on approving arms pacts and said he has spoken with the “chairmen of the relevant committees” in the Senate.

“We are beginning to once again move forward, leaving the Cold War behind, to address new challenges in new ways,” he said. “I feel confident that we are going to be able to get [the treaty] ratified.”

Obama said he hoped the effects of the new START treaty would go far beyond the deeply technical language about how many nuclear bombs each country could possess — and to warmer relations between the last remaining superpower and the only other nation with a massive nuclear stockpile.

And in his comments, he recalled that Medvedev had said, “Our relationship had started to drift, making it difficult to cooperate on issues of common interest to our people. And when the United States and Russia are not able to work together on big issues, it is not good for either of our nations or for the world.

“Together, we have stopped the drift and proven the benefits of cooperation,” Obama said.

But more than helping his “reset” with Russia, Obama said he hoped the treaty would help rally the rest of the world to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions, by showing the United States was ready to take steps to reduce its own nuclear might.

The treaty calls on both countries to reduce their nuclear warheads from about 2,200 to 1,550 over seven years and reduce long-range missiles as well.

The signing ceremony comes four days before Obama hosts a two-day nuclear arms summit in Washington with 46 leaders from other nations, including Chinese President Hu Jintao.

China and Russia are the last nations at the negotiating table that have not agreed to move forward with tougher sanctions against Iran.

Obama will meet one on one with the Chinese leader during the nuclear summit. He goes into that discussion with a stronger case if he can move the Russians closer to sanctions in his meeting Thursday with Medvedev.

The White House downplayed the potential for a breakthrough with Russia in Prague.

Briefing reporters on Air Force One, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said not to expect any significant developments on Iran.

“I don’t expect any pronouncements today coming out of this meeting,” he said, pointing out that, unlike 15 months ago, the Russians are now supportive of efforts to develop sanctions. Russia has signaled a new openness to sanctions — saying they are not preferable but might need to be discussed at this time — but has stopped short of an outright endorsement of the idea. Both China and Russia do a great deal of business with Iran.

Ben Rhodes, communications director for the National Security Council, who also briefed reporters, stressed that the multilateral discussions about tougher sanctions are taking place in New York and said that highlights how isolated Iran has become.

Obama arrived in Prague Thursday morning after an overnight on Air Force One and seemed to be in good spirits heading into a day that marked a significant foreign policy accomplishment to build on his recent health care successes at home.

Obama made a surprise cameo in the conference room on Air Force One, where Gibbs and Rhodes were briefing reporters on his trip to Prague.

Rhodes, seated with his back to the door, was going over the day’s schedule when Obama entered the room and stood behind him. “I was about to say he’s doing a really good job,” Obama joked. “I was impressed. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about.”

Asked if he wanted to take over the briefing, Obama said, “No, no I’m good,” as he left the room.

Arriving in Prague, Obama immediately headed to the Prague Castle, and after posing for a photograph with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Medvedev, he went into the meeting with his Russian counterpart.

The new START treaty is seen as more symbolic than substantive but marks a clear step forward in U.S. relations with Russia. The treaty has eluded other presidents, and there was a point in U.S. negotiations with Russia that Obama was reportedly on the verge of walking away.

The White House tapped Brian McKeon, a national security adviser in Vice President Joe Biden’s office, to oversee the ratification process for the START treaty in the Senate, where McKeon is a known quantity. He was chief counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Biden used to chair.

Gibbs said the treaty will be posted online this morning, and members of the administration’s negotiating team will begin briefing senators on the language.

The White House needs 67 votes for ratification in the Senate. It could be a tough fight with Republicans, several of whom have raised concerns about the treaty and Obama’s nuclear policies in general.

Gibbs stressed that the ratification process has traditionally gained bipartisan support in the Senate. He said the White House expects Senate approval by the end of the year but declined to put a firmer deadline on it.

“We are hopeful that reducing the threat of nuclear weapons remains a priority for both parties,” Gibbs said.

Obama will spend about 24 hours in Prague — including trying to ease concerns among Central European allies that the renewed U.S.-Russia partnership could adversely affect their relationships. In a dinner with 11 NATO allies Thursday night, Obama will try to calm their fears.

Ahead of the trip, the White House downplayed comments Tuesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the country could “opt out” of the START treaty, but the remark threw a splash of cold water on what the administration has hailed as a big foreign policy success.