Free Republic

Germany is currently serving as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. From the beginning of April, it officially takes over the chair — as part of a “dual presidency” with France. […] This closer UN cooperation was agreed by Berlin and Paris as part of the Treaty of Aachen. […] From the beginning, Germany has placed an emphasis on promoting the idea of the UN; i.e., international cooperation and collaboration. Germany and France have adopted their multilateral approach in opposition to the growing nationalism of people like Donald Trump. The “dual presidency” already symbolizes this idea, but...

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that "an object similar to an unarmed mortar shell" was confiscated from the baggage of a U.S. Embassy employee at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on March 9, the Russian state news agency TASS reported. The report said the object had a detonator but no explosives. According to the TASS report, the Russian Foreign Ministry considered the incident "a provocation." The incident comes at a time of tense relations between the two countries, aggravated last month by a U.S. decision to withdraw from a key Cold War-era nuclear-arms treaty amid accusations that Moscow had violated it. In...

When I woke up this morning it briefly felt as if I’d fallen through a time warp and gone back to the 1980s. The United States had pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Then the Russians pulled out. And before you had time to process all of that, Vladimir Putin was talking about building new, hypersonic nuclear weapons. So, of course, the United States will need to invest in upgrading our own nuclear arsenal. Weren’t we supposedly done with all of this saber rattling? (NY Post) President Vladimir Putin says that Russia will abandon a centerpiece nuclear...

Good Morning and at the top of the newsdump.... They say a picture is worth a thousand words and a word and a picture are creating controversy surrounding the Governor of Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam..... Its Act 12 of the Yellow Vests protests in France as the protests focus on the thousands injured by the police using in most cases "flash bang" rounds.... Opposition protesters taking to the streets of Venezuela on behalf of Interim President Juan Guaido and in favor of new elections in the country today.... Meanwhile, the government of Turkey is being pressured to stop buying gold...

Amid continuing criticism of his plan to quit a major arms control treaty with Russia, US President Donald Trump on Monday referred to China as being a factor in his strategic calculations. Trump announced last week the US would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which was signed in 1987, on the grounds that Russia had violated the agreement with the development of new missiles. The INF treaty bars the US and Russia from developing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges varying from 500km to 5,500km; the treaty covered both non-nuclear and nuclear warheads. On Monday, Trump...

President Trump has indicated that he will withdraw the United States from a 1987 treaty signed with the former Soviet Union aimed at limiting intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Urged on by National Security Adviser John Bolton and others, the president believes that Russia has been cheating on the agreement, while the bulk of China’s strategic missile arsenal falls within the range specified by the treaty (500 to 5,500 kilometers/310 to 3,417 miles).

The Russians continue to deny they are in violation of the INF Treaty, but if they’re indeed upgrading Tu-22s with in-flight refueling, this is another way they’re doing it in addition to building and deploying intermediate-range nukes on Russian soil. As part of the original treaty, the U.S. insisted that Russia remove the in-flight refueling capability from Tu-22s, making them less of a strategic asset. Adding it again means that they will have to be counted as such, under the INF and the New START Treaty, which expires in 2021. On many fronts, the U.S. and Russia are increasingly at...

House leaders seek GAO probe of State Department failure to report Russian nuclear missile treaty violationsTwo senior House leaders on Friday requested an investigation by Congress’ General Accountability Office (GAO) into the State Department’s failure to report Russian violations of a 1987 nuclear missile accord.“It is clear from my subcommittee’s oversight that the administration did not fully disclose what it knew about Russian arms control violations when it was trying to get the New START treaty ratified,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces.“Its all-consuming drive to protect its Russia reset...

Ted Cruz ‘Deeply Concerned’ That Obama Admin. Has Been ‘Withholding Information It Is Obligated to Provide to Congress’ Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has accused the Obama administration of withholding information from Congress pertinent to Russia’s violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Cruz, a member of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee and a Republican 2016 presidential contender, wrote a letter to President Barack Obama on Friday demanding that he release a classified Pentagon report to Congress. He has requested a response from the White House no later than Sept. 1. “I am deeply concerned that the Obama administration has...

The White House should immediately provide Congress with a Pentagon report assessing the risks to U.S. security posed by Russia’s violation of an intermediate-range missile treaty, according to Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas).“I am deeply concerned that the Obama administration has been withholding information it is obligated to provide to Congress to protect what it considers to be the president’s ‘legacy achievements’—such as New START and the recent nuclear deal with Iran,” Cruz, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon.The senator, a Republican presidential candidate, wrote to President Obama on Friday requesting that he...

It does not bode well that an Obama administration that assures us that the nuclear deal with Iran will not be violated by the mullahs is clearly looking the other way as Iran’s ally Russia blatantly violates the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed with the former Soviet Union. The Obama White House is sitting on a Pentagon risk assessment report completed last month that states “that the breach involved a new missile that violates the limits set by the treaty. The treaty bans holding, producing, or flight-testing ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles with ranges of between 310 miles...

National Security: It won't generate the buzz that torture allegations do, but a provision in the defense spending bill requires the White House to explain why Russia developed a cruise missile in breach of a 1987 treaty. President Ronald Reagan coined the phrase "trust but verify" regarding dealing with the Russians for good reason. American security was to be guaranteed through the strength of our will and the genius of our technology, not through pieces of parchment, handshakes, clinking glasses at conferences, or reset buttons. Enter President Obama and the age of flexibility, back-stabbing our allies on things like missile...

Weaponry: As the commander in chief calls for a one-third reduction in our nuclear arsenal, Russia builds new midrange missile banned under a 1987 arms treaty. How's that "reset" button working out, Mr. President? Trust but verify, said the president who won the Cold War. Ronald Reagan's "peace through strength" philosophy has been replaced with the "peace through parchment" strategy of Barack Obama. It emphasizes flexibility, not resolve, and relies on pacts such as the New Start Treaty and the pressing of imaginary reset buttons. Russia's playing host to Edward Snowden, arguably a traitor with secrets to share with Moscow...