Nile Gardiner
Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. He appears frequently on American and British television and radio, including Fox News Channel, CNN, BBC, Sky News, and NPR. Hillary Clinton's spokesman calls Telegraph nukes story 'bunk', but fails to check his facts
By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: February 8th, 2011
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P. J. Crowley pops up to say hello (Photo: AP)________________________
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Hillary Clinton’s spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, has described a major story – revealed by the Daily Telegraph – on the Obama administration’s secret decision to give the Russians sensitive information on Britain’s nuclear deterrent as “bunk”.
In an email on Saturday to Time magazine, Crowley stated:
This is bunk. Under the 1991 START Treaty, the U.S. agreed to notify Russia of specific nuclear cooperation with the United Kingdom, such as the transfer of SLBM’s [submarine launch ballistic missiles] to the UK, or their maintenance or modernization. This is under an existing pattern of cooperation throughout that treaty and is expected to continue under New START. We simply carried forward and updated this notification procedure to the new treaty. There was no secret agreement and no compromise of the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent.
But it appears that Mr Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State with the Bureau of Public Affairs, has not checked his facts. There are, in fact, substantial differences between the 1991 and 2011 START Treaties. A key example is that, as the Wikileaks documents show, the US agreed to give the Russians unique identifiers for the American missiles transferred to Britain. These identifiers were not included in the original 1991 START Treaty. Crowley’s key assertion that the Obama administration “simply carried forward and updated this notification procedure to the new treaty” is completely false. It has no basis in reality.
As a key Wikileaks document published by the Telegraph shows, describing a key conversation between US and Russian negotiators at a meeting in Geneva on February 26, 2010, Washington offered Moscow “more information than was disclosed under START”:
UK TRIDENT MISSILES
Orlov asked about the U.S. practice of transferring Trident II missiles to the United Kingdom (UK) in reference to the Russian-proposed agreed statement on the subject. Trout pointed out that most of the provisions contained in the proposed agreed statement were already covered by other sections