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NEWS & LETTERS,
January-February 2002
Column: Our Life and Times by Kevin A. Barry and
Mary Holmes
ABM treaty dumped
The Bush administration
formally issued notice, on Dec. 13, of its intent to withdraw in six months from
the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Based on the dehumanized premise of
"mutually assured destruction," the ABM Treaty was credited for
keeping nuclear peace for 30 years. This is the first time any country has
unilaterally abrogated an arms agreement since World War II. As far back as his presidential
campaign, Bush said he would get rid of the ABM Treaty, which he called a
"Cold War relic," in order to go ahead with sinking billions into a
missile defense shield. His administration has a fundamental opposition to any
and all formal arms control treaties. Bush's unilateralism in scrapping the ABM
Treaty was not influenced by U.S. coalition-building following the September 11
terrorist attacks. The new U.S. alliances were predicated on specific events
tied to its incursion into Afghanistan, where it has maintained tight control
over all military operations. Russian President Putin called
Bush's exit from the treaty a "mistake." Russia maintains that this
act cancels START and some 30 other agreements and treaties. In place of the ABM
Treaty, Putin wants a "treaty on mutual security," but is not likely
to get this from Bush. Russia plans to cut its nuclear warheads down to
1,500-2,200, about the same number Bush announced for the U.S., which is enough
to confuse any missile defense under current consideration. |
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