Henry A. Kissinger, George P. Shultz, James A. Baker III, Lawrence S. Eagleburger and Colin L. Powell - The Republican case for ratifying New START

GOP Secretaries of State Make the Case for START
Secretaries of State for the past five Republican presidents encourage the Senate to ratify the New START Treaty in a Washington Post Op-Ed today. Kissinger and company say that world is safer today because of Republican presidents' efforts to reduce the supply of Nuclear Weapons and insist that the Senate approve the New START Treaty to continue to protect the United States against nuclear dangers. The former secretaries of state highlight three reasons Republicans should support ratificatio...

New START: Still Not About Tactical Nuclear Weapons
One of the more frustrating arguments made against the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is that it doesn’t limit Russia’s tactical Nuclear Weapons arsenal.  As I complained on Twitter earlier (@eauner), New START was never intended to address tactical nuclear weapons. Strategic Nuclear Weapons and tactical Nuclear Weapons have very different political implications.  The Russian and American strategic Nuclear Arsenals deter attacks by threatening cities. ...

New START: Still Not About Tactical Nuclear Weapons
One of the more frustrating arguments made against the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is that it doesn’t limit Russia’s tactical Nuclear Weapons arsenal.  As I complained on Twitter earlier (@eauner), New START was never intended to address tactical nuclear weapons. Strategic Nuclear Weapons and tactical Nuclear Weapons have very different political implications.  The Russian and American strategic Nuclear Arsenals deter attacks by threatening cities. ...

We invite danger if we reject New START
The Senate is ready to vote in the next few weeks on a new strategic arms limitation treaty with Russia. Having worked on such treaties since the 1970s, as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as minority and Majority Leader of the Senate, and as White House Chief of Staff under President Reagan, I believe this treaty should be ratified — and soon. President Reagan was famous for his adage about dealing with the old Soviet Union: "Trust but verify." Since the last START trea...

Obama gets Powell's backing on START nuclear deal (AP)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama rallied support for a stalled nuclear treaty from former Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday, as Republican lawmakers indicated a greater willingness to ratify the agreement with Russia by the end of the year. Both Obama and Powell warned of grave consequences if the Senate fails to ratify the New START pact, which would reduce how many strategic warheads the United States and Russia could hold and set up a system so each could inspect and verify...

Michael Lieberman: Why Obama Should Welcome GOP Opposition to New START
Though rightly determined to pass the New START Treaty in the current Congress, President Obama should welcome the GOP's obstructionism. While the President has signaled he will fight for the accord, his offensive cannot stop at advocating the treaty's merits. Instead, Democrats must highlight the Republicans' opposition for the reckless Partisanship that it is. More than New START is on the table. Taking on the GOP and forcing a vote will also give Obama the chance to consolidate recent Demo...

GOP Secretaries of State Make the Case for START
Secretaries of State for the past five Republican presidents encourage the Senate to ratify the New START Treaty in a Washington Post Op-Ed today. Kissinger and company say that world is safer today because of Republican presidents' efforts to reduce the supply of Nuclear Weapons and insist that the Senate approve the New START Treaty to continue to protect the United States against nuclear dangers. The former secretaries of state highlight three reasons Republicans should support ratificatio...

Treaty in a Time Warp
WASHINGTON -- The Framers of the Constitution, a nuisance regretted by most modern presidents, gave the legislative branch -- another indignity inflicted on presidents, as they see it -- an important role in making Foreign Policy. The Framers did so by, among other provisions, requiring the Senate's two-thirds (today, 67 votes) consent to treaties. The Framers' wisdom is confirmed by Barack Obama's impatience with senators reluctant to ratify, during Congress' lame-duck session, the New START tr...

Treaty in a time warp
The framers of the Constitution, a nuisance regretted by most modern presidents, gave the legislative branch -- another indignity inflicted on presidents, as they see it -- an important role in making Foreign Policy. The framers did so by, among other provisions, requiring the Senate's two-thirds (today, 67 votes) consent to treaties. The framers' wisdom is confirmed by President Obama's impatience with senators reluctant to ratify, during Congress' lame-duck session, the New START Treaty pertai...

Brookings Institute calls START ratification crucial
This is when national politics and Republican tantrums threaten our security because according to what they are saying, and by they, I mean House Republican Leader John Boehner (Mr. Chicken Crap), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and their crowd,  pledge to Filibuster every bill that comes through the House and Senate until they can guarantee their rich, overfed, white friends get their Tax Cuts. So it seems the plan is to hold Congress hostage until everyone jumps on the Republican b...

Obama mystery guest? Colin Powell.
Amid signs that several Senate Republicans were shifting in favor of ratifying the START Treaty, Colin Powell will join President Barack Obama at the White House this afternoon to lend his support to the U.S.-Russian nuclear Arms Control treaty, the White House announced. While Powell will discuss several issues with the Democratic president he famously endorsed in 2008, including a new education report his group, America’s Promise, released this week, rumors swirled Tuesday night among...

Obama Gets Colin Powell's Backing on START Nuclear Deal
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama rallied support for a stalled nuclear treaty from former Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday, as Republican lawmakers indicated a greater willingness to ratify the agreement with Russia by the end of the year. Both Obama and Powell warned of grave consequences if the Senate fails to ratify the New START pact, which would reduce how many strategic warheads the United States and Russia could hold and set up a system so each could inspect and verify...

