x

Please Login




Register Here!

On Politics, We Can Always See the Whites of Their Eyes.

 Search:  
Login / Register   About Us   Advertise   Contact Us  
RSS Feed

The Patriot Room

Despite MSM Spin, Obama Accomplishes Nothing in Russia

by: Bill Dupray   posted: 2009-07-07 07:58:00
Viewed 417 times. 1 Comments.

Another Obama talk-fest and another foreign policy adventure lands with a thud.

Here is the New York Times lauding The One's success.

President Obama signed an agreement on Monday to cut American and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by at least one-quarter, a first step in a broader effort intended to reduce the threat of such weapons drastically and to prevent their further spread to unstable regions.

Mr. Obama, on his first visit to Russia since taking office, and President Dmitri A. Medvedev agreed on the basic terms of a treaty to reduce the number of warheads and missiles to the lowest levels since the early years of the cold war. The new treaty, to be finished by December, would be subject to ratification by the Senate and could then lead to talks next year on more substantial reductions.

They are going to "drastically" reduce the threat by cutting the nukes to "early cold war levels." Dramatic, right?

Not so much.

I mean this is an arms reduction deal, right? It seems, at a minimum, you ought to have an agreement on the amount of arms you are going to reduce. So what did Barry bring home?

From Politico.

The biggest achievement touted from the summit — and the only document the two men signed — was a nonbinding “joint understanding” setting target ranges for a new round of nuclear arms reductions.

But a look at the fine print shows the deal is less than meets the eye, experts said. The two presidents punted on how to count total weapons or total warheads — a crucial detail in the mathematics of arms reductions. And they committed in writing only to finish the deal “at the earliest possible date,” though Obama said it would be done by year’s end, when the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires.

“It’s small progress. There are key issues being kicked down the road,” said John Isaacs of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. “There are a lot of details still to be worked out — a lot of devils still to go.”

And the non-agreed-upon number of weapons will need to be reduced to that non-agreed-upon figure within 7 years. Really stuck their necks out on that one.

And nobody at the press conference thought it important to note that Russia thinks the missile defense shield promised to Poland is probably a deal-breaker if we keep our promise to the Poles.

On the critical issue of Russia's assistance in stopping Iran's rush for the bomb? Nothing happening there either.

However, when it came time for the public news conference, Medvedev couldn’t bring himself to single out Iran, which purchases weapons and many other goods from Russia.

“There are regions around the world where the presence of nuclear arms would create huge problems,” Medvedev said. “There is no sense in naming them. But it’s quite obvious that on the situation in the Middle East, on the Korean Peninsula, will depend the climate throughout the globe. ... We should make our utmost to prevent any negative trends there. And we are ready to do that,” he said.

Experts say the U.S. will have little success containing the nuclear threat in Iran without a full-court press from Russia.

But Obama had his version of Bush's "I looked into his eyes" moment.

“I trust President Medvedev to not only listen and to negotiate constructively, but also to follow up — follow through on the agreements that are contained here today,” Obama said, adding that he was “very appreciative.”

Sounds like Medvedev listened and negotiated very constructively already. When you don't have an agreement in the first place, it's pretty easy to follow through on nothing.

Tags: , , , 

Related Articles


Links to this post

Trackback url: http://patriotroom.com/article/despite-msm-spin-obama-accomplishes-nothing-in-russia/trackback

Comments 1

Harrison on 2009-07-07 11:09:12

As the WSJ pointed out, it's easier to talk about Russia's nukes than what they did in Georgia.


Have an opinion?

 Name (required)
 Email (required)
 Website

If you were a member you wouldn't have to input that stuff!


What is 2 + 3 ? (seriously... for moderates the answer is 4 and for liberals the answer is cat)

Note: Your comment may be held for moderation.

blog advertising is good for you

blog advertising is good for you

Publius' Newsstand

  • House Dems Try to Pass Obamacare Without a Vote

    Having determined that they lack the votes in the House to pass the Senate bills as-is, House Democrats are attempting one of the most breathtakingly unconstitutional power grabs ever witnessed - a maneuver to deem the Senate bill ALREADY PASSED by the House by rule, despite the fact that it clearly has not. Apparently, some Democrats can’t seem to tell the difference between a rule of debate [the filibuster]and just declaring by rule that the House has passed a bill that they have not, when the Constitution itself expressly states that “in all [] Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays[.]” What Slaughter and Pelosi here are attempting here is a blatant violation of the principles of bicameralism and presentment.

      Views: 46 Comments: 0

  • Another new poll shows Rubio with staggering 46...

    This is turning into a Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon, complete with frying pans and falling pianos.
    A new Insider Advantage/Florida Times-Union poll in Florida finds Marco Rubio (R) leading Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) by 34 points among likely voters in August's primary, 60% to 26%.

      Views: 39 Comments: 0

  • Kyl says GOP has the votes to stop some health ...

