REPORT: US Global Leadership on the Line If Senate Delays New START Treaty
American Security Project releases a report on the national security threat posed if the New START treaty fails in Senate
WASHINGTON D.C., 30 November 2010 – Today the American Security Project (ASP) released a report titled “10 Challenges to US Security if the Senate Fails to Ratify New START,” which outlines the national security challenges and consequences for the U.S. if the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia is not ratified during the current session of Congress.
Dr. Janne Nolan, Director of Nuclear Security at ASP, said: “Failure to ratify New START this year will damage our relationship with other leading powers and undo the progress in unifying the NATO allies and all law abiding states to act decisively against other urgent threats, especially Iran and North Korea.”
Dr. Nolan added: “At the recent NATO summit in Lisbon, our allies urged us to move forward with the treaty without further delay. New START has also won overwhelming nonpartisan support from the leading national security and military officials of six successive US administrations. The Senate must ratify this treaty now because it is in the best interest of national security in the United States.”
According to the ASP report, the Senate must ratify the New START treaty during this session of Congress to avoid serious setbacks to American interests. The entire US military leadership supports prompt ratification, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and seven former Commanders-in-Chief of American nuclear forces. The ASP report highlights the security, political, and economic risks of failing to implement the agreement, noting: “Without a formal agreement that sets verifiable limits on Russian strategic weapons, the US will have to spend money on forces it planned to retire and redirect resources away from more urgent defense priorities — to hedge against Russian developments that it cannot monitor confidently without the on-site inspections the treaty provides.”
Dr. James Ludes, Executive Director of ASP, said: “As we’ve seen in the past week with the news of North Korea’s new nuclear facilities, its provocative attacks against US ally South Korea, and reports of stepped up secret nuclear deals between Iran and North Korea, we cannot deny that we live in a dangerous world. The US needs its friends and allies to show unity against our common enemies. This is hardly the time for a minority in the Senate to put politics ahead of our national security.”
Read the complete “10 Challenges to US Security if the Senate Fails to Ratify New START” report here.
Download the press release here.
