There are a lot of myths floating around about what the treaty does or does not do. Perhaps the biggest of these is that the treaty limits our missile defense plans. This is simply untrue. Gates and Mullen have repeatedly testified that the treaty does not limit missile defense. So has the man in charge of our nations Missile Defense Agency, Lt. Gen. Patrick OReilly. Scowcroft, in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, attributed claims that the treaty limits missile defense to domestic politics and concluded: I dont think theres substance to this argument. Heres another fact: Rejecting this treaty will have severe negative consequences for our national security. Not only will all formal constraints on Russias nuclear arsenal be lost, but so will the verification regime. That means we will lose our decades-old ability to keep tabs on the size and nature of Russias nuclear arsenal through monitoring and inspections. Rejecting the treaty is akin to rejecting President Ronald Reagans famous reminder that we should trust, but verify. We will be left blind. The risk posed by this possibility prompted Gen. Kevin Chilton, STRATCOM commander, to warn the Senate Foreign Relation Committee: If we dont get the treaty, [the Russians] are not constrained in their development of force structure and we have no insight into what theyre doing. So its the worst of both possible worlds. It is still not clear if the treaty has the required 67 votes in the Senate for ratification. This is an issue we cant afford to allow to become politicized. We hope Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who has not yet indicated how he will vote, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who has spoken out in favor of the treaty, will not be swayed by those who would attempt to put politics before national security and that they heed the advice of our nations military leadership and the collective wisdom of security experts from Republican and Democratic administrations. We hope they will vote in favor of the ratification of the New START Treaty. Perhaps Gates said it best: For nearly 40 years, treaties to limit or reduce nuclear weapons have been approved by the U.S. Senate by strong bipartisan majorities. This treaty deserves a similar reception and result on account of the dangerous weapons it reduces, the critical defense capabilities it preserves, the strategic stability it maintains, and, above all, the security it provides to the American people. Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, Lt. Gen. Dirk Jameson and Brig. Gen. John Adams are members of Consensus for American Security, a nonpartisan group of security experts committed to speak out on the most critical nuclear security threats facing Americans today and what we will face tomorrow.
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/perspectives/837317-263/let-national-security-not-politicsguide-decision.html