[rightwing2]

You're absolutely correct about the Russian SS-20s. The Russians still have a bunch of these fantastically potent 3 warhead IRBMs which turn into SS-25 ICBMs when you put a third stage on them even though they were purportedly abolished by the IMF Treaty signed in 1987. Funny, the Russians used to have to cheat on their bilateral nuclear disarmament treaties with the US. With the Treaty of Moscow, there is no need for them to cheat, because the treaty does not require them to destroy, let alone disarm, any of their strategic nuclear missiles. Rummy was right to oppose this insane and unverifiable treaty which will go far to increase the current Russian strategic nuclear superiority over the US due to the planned unilateral destruction of thousands of our strategic nukes.

[Paul Ross]

The following confirmed this almost a week ago...

	MISSILE DEFENSE BRIEFING REPORT NO. 67, August 20, 2002 American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC Editor: Ilan Berman THE POLITICS OF ATTACKING IRAQ As momentum for a campaign against Iraq builds in Washington, the Bush administration is taking steps to reassure allies in the Middle East. Recently, a delegation of top American defense officials traveled to Ankara to discuss the possibility of a joint “Patriot shield” to protect parts of Turkey from Iraqi missiles. Now, the White House appears to be getting set to bolster Israeli missile defenses. Though not a step formally requested by Jerusalem, the August 15th Ha’aretz reports that the U.S. is planning to provide Israel with units of the American PAC-3 system ahead of any military action against Baghdad. In addition to supplementing Israel’s existing defenses, the PAC-3 deployment could also serve a significant political purpose, the paper reports; it would give the Bush administration a greater ability to restrain the Israeli government in the event of missile strikes from Iraq. COOPERATION ALONG THE “AXIS” Baghdad, meanwhile, could soon receive military assistance from an unexpected direction. Middle East Newsline (August 19) reports that Iran is examining a request for advanced arms made by its historic rival. The overture, aired recently in Tehran by Iraqi heir-apparent Qusay Hussein, is said to include inquiries about units of Iran’s “Shihab-3” medium range missiles. While not expecting Tehran to actively collaborate with Baghdad, Western intelligence sources have dubbed Iran’s consideration of the motion to be a “significant” indicator of warming ties between the two nations. A SAUDI MISSILE THREAT? A report by Israel’s Yediot Ahronot daily has detailed Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding missile capabilities. The expose, covered on August 12th by the Worldnetdaily website, reveals that Riyadh has acquired 120 long-range CSS-2 missiles from China over the past decade. The nuclear-capable rockets, the majority of which are based at a major missile complex in the southern Saudi oasis of El-Solayil, have a range of 3,500 kilometers and are capable of striking Israel, Turkey and parts of India. MOSCOW TALKS MISSILES... Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has gone public with new revelations about the Kremlin’s missile plans. Visiting a division of Russia’s Strategic Missile Troops in the Chelyabinsk region recently, Ivanov revealed that Moscow views the country’s arsenal of SS-18 “Satan” intercontinental ballistic missiles as the cornerstone of its future nuclear and missile force. The nuclear-capable ICBMs, which can overpower “the most modern anti-missile defense system,” will remain in combat service until 2016 as part of Russia’s revamped “nuclear missile shield,” Interfax (August 16) reports Ivanov as saying. The news constitutes an abandonment of Moscow’s commitments to the 1993 START II agreement, under which former Russian President Boris Yeltsin pledged to dismantle Russia’s arsenal of SS-18s by 2007. ...EYES KUWAITI MARKETS The Kremlin is also planning for an expanded – and lucrative – defense relationship with Kuwait, Itar-TASS (August 19) reports. According to defense industry sources cited by the news agency, Russia’s state-owned Rosoboroneksport defense conglomerate is planning to earn between $100-200 million on the Kuwaiti arms market over the next several years. Of particular interest to the Kuwaiti military are Russian air and missile defense systems like the “Tor-1,” which the Gulf state hopes will correct deficiencies in its short range air defenses. TOKYO INCHES TOWARD WASHINGTON Japan is poised to significantly expand its missile defense relationship with the United States, the Jiji Press Ticker Service (August 14) reports. According to defense officials in Tokyo, the Japanese Defense Agency is mulling the possibility of expanding cooperation with the Pentagon from its current research phase to the active development of ballistic missile defenses. If approved, the decision, which is expected by the end of this year, would pave the way for the deployment of cooperative sea-based missile defenses based on Japan’s fleet of Aegis destroyers by the year 2005. Copyright © 2002, American Foreign Policy Council. All Rights Reserved.