Trump to Withdraw From 'Open Skies' Arms Control Treaty
Source: WaPo
President Trump has decided to withdraw from another major arms control accord, according to senior administration officials, and will inform Russia on Friday that the United States is pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each others territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure they are not preparing for military action.
Mr. Trumps decision will be viewed as more evidence that he also may be poised to exit the one major arms treaty remaining with Russia: New START, which limits the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear missiles each. It expires weeks after the next presidential inauguration.
American officials have long complained that Moscow was violating the Open Skies accord by not permitting flights over a city where it was believed Russia was deploying nuclear weapons that could reach Europe, as well as forbidding flights over major Russian military exercises.+
And, in classified reports, the Pentagon and American intelligence agencies have contended the Russians are also using flights over the United States to map out critical American infrastructure that could be hit by cyberattacks.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/politics/trump-open-skies-treaty-arms-control.html?referringSource=articleShare
tinrobot
(10,903 posts)Imagine that.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,182 posts)If you had someone like him in your household you'd kick him out.
usaf-vet
(6,189 posts)JUST IMAGINE any Democratic president doing this!
Now IMAGINE President Obama doing this!
EXPLODING Republican heads EVERYWHERE!
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Can it be more fucking obvious what Trump's ultimate goal is for the US?? It's to help Putin achieve all of HIS goals for the US.
How can this be happening like this in the open, and yet it's still considered "fringe" to even consider that Trump is actively helping Russia *on Putin's orders*?
I mean, I'm trusting my lying eyes on this one.
sarisataka
(18,663 posts)If they are restricting our flights over critical areas while we are giving them full access? They lose that if we withdraw.
Not that I favor withdrawing, we should fix the issue rather than scrap the whole thing
dalton99a
(81,516 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,007 posts)tRump doesn't read. He surely had no idea of what "Open Skies Treaty" even meant. Or means, if the last time it was explained was more than five minutes ago.
OAITW r.2.0
(24,504 posts)Lonestarblue
(10,011 posts)With no US flights over Russia, the US will not be able to notify Ukraine of massive military movements near their border with Russia. Ukraines days as an independent nation may be numbered because Trump will do nothing for them. I wonder what other promises Trump has made to Putin during their secret meetings and phone calls that are not recorded.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)You do know there is this thing called satellite surveillance?
DVRacer
(707 posts)I was Navy Intel and this is a good thing. We were being abused in its use of allowing hostile nations overflights of the U.S.
Honestly we do not need to utilize this to achieve our intelligence goals anyway and it mostly benefits Moscow. Since they do not have anywhere near the capability we have.
CaptainTruth
(6,594 posts)With all the new surveillance capabilities we've developed since Open Skies was implemented I've wondered just how beneficial it really is.
DVRacer
(707 posts)The China issue with the forced landing of a Navy plane years ago. We would be best served to avoid. This policy change was more likely than not originated by the Pentagon. It also avoids intercepts that always run the risk of going south.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Baclava
(12,047 posts)eringer
(460 posts)In the White House, the good news was that Trump got his Space Force. The bad news was that it can't operate due to treaty restrictions. Easy solution -- do away with the treaty.
If there is a silver cloud to Covid -19, its that Trump doesn't have the money anymore to militarize space.
Catch2.2
(629 posts)that this Treaty wasn't signed by President Obama?
keithbvadu2
(36,829 posts)Vlad gets to hide his military preps and Donald get to tell Vlad America's military preps.
Win/win for Vlad and Donald.
Not so much for America.