Obama Betrays The UK

The alternative title to this post - Obama's WTF Foreign Policy

Obama promised to reset our foreign relations in the run up to the 2008 election. He is making good on his promise with a vengeance. He is certainly resetting our relations with our closest and most stalwart ally - one who has stood with us shoulder to shoulder in Iraq and Afghanistan - Britain.

From the latest Wikileaks dump, we learn that, as part of the START negotiations, the Russians pressed the Obama administration for information on Britain's nuclear arsenal. The Obama administration asked the Brits if they could release the information. The Brits refused. Obama promptly betrayed the Brits, secretly releasing the information to the Russians anyway.

This from the Telegraph:

A series of classified messages sent to Washington by US negotiators show how information on Britain’s nuclear capability was crucial to securing Russia’s support for the “New START” deal.

Although the treaty was not supposed to have any impact on Britain, the leaked cables show that Russia used the talks to demand more information about the UK’s Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in the US.

Washington lobbied London in 2009 for permission to supply Moscow with detailed data about the performance of UK missiles. The UK refused, but the US agreed to hand over the serial numbers of Trident missiles it transfers to Britain.

Professor Malcolm Chalmers said: “This appears to be significant because while the UK has announced how many missiles it possesses, there has been no way for the Russians to verify this. Over time, the unique identifiers will provide them with another data point to gauge the size of the British arsenal.” . . .

Note that this betrayal of our closest ally comes on top of Obama's duplicity in forcing through the START Treaty even though it contained a provision in the preamble tying our missile defense program to our strategic offensive nuclear weapons. As I wrote at the time:

. . . It had to be utterly obvious to anyone with a brain cell that the only reason to include mention of the "interrelationship" of "strategic defensive arms" in the START Treaty was because Russia was bound and determined that it be an operative part of the treaty. It would seem that there are only two possible explanations as to why Obama would have agreed to allow that provision into the START Treaty:

1. Obama had his negotiators agree under the table to limit further development of our missile defense. Couple that with lying to Congress and the American people and what you have is an act that makes Nixon's actions in Watergate seem like a case of jaywalking; or

2. Obama is really so grossly incompetent and so out of his depth that he actually could not see that Russia was demanding this language in the treaty because they wanted to limit our missile defense.

Inquiring minds want to know which it is.

It is important to note that Obama refused to release to Congress the START negotiating documents that would have clarified this central issue. There was no reason not to release those documents. It is time to ready the subpoenas. . . .

The cupidity of Obama to pass this treaty at all costs and irrespective of its fatal flaws seems near akin to the destructive obsession exhibited by Captain Ahab. In the end, Obama has gained nothing towards the goal of legitimizing his quest for a nuclear free world (a dangerous fantasy in and of itself) and, at the very least, sets in stone the perception that he is grossly incompetent in foreign affairs.

Obama's betrayal of our closest ally in his pursuit of START, on top of all the above, is the first true government scandal we have had since the Iran-Contra affair - though this one is potentially of far more import and far more damaging. Obama has committed an utterly unconscionable betrayal of the trust of our ally, Britain, in addition to damaging our own interests while misleading Congress and the American people. This needs to be investigated by Congress - today - and Obama needs to personally issue a public apology to the Queen. One can only imagine the damage this latest revelation will do to the cooperation we receive from all of our allies in the future.

Update: Nice Deb has a great post up on this topic, raising two critical issues. The first is whether this act by the Obama administration violates Article III of our NATO Treaty? Arguably yes, and if that is so, it is very serious indeed. Second is whether, as the administration is now indicating, this is just a carryover of the notification provisions of START 1. But Britain was not a signatory to START 1 and their nuclear weapons, regardless of where they are being held, are not subject to "limits" of START. At any rate, do see her post on this issue.

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The START Debacle - Stupidity, Cupidity & Duplicity

Could there be a more jaw dropping display of the stupidity of our Congresscritters or the cupidity and, possibly, duplicity of Obama then what we see occurring with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Obama demanded this treaty be passed during the lame duck session of Congress ostensibly because it was urgently needed to keep tabs on Russian nuclear arms. He only succeeded in getting this through Congress by explicitly stating, in an 18 Dec. letter to Congress:

The New START treaty places no limitations on the development or deployment of our missile defense programs.

