Col. Stanislav Lunev
Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Mr. Bush also reassured his Russian counterpart that both sides would reduce their nuclear stockpiles and the U.S. would not act unilaterally in building a missile defense shield.

The two presidents met at the G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy, surrounded by hordes of protesters who are against everything and support nothing, exactly as it was during the days of the former U.S.S.R., whose leaders used these many of these same protesters to undermine any Western attempts to resolve global problems.

A mix of communists, labor unions, unemployed workers and farmers, and anti-globalism activists have smashed windows, set fires, looted stores and hurled cobblestones at police, trying to the interrupt the G-8 summit as well as the negotiations between Bush and Putin that were finalized by their agreement.

The three-sentence statement released by the American and Russian presidents in Genoa did not provide enough details to determine whether U.S. missile defense plans had received new momentum. But the mainstream media viewed President Bush's agreement as surprising, a breakthrough, and a dramatic foreign policy triumph, mostly because of Putin's promise to begin talks on ABM treaty.

However, this promise came only because it was linked to new cuts in the nuclear missile arsenals of both countries, which could be good for Russia, but not so much so for America.

It's well known that Russia currently has thousands of strategic nuclear warheads and tens of thousands of tactical nuclear weapons. Unlike the U.S., Moscow is busy developing and deploying a whole new generation of nuclear weapons and would like to reduce the number of its very old and costly strategic missiles.

Russia is also very active in nuclear and missile proliferation, because its leaders believe that when many rogue nations have their own nuclear and missile arsenals, the U.S., which is limited by arms control agreements, will lose the advantage of nuclear deterrence that has been protecting world peace for more than half a century.

According to possible new arms control treaties and the proliferation process, U.S. nuclear deterrent capabilities would be reduced dramatically, and the risk is growing that sometime in the near future American military power will be challenged by hostile forces.

For example, the current U.S. requirement that America be capable of fighting two wars simultaneously could be soon be ditched because the Department of Defense does not have the resources to maintain a force large enough to do the job.

Recently, the proposed elimination of all 50 of the U.S. Peacekeeper ICBMs, which carry 10 first-strike warheads each, as well as future reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal long before START II requires their destruction will sufficiently reduce America's deterrent capabilities which could result from the new arms control negotiations.

If, in pursuit of Russia's agreement for negotiations over changes in 1972 ABM Treaty, the U.S. reduces our strategic deterrence, it will be very difficult to see the meeting in Genoa as a triumph for U.S. foreign policy.

Creation of the national missile defense (NMD) system is vital for America's security and any missile defense shield has to be built independently of the ABM Treaty, which, after all, was signed by the U.S. and a now non-existing country, and, of course, must not be at the expense of America's strategic interests, first of all, its nuclear deterrence capabilities.

On the heels of signing a "friendship and cooperation" treaty with communist China, and before going to the summit in Genoa, Putin spoke at his first news conference in Moscow, unprecedented in scale with more than 500 reporters.

In his remarks, the Russian president said that he liked Bush after their first meting in Slovenia on June. "I found [Mr. Bush] a rather sincere person, pleasant to talk to," Putin said. "I don't know if I should say this, but he also appeared to me to be a little bit sentimental".

At the same time Putin reaffirmed his support for the ABM Treaty as a cornerstone of a global security network, and said he has asked Mr. Bush to negotiate with Russia. Putin said that Russia, despite signing a treaty with Red China last week, would make its strategic decisions independently.

"We do not plan joint activities in this sphere with other states, including China," he said in reference that appeared aimed at quieting Western fears of a future Russian-Chinese military alliance.

Putin also condemned NATO, which he said has outlived its usefulness, since it was formed during the Cold War to oppose the now-defunct Soviet bloc.

In Putin's words: "there is no more Warsaw Pact, no more Soviet Union, but NATO continues to exist and develop." NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe, he added, creates "different levels of security on the continent, which does not correspond to today's realities and is not caused by any political or military necessity," he said.

The Russian president proposed a "single security and defense space in Europe" either by disbanding NATO, having Russia join it, or by creating a brand-new organization in which Moscow would play an equal role.

In other words, Putin proposed a policy absolutely opposed to U.S. interests, and is intent on showing he deserves equal status to world leaders like Mr. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, and others, whom he joined last weekend in Genoa.

By his agreeing in Genoa to the negotiations on supplanting the ABM treaty in connection with new reductions of nuclear arsenals, he actually joins the club of the world leaders.

By bringing Putin in as a full partner in the development of what Mr. Bush calls a "new strategic framework," President Bush elevated the Russian leader to the status of a near equal, something not seen since the demise of the former USSR a decade ago.

Last month Mr. Bush surprised the country with his memorable description of his Russian counterpart. "I looked the man in the eye," Mr. Bush said of Putin after their meeting in Slovenia in June, adding, "I was able to get a sense of his soul."

A day after their meeting in Genoa, President Bush referred to Putin as a friend and said that "my friend has been quick to grasp the notion about changing the security arrangements in the world," and "he was very forward-learning, as they say in diplomatic nuanced circles".

It's very positive to see such good personal relations between two leaders, but it would be much better to see real improvements in the U.S. defense and security systems, which were promised to American people. Plans for the NMD have to be realized as soon as technologically possible and independently from the ABM Treaty, and of course, not at the expense of other U.S. strategic capabilities, first of all, not at the expense of America's deterrent power.

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