○ Europe and USA on a collision course over Iran nuclear deal | DW – Aug. 5, 2017 |
○ U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff: Military option for North Korea not ‘unimaginable’ | Politico.eu |
Russian Military Strategy In Europe | CSIS – Washington DC |
Senator Tom Cotton on Russian Military Strategy in Europe Republican Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) delivered keynote remarks at a discussion on Russia’s military strategy in Europe and their violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty after reports surfaced that Russia recently tested weapons prohibited under the treaty.
Senator Cotton, who chairs the Senate Armed Services AirLand subcommittee, said there could be no re-negotiation of the current treaty because of Russia’s violation and urged the U.S. to continue to put pressure on Russia. He added that Russia was capable of hitting the U.S. and that the nation was trying to divide the West as it did in the 1980s.
… facilitate the transfer of cruise-missile technology to our allies. As I’ve noted, only the United States and Russia signed this treaty; no other country did. So even if we can’t build intermediate missiles, that doesn’t mean our allies cannot. And it also doesn’t mean we cannot help them. For instance, the Polish government has been acquiring air-launched cruise missiles for some time. I suspect Warsaw might be interested in ground-launched cruise missiles as well, which I further suspect might make the Kremlin less keen on ripping up the INF Treaty.
Finally, we would present Russia with a very simple choice: either you observe the INF Treaty, or we won’t renew our commitments to other treaties. Specifically, the legislation would prohibit further funding for two treaties that Russia wants to preserve. The first is an extension of the New START Treaty, which imposes greater limits on our strategic nuclear forces than on Russia’s. The second is the Open Skies Treaty, which Russia needs more for overhead imagery intelligence than we do. If the Russians won’t keep their INF commitments, why should the United States continue other treaties that benefit them?
These proposals are sensible steps consistent with our treaty obligations and measured responses to Russian provocations. For we must remember, Russia’s violations of the INF Treaty aren’t isolated, but rather part of a pattern of provocative behavior, whether it’s annexing Crimea, or meddling in our elections, or assaulting our diplomats in Moscow, or harboring Edward Snowden, or buzzing American ships and aircraft, or giving aid to the Taliban, and providing the missiles that were used three years ago today to shoot down a civilian aircraft out of the sky. Russia is deliberately probing our defenses all around the globe. They’re looking for weak spots, which is why every provocation must be met with a firm and unyielding response.
[Links added are mine as such utter bullshit by American warmongers will not be left unanswered. Who needs John “bombs, bombs away” McCain when Congress is full of it (them) – Oui]
○ An attack by Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities was imminent – year 2012 under Obama’s watch
Protecting Western Europe with circles of defence: the Hawk and Nike anti-aircraft systems. Fail proof, watch the newsreels from the first Cold War era …
Rebuilding Europe after a devastating World War – entering a Cold War nuclear stand-off