The Senate then ratified the treated. Now, two weeks later, Russia is telling us that they consider our missile defense limited by the Treaty:

The preamble sets a link between strategic offensive arms and defensive arms. . . .

The Russian lawmakers insist that all the chapters of the treaty including the preamble are legally binding, which is a common norm of international law.

Un-believable.

Here is the background. The START Treaty is solely concerned with offensive nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. Nonetheless, in the treaty negotiated by Obama, the preamble mentions Missile Defense - something of critical strategic importance to the U.S. and an object of significant opposition from Russia. The U.S. withdrew from an ABM Treaty with Russia in 2001 so that we could fully develop a missile defense shield. With ever growing threats from nuclear proliferation, it would be an act of strategic insanity for the U.S. to now agree to forgo its work on the missile defense shield. And indeed, it is absolutely clear that even the Democrat dominated 111th Congress would never agree to such an act - which is why Obama had to stipulate that the treaty would not in any way hinder our missle defense programs. In respect of all of that, there was no possible justification to include mention of missile defense in the START Treaty.

Nonetheless, Obama's negotiating team agreed to include the following in the preamble of the START Treaty:

Recognizing the existence of the interrelationship between strategic offensive arms and strategic defensive arms, that this interrelationship will become more important as strategic nuclear arms are reduced, and that current strategic defensive arms do not undermine the viability and effectiveness of the strategic offensive arms of the Parties . . .

It had to be utterly obvious to anyone with a brain cell that the only reason to include mention of the "interrelationship" of "strategic defensive arms" in the START Treaty was because Russia was bound and determined that it be an operative part of the treaty. It would seem that there are only two possibile explanations as to why Obama would have agreed to allow that provision into the START Treaty:

1. Obama had his negotiators agree under the table to limit further development of our missile defense. Couple that with lying to Congress and the American people and what you have is an act that makes Nixon's actions in Watergate seem like a case of jaywalking; or

2. Obama is really so grossly incompetent and so out of his depth that he actually could not see that Russia was demanding this language in the treaty because they wanted to limit our missile defense.

Inquiring minds want to know which it is.

It is important to note that Obama refused to release to Congress the START negotiating documents that would have clarified this central issue. There was no reason not to release those documents. It is time to ready the subpoenas.

However this falls out, this is just an incredible debacle for all parties concerned. The stupidity of Congress for passing the START Treaty despite the language in the preamble was a jaw droppingly stupid act, irrespective of the assurance of Obama.

The cupidity of Obama to pass this treaty at all costs and irrespective of its fatal flaws seems near akin to the destructive obsession exhibited by Captain Ahab. In the end, Obama has gained nothing towards the goal of legitimizing his quest for a nuclear free world (a dangerous fantasy in and of itself) and, at the very least, sets in stone the perception that he is grossly incompetent in foreign affairs.

Lastly, the duplicity here, if it exists, which at least seems plausible at the moment, could fatally endanger Obama's administration. If his negotiators agreed to under the table deals to limit our ballistic missile defense and Obama then knowingly lied about that to Congress and the American people, then this is serious indeed.

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Obama's Foreign Policy Take 5 - Dismantling Our Military Capability

Obama is now in Moscow, ostensibly to renegotiate the START agreement set to expire near the end of this year. But he has gone beyond merely negotiating an agreement to reduce our nuclear arsenal by a third (we can still make the rubble bounce, so not that big of a deal) and into an agreement that would effect the core of our conventional military capability by limiting the number of nuclear capable delivery systems to 500. To give you an idea of what this means, our Air Force alone operates over 1,600 aircraft - 66 B-1B Lancers, 85 B-52 Bombers, 21 B-2 'Stealth Bombers', 217 F-15 Strike Eagles, and 1,280 F-16's - that are capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. That doesn't begin to count submarines and other systems in our inventory. To enter into an agreement of this magnitude would gut our military capability. This is an exponentialy more destructive act than those destructive acts that Obama has already taken vis-a-vis defense, to starve our future defense budget during war, to cut military research and development, and to severly cut back on missle defense at a time of ever-increasing nuclear proliferation.

Why are our nuclear capable delivery systems, many of which are intregral parts of our conventional capability, even on the table? This is utterly insane.

This from Ralph Peters:

. . . The main course in Moscow was arms control.

