A Failed Nuclear Policy, and Breaking the INF Treaty

I. A Failing Nuclear Policy
"Nowhere are the failures of this administration on clearer display than with the complex nuclear issues of Iran and North Korea. President Trump came into office criticizing the Iran nuclear deal, claiming he would negotiate a better one. And for almost a year. his administration told Europe that America wanted a better deal. Yet despite some initial progress, the President abandoned any multilateral diplomacy and withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear pact with Tehran. The result was predictable: Iran has eased its commitment to key nuclear constraints, and America has less influence with Europe, Russia, or China to achieve any tangible outcome."

"On North Korea, the dynamics are different, but the  results the same. Investing in a high-stakes,high-reward gambit of summits left the U.S. worse than empty-handed. North Korea continues to expand its nuclear and missile capabilities, even while expanding its global connections and acceptability. U.S. diplomatic efforts are at a complete standstill, and hard-won sanctions pressure on North Korea erodes day-by-day. Our alliance with South Korea is less stable, and our influence over the DPRK and China are lower than ever.

In both these cases, deliberate choices and overconfidence by the Trump administration increased the nuclear danger to America and its allies, and left the U.S. in a weaker position to reverse the damage done by undermining our alliances and proven security tools.

The record is equally devoid of progress in managing the nuclear risks with Russia. The administration has laid out what seems like a reasonable goal of bringing China into the arms control, transparency, and reduction process. But in a move no experienced practitioner believes will work, Trump refuses to extend the last remaining nuclear reduction pact with Russia -- the New START Treaty -- unless China climbs on board. Russia and the U.S. are fully complying with the agreement which caps strategic numbers of both countries under effective verification. Yet instead of accepting Russia's unconditional extension of the pact for five years, a step that would decidedly benefit American security and stability, Trump has linked the extension to his China gambit. At the same time, Trump has seemingly welcomed a new arms race with Russia, and is seeking to accelerate the already expensive modernization of U.S. nuclear forces, and has deployed a new, lower yield, more usable nuclear weapon that lowers the threshold to nuclear use. With no negotiating team or strategy, the prospects for nuclear stability are fading by the day." [1]

II. Breaking the INF Treaty
"President Trump violated the US Constitution when he unilaterally pulled the United States out of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on August 2, 2019. [2]

Treaties signed and ratified by the President of the  United State by consent of the Senate,become 'the supreme law of the land,' according to Article VI, paragraph 2 of the U.S.Constitution. The INF Treaty was signed by President Reagan on December 8, 1987, and ratified by consent of the  U.S. Senate on May 27, 1988. That means this Treaty is as much a part of the U.S. law as any Act of Congress, or Supreme Court decision.

What the INF Treaty says and what therefore the law requires, is that  the U.S. may withdraw from this Treaty only if 'extraordinary events related to this Treaty have jeopardized its supreme interests.
' "

"The INF Treaty provided for the most intrusive on-site inspections of any treaty in history, backed up by mutual verification, by satellite, other monitoring mechanisms, and a Special Verification Commission to resolve any disputes about whether violations have indeed occurred."

"Breaking international treaties is not a trifling matter. These treaties are all we have when it comes to maintaining peaceful relations with the other 194 countries we share this planet with. They are also the supreme law of the land, and presidents should be held  accountable for that."

Footnotes:
[1] Jon Wolfsthal, "Trump's Nuclear Policy Has Failed," DefenseOne, May 22, 2020.

]2] Dr. Timmon Wallis, "Trump Broke US Law when He Withdrew from the INF Treaty," OregonPeaceWorks, September 4, 2019.