President Obama arrives with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany June 19.
President Obama chose to announce a new United States nuclear strategy not to the American people, not even to members of Congress, but to German citizens. Presumably, he thought a speech at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, where great Presidents like Kennedy and Reagan spoke before, would confer some legitimacy on his policies.
Since another U.S./Russia nuclear weapon reduction would require U.S. Senate ratification, he would have been better off to consult with Members of Congress first. But that is not his way, which is one reason he’s having a hard time getting any of his agenda passed by Congress.
Likewise, he might have first asked the Russians if they were interested. Indeed, Russian officials, like Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, have already stated that further reductions in strategic nuclear weapons can’t be considered until the U.S. provides the guarantees Russia is seeking on U.S. missile defense deployments. Such guarantees are, of course, non‑starters for the U.S., as our missile defenses are too important to the defense of the American people and their allies to trade away to Russia under any circumstances, especially for more reductions in U.S. nuclear weapons!
Full thing here.