President Obama's ideological bias against nuclear weapons dates back to his undergraduate years. Yet those weapons kept the peace between the world's great powers for 64 years. A few remarks about deterrence notwithstanding, Obama just doesn't get it.

He agreed to trim our nuclear-warhead arsenal by one-third and -- even more dangerously -- to cut the systems that deliver the nuclear payloads. In fact, the Russians don't care much about our warhead numbers (which will be chopped to a figure "between 1,500 and 1,675"). What they really wanted -- and got -- was a US cave-in regarding limits on our nuclear-capable bombers, submarines and missiles that could leave us with as few as 500 such systems, if the Russians continue to get their way as the final details are negotiated.

Moscow knows we aren't going to start a nuclear war with Russia. Putin (forget poor "President" Dmitry Medvedev) wants to gut our conventional capabilities to stage globe-spanning military operations. He wants to cut us down to Russia's size.

Our problem is that many nuclear-delivery systems -- such as bombers or subs -- are "dual-use": A B-2 bomber can launch nukes, but it's employed more frequently to deliver conventional ordnance.

Putin sought to cripple our ability to respond to international crises. Obama, meanwhile, was out for "deliverables" -- deals that could be signed in front of the cameras. Each man got what he wanted.

President Obama even expressed an interest in further nuclear-weapons cuts. Peace in our time, ladies and gentlemen, peace in our time . . .

We just agreed to the disarmament position of the American Communist Party of the 1950s. . . .

It cannot be overemphasized what limiting the U.S. to 500 nuclear capable delivery systems could do to our conventional defense capability, as the two are largely intergrated. To get a feel for how integrated, see this from "Nuclear Matters: A Practical Guide," published on-line by the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters (ODATSD(NM)):

3.6 U.S. Nuclear Weapons Delivery Systems

A nuclear weapon delivery system is the military vehicle (ballistic or cruise missile, airplane, or submarine) by which a nuclear weapon would be delivered to its intended target in the event of authorized use. Most nuclear warheads have been designed for specific delivery systems.



Weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal include: gravity bombs deliverable by Dual Capable Aircraft (DCA) and long-range bombers; the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile/Nuclear (TLAM/N) capable, deliverable by submarines; cruise missiles deliverable by long-range bombers; Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM); and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM). These systems provide a wide range of options that can be tailored to meet desired military and political objectives. Each system has advantages and disadvantages and effectively provides one part of the New Triad deterrent against the threat of nuclear and other WMD attacks on the U.S. and its allies. Figure 3.4 is a list of the current U.S. nuclear warheads and their associated delivery systems.



3.6.1 Bombers

The U.S. bomber force serves as a visible, flexible, and recallable national strategic asset. The active U.S. inventory of B-52s (Figure 3.5), which are located at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB) in Louisiana and Minot AFB in North Dakota, have been the backbone of the strategic bomber force for more than 40 years. The B-52 “Stratofortress” is a heavy, long-range bomber that can perform a variety of missions. It is capable of flying at sub-sonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, and it can carry precision-guided conventional ordnance in addition to nuclear weapons.

The B-2 “Stealth Bomber” (Figure 3.6) entered the bomber force in April 1997 and significantly enhanced U.S. deterrent forces with its deep penetration capability. The B-2 is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. The B-2 force is located at Whiteman AFB in Missouri.

The B-52 is the only aircraft that can carry both gravity bombs and cruise missiles. Nuclear planners must consider multiple tradeoffs when deciding which weapon and delivery system to use. The advantages and disadvantages of gravity bombs are outlined below:

Gravity Bomb advantages:

Aircraft provide flexibility and can be recalled prior to weapon release/launch;

Aircraft range can be increased with air to air refueling;

Weapons may be employed against mobile targets;

Various weapon yields available from megaton to subkiloton; and

Aircraft can be launched from the Continental United States (CONUS).

Gravity Bomb disadvantages:

Aircraft crew is at risk in high-threat environment;

Lead-time is required for planning and transit; and

Significant combat and ground support infrastructure may be required depending on scenario.

Cruise missiles have different advantages and disadvantages:

Cruise Missile advantages:

Weapons can penetrate heavily defended areas without risk to the aircraft and crew;

\Weapons can be launched from international airspace; and Bomber aircraft range is significant.

Cruise Missile disadvantages:

System may be vulnerable to modern air defense systems; and

Terrain factors may limit employment flexibility.

3.6.2 Submarines

There are two types of nuclear capable submarines, ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) and attack submarines.

SSBNs

Nuclear-powered SSBNs are designed to deliver ballistic missile attacks against assigned targets. These submarines carry Submarine Launched Ballistic Missles (SLBMs) which are the most survivable leg of the Nuclear Triad because of the ability of their SSBN delivery platforms to hide in the ocean depths, coupled with the long range of the missiles. Constantly on patrol, SSBN Trident missiles provide a worldwide launch capability, with each patrol covering an area of more than one million square miles.

Each U.S. SSBN (Figure 3.7) is capable of carrying 24 Trident missiles. SSBNs are deployed from the West Coast in Bangor, Washington and from the East Coast in Kings Bay, Georgia. These SSBNs carry the Trident II D5 missile. As outlined in the 2001 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), the U.S. has reduced its SSBN force from 18 to 14 submarines.

SLBM advantages:

Weapons can penetrate heavily defended areas without risk to the crew;

Weapons can be launched in international waters;

Weapons can be on target in minimal time;

Maximum stealth and surprise can be maintained prior to launch;

System provides flexible targeting capability; and

The missile can carry multiple warheads.

SLBM disadvantages:

Missiles are not recallable after launch; and

Multiple warheads present additional planning challenges

Attack Submarines

All of the early-model U.S. attack submarines are capable of launching Tomahawk Land-Attack Cruise Missiles/Nuclear (TLAM/N). However, as a result of the President’s 1991 Nuclear Initiatives, all TLAM/N nuclear weapons have been removed from U.S. Navy vessels. The United States retains the option to re-deploy TLAM/N on attack submarines, if necessary.

TLAM/N advantages:

Heavily defended areas may be penetrated without risk to the crew;

Highly mobile platforms in international waters may serve as launch sites;

Weapons are very accurate;

Launch platform is recallable;

Overflight of third-party nations alleviated depending on launch location; and

Maximum stealth and surprise can be maintained prior to launch.

TLAM/N disadvantages:

Weapons not recallable after launch;

Lead-time required to generate and transit to desired launch point;

System may be vulnerable to modern air defense systems;

Terrain factors may limit employment flexibility; and

Launch platform must receive updated data transfer device in order to update a mission plan.

3.6.3 ICBMs

U.S. nuclear forces include Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), which are launched from stationary silos. ICBMs are on continuous alert, cost-effective, can provide immediate reaction and can strike their intended targets within 30 minutes of launch.

Currently, the U.S. ICBM force consists of Minuteman III. Minuteman III missile bases are located at: F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming; Malmstrom AFB in Montana; and Minot AFB in North Dakota. Figure 3.8 shows a Minuteman III missile in a silo.


ICBM advantages:

Weapons can penetrate heavily defended areas without risk to the crew;

Weapons can be on target in minimal time;

Planning time is short; and

The missile can carry multiple warheads.

ICBM disadvantages:

Missiles are not recallable;

Booster may fall on U.S. or Canadian territory; and

Multiple warheads present additional planning challenges.

3.6.4 Dual Capable Aircraft (DCA)

In addition to its strategic nuclear forces, the United States has CONUS-based and forward-deployed DCA consisting of the F-15 (Figure 3.9) and the F-16 (Figure 3.10). DCA are able to deliver conventional munitions or non-strategic nuclear bombs from the B61 family.

The United States also maintains forward-based DCA assigned to the U.S. European Command. Some of these DCA are available to support our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in combined-theater nuclear operations. . . .

If the agreement Obama is now negotiating is ratified as a treaty and indeed, actually limits the U.S. to 500 nuclear delivery systems, we will have just officially stepped down as a superpower. We will no longer have the capability of projecting force world-wide. This truly would be an act of national suicide. Robert Averich posted in his blog today: "As one fine officer in our armed services wrote privately to Seraphic Secret: 'For the first time in my career I am convinced that our Commander in Chief is not fit to be the town dog catcher.'" I'll second that.

Update: Crusader Rabbit points out the flip side of this agreement, that Russia has an aging and dwindling nuclear arsenal and they cannot hope to keep up with U.S. superiority - unless we volunteer to forego it.

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