Powell joins push on nuclear pact
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on the US Senate to ratify a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. "I hope that the Senate will move quickly," Mr Powell said, after meeting President Barack Obama. He joins three other former Republican secretaries of state in backing the deal. The New START Treaty would reduce both countries' Nuclear Arsenals and allow each to inspect the other's facilities. Some Republicans have argued it should not be voted on this year. R...

The military agrees--we need START now
After more than 20 hearings and Testimony from Military and diplomatic officials that has seen more than 900 questions asked and answered, a strong Bipartisan consensus has emerged on a simple point about the New START Treaty: it makes America more safe.   I served in the nuclear arena of our national defense during and following the Cold War; I was the Deputy Commander in Chief and Chief of Staff of U.S. Strategic Command before retiring from the U.S. Air Force.  Prior to this I commanded t...

In Arms Treaty Tussle, What Would Reagan Do?
The new Arms Control treaty with Russia, now being considered by the Senate, follows in the storied tradition of Ronald Reagan, or so say people who worked for him. Except that Mr. Reagan would never have supported it, at least according to other people who served him. The latest on President Obama, the new Congress and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. The debate over the New START Treaty, as it is known, has become a proxy fight over the legacy of the nati...

Obama enlists Colin Powell in START pitch
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Wednesday enlisted retired general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell to press his fellow Republicans to ratify a landmark Arms Control treaty with Russia. "I fully support this treaty and I hope that the Senate gives its advice and consent for the ratification of the treaty as soon as possible," Powell said during a brief joint public appearance with Obama at the White House. His message came as Russian Prime Minister Vla...

The New START fight is about politics, not national security - By Jamie M. Fly
President Obama appeared yesterday with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and received his Endorsement of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia. In today's Washington Post, Powell joined Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, James Baker, and Lawrence Eagleburger in presenting "The Republican case for ratifying New START." With former Republican officials coming out in favor of the treaty's ratification and amidst reports that some Senate Republicans may be willin...

Powell joins push on nuclear pact
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on the US Senate to ratify a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. "I hope that the Senate will move quickly," Mr Powell said, after meeting President Barack Obama. He joins three other former Republican secretaries of state in backing the deal. The New START Treaty would reduce both countries' Nuclear Arsenals and allow each to inspect the other's facilities. Some Republicans have argued it should not be voted on this year. R...

Colin Powell Urges Senate to Ratify START Nuclear Treaty
Dec. 1: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, left, with President Barack Obama, talks about the importance of ratifying the New START Treaty, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama rallied support for a stalled Nuclear Treaty from former Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday, as Republican lawmakers indicated a greater willingness to ratify the agreement with Russia by the end of the year. Both Obama and Powell warned of grave conseq...

Obama enlists Colin Powell in START pitch (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Wednesday enlisted retired general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell to press his fellow Republicans to ratify a landmark Arms Control treaty with Russia. "I fully support this treaty and I hope that the Senate gives its advice and consent for the ratification of the treaty as soon as possible," Powell said during a brief joint public appearance with Obama at the White House. His message came as Russian Prime Minister Vla...

Is Senator Kyl holding New START hostage to tax cuts?
The burden of proof is on Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) to show that monitoring Russia's Nuclear Arsenal is more important than making sure the top 2% get a Tax Cut. Whatever genuine substantive concerns Republicans have about the START Treaty--the ones they've come up with aren't convincing--the dispute over the Bush tax cuts shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not the treaty is ratified. Today, five former Republican secretaries of state urged Republicans in the Senate to ratify the ne...

George Will: Treaty in a time warp
WASHINGTON -- The Framers of the Constitution, a nuisance regretted by most modern presidents, gave the legislative branch -- another indignity inflicted on presidents, as they see it -- an important role in making Foreign Policy. The Framers did so by, among other provisions, requiring the Senate's two-thirds (today, 67 votes) consent to treaties. The Framers' wisdom is confirmed by Barack Obama's impatience with senators reluctant to ratify, during Congress' lame-duck session, the New START tr...

Obamas time-warp focus on the New START treaty
George Will: The administration contends that even delaying ratification will reduce Russia’s helpfulness regarding Iran’s Nuclear Weapons program. This suggests, strangely, that Russia has been significantly helpful. And it assumes, implausibly, that Russia’s interest in preventing neighboring Iran from having Nuclear Weapons is less than its interest in modifying the strategic arms balance with an America that is no longer a strategic adversary. [...] The administration say...

Obama gets Powell's backing on new nuclear treaty
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama rallied support for a stalled Nuclear Treaty from former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday, as Republican lawmakers indicated a greater willingness to ratify the agreement with Russia by the end of the year. Both Obama and Powell warned of grave consequences if the Senate fails to ratify the New START pact, which would reduce how many strategic warheads the United States and Russia could hold and set up a system so each could inspect and veri...

Powell Gives Support for Russian Treaty
Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell formally announced his support for the ratification of the START Treaty with Russia Wednesday, following a meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the White House Oval Office. “I fully support this treaty and I hope that the Senate will give its advice and consent to the ratification of the treaty as soon as possible," Powell -- with Obama and Biden at his side -- told assembled press at the conclusion of the meeting. ...