    Kyl suggested that the GOP would have enough votes to sustain points of order they might raise against a bill sought under budget reconciliation rules to make changes to the original health bill to win over the votes of House Democrats. "It is a very risky proposition for those Democrats in the House who are nervous about their reelection, and are banking on the Senate banking them out," he said. "It's probably not going to happen." "So things that these House members think are important to put in the bill, to fix what was wrong with the Senate bill -- like a lot of those backroom deals, for example -- not all of those things can be fixed," the Arizona Republican added.

      Views: 63 Comments: 0

  • One vote at a time: Dem Rep Donnelly switches f...

    President Barack Obama wants Congress to vote yes or no on a comprehensive reform measure from the Senate. Donnelly likes a lot about the bill, but its language on abortion is a "fatal flaw." For him, it is a deal breaker. "I would not vote for it," he said. He figures there will be a vote within a month or so. The abortion language is unpopular with "a significant" number of congressmen. It has the potential to kill the bill, he said.

      Views: 92 Comments: 1

  • AP source: No-fly list nearly doubles since att...

    To paraphrase VP Biden: Almost exploding an airplane in mid-air has a way of focusing national-security folks: "The official says that in the two months since a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane, the government's list of suspected terrorists banned from flying grew from about 3,400 to 6,000." I want to know, with absolute clarity, what DHS knew and when they knew it. This issue is not closed merely because they say "we could have done a better job, and will in the future."

      Views: 58 Comments: 0

  • Insurance companies going on the offense - it's...

    USA Today reports, "It's not quite election season, but President Obama is on the stump, pushing his health care bill. Now, millions of dollars in political ads aimed at swaying Congress are hitting the airwaves." On Wednesday, "hundreds of business groups today launch a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in an effort to stop health care legislation and fire back at White House efforts to win support for a plan Obama says would expand insurance coverage to 31 million people." At the same time, "the health insurance industry as soon as today will begin airing ads of its own on cable TV networks. Those ads, by America's Health Insurance Plans, aim to blunt White House criticism of insurance companies for raising rates."

      Views: 66 Comments: 0

  • Important HC ruling coming from House & Senate ...

    The New York Times reports the White House and Democratic Congressional leaders "said Tuesday that they were bracing for a key procedural ruling that could complicate their effort to approve major health care legislation, by requiring President Obama to sign the bill into law before Congress could revise it through an expedited budget process." An "official determination on the matter could come within days from the House and Senate parliamentarians, and could present yet another hurdle for Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders as they try to lock in support from skittish lawmakers in the House." Sen. Kent Conrad said "the reconciliation instructions in last year's budget resolution seemed to require that Mr. Obama sign the Senate bill into law before it could be changed." If signing the law must come first, then health care is DOA.

      Views: 123 Comments: 0

  • Supreme Court Takes ‘Informational Privacy’ Cas...

    In plain language: How much of a proctology exam can the feds give you if you want to work for them? Could be an important decision.
    The U.S. Supreme Court is agreeing to decide how much personal information the federal bureaucracy may acquire on its workers. . . . The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down intrusive background checks last year on nearly three dozen National Aeronautics and Space Administration contractors as being too invasive — calling them an unconstitutional, “broad inquisition.” The checks sought information from any source surrounding their sex lives, finances and even drug use. The contractors being investigated were not privy to classified information.

      Views: 70 Comments: 0

  • Hatch: There are all kinds of ways we could shu...

    Fightin' words.
    Undeterred, Hatch says that Senate Republicans are already prepping to fight Democratic efforts to suppress GOP amendments. “Our conference is in the process of discussing that strategy right now,” he says. “No option will be overlooked. There is a distinct possibility that the Democrats’ very partisan exercise could shut down the Senate. Let’s face it — if they’re going to play this kind of game then we will make sure they have one heck of a rough time from this day forward. There are all kinds of ways we could shut down the Senate, and I know them all.”

      Views: 129 Comments: 0

  • Games: Census hiring blitz of 750,000 to cut jo...

    So they mask the real Obama-induced unemployment numbers by artificially creating jobs. At least they are telling us up front so we can asterisk the statistic. Let's hear the spin after the 6 week census is over and we have a spike of 750,000 newly unemployed people. Of course, that will then be the emergency du jour and Barry and the boys can then unionize them all and have them go count chickens at the Department of Agriculture. Sounds like Cash for Clunkers all over again.
    The U.S. Census Bureau expects to add up to 750,000 workers to its payroll by May, a hiring binge that could knock the unemployment rate down by as much as a half-point. . . . Hires for the 2010 census are temporary and part-time; the average employee works 19 hours/week for six weeks.

      Views: 60 Comments: 2

Get Your PR Button!

More Articles By Bill Dupray

Copyright © 2008-2009 Patriot Room Media, LLC
Privacy Policy  Terms Of Service