START Provisions Could Weaken U.S. Missile Defense, Say Experts

By Rob Sanna - Talk Radio News Service

Vague language in parts of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) could limit the United States’ ability to improve its missile defense system, according to experts at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C..

Currently the treaty would link missile defense limits to limits on offensive missile systems. Russian officials are using this to claim that their nation has the right to ignore the treaty and increase their nuclear missile count if the United States upgrades or expands its missile defense system in any way (provide a link to a story that confirms this).

“It was so important to the Russians, this one piece of preamble langauge in the treaty, that on the day the treaty was signed they released a unilateral statement saying that ‘Based on this preambluar language, the United States cannot…enhance its missle defenses, otherwise we’re going to withdraw under article 14,’” said Steven Groves with the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C..

Henry Sokolski, Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said the U.S. should stop confronting Russia, but instead should try to work with the Russians on issues such as growing weapon stocks in China. He said the U.S. should support denuclearizing some of its warheads if Russia and China agree to do the same.

In addition to the START treaty, Sokolski recommended that the U.N. begin to impose heavy sanctions on nations that violate nuclear agreements.

He also noted that it would be very helpful for the U.S. to use economic leverage over nuclear suppliers like China, Russia, France, Japan, and Korea. Currently, these nations are selling reactors unregulated in the Middle East, effectively under-cutting the restraints the U.S. is pushing for.