Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Despite the best efforts of the White House and the Pentagon to kiss Sen. Jon Kyl's ass and make him feel important enough to support the New START treaty, Arizona's Senator Obstruction put partisan politics – denying President Obama a foreign policy success and hampering his future ability to negotiate treaties – ahead of the national security of the United States. Jon Kyl's partisan politics threatens American nuclear security. Kyl statement deals serious setback to Obama's push for START (paragraphs have been reordered for clarity):
One of President Obama's top foreign-policy goals suffered a potentially ruinous setback when the Senate's second-ranking Republican said the U.S. nuclear treaty with Russia should not be considered until next year.
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Kyl, in a statement released Tuesday morning, said he had told Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) that "I did not think" the treaty could be considered during the lame-duck session because of other congressional work "and the complex and unresolved issues related to START and modernization."
"I appreciate the recent effort by the administration to address some of the issues we have raised and I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Kerry" and the administration, Kyl said.
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The statement by Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) stunned the White House and Democrats, who scrambled to save the pact. It came just days after Obama declared that ratifying the treaty was his top foreign-policy priority for the lame-duck session of Congress.
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Republicans have insisted that the administration spend more money to ensure that existing U.S. weapons are well maintained. [Kyl's decision came despite an administration offer Friday to pour an extra $4.1 billion into modernization of the nation's nuclear complex.]
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Senior U.S. officials said they found the statement jarring because Kyl had sent the administration questions Monday night about the extra $4.1 billion for the nuclear complex, which officials interpreted as a sign that a deal might be close.
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The New START treaty is the centerpiece of Obama's "reset" of relations with Russia – a policy that the administration credits with producing critical cooperation from Moscow on Iran and Afghanistan.
If the treaty were to fail, Obama's ability to negotiate other treaties would be damaged, foreign diplomats say.
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New START reduces each side's deployed, long-range weapons from 2,200 to 1,550. More critically in the eyes of U.S. military leaders, it allows each side to inspect the other's nuclear forces, to ensure there is no hidden buildup. Such inspections stopped when an earlier treaty expired last year.
"Without ratification of this treaty, we will have no Americans on the ground to inspect Russia's nuclear activities . . . [and] less cooperation between the two nations that account for 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons," [Vice President] Biden said.
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The administration will make a last-ditch effort Wednesday to appeal to Kyl, the Republicans' main negotiator, in a meeting including Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, several officials said.
"Failure to pass the New START treaty this year would endanger our national security," Biden warned in a statement Tuesday.
The silence from the Arizona political media on Sen. Jon Kyl's obstruction of the New START treaty for partisan political purposes has been defeaning. They should be screaming for his head.
I received the following press release from the Truman National Security Project:
Statement: Arizona Veterans, Military Leaders Urge Ratification of New START Treaty
Washington, D.C. – In response to the statement put out earlier today by the office of U.S. Senator Kyl (R-AZ) regarding the New START Treaty, veterans with the Truman National Security Project released the following statements:
Jonathan Murray, US Marine Corps veteran and Truman National Security Project Advocacy Director:
"Every day that we wait to ratify this treaty is another day that we leave Russia’s nuclear arsenal vulnerable to terrorist access. Senator Kyl must move quickly to ratify New START in the lame duck session so that the United States can once again stand strong against nuclear terrorism.”
John Adams, retired US Army Brigadier General and Tucson resident:
"New START enjoys the unanimous support of my active duty colleagues for good reason: terrorists are actively seeking nuclear material and we cannot afford to leave Russian nuclear facilities unmonitored. I urge Senator Kyl to listen to the advice of the uniformed military and support ratification of New START without delay."
Brett Hunt, US Army veteran and Phoenix resident:
"As a soldier I listened to my chain of command. Now I urge Senator Kyl to listen to the professional advice of the military leadership and swiftly ratify New START. New START will make America more secure by keeping vulnerable Russian nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists."
Ruben Gallego, US Marine Corps veteran and Phoenix resident:
"Every day Senator Kyl delays ratification of New START is another day we don't have boots on the ground to inspect Russia's nuclear facilities. Veterans in Arizona expect Senator Kyl to put aside partisan squabbling and act swiftly to strengthen our security by ratifying New START this year."
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If anyone in the Arizona media is actually interested in doing their job, you can contact Laura Britton at the Truman National Security Project, 925-699-3332.
UPDATE: The Boston Globe reports today Clinton calls for Senate to act on nuclear treaty:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday beseeched the Senate to vote this year on a U.S.-Russia nuclear weapons treaty, saying delay was a threat to the nation' security.
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"This is not an issue that can afford to be postponed," Clinton said after the meeting.
She pledged to work with Senate supporters of the pact to overcome resistance. "We will do whatever it takes literally around the clock," Clinton said.
The secretary was flanked by Sens. John Kerry and Dick Lugar, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the main advocates for the treaty.
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Kerry said there were no substantive disagreements on the treaty itself and that a major objection of Kyl's should have been removed when the administration pledged an additional $4.1 billion for weapons modernization programs.
The country "is unlikely to have either the treaty or the modernization unless we get real," said Lugar, R-Ind.
All three stressed national security: Those in favor of postponing or avoiding a vote "vastly underestimate the continuing threat that is posed to this country," Clinton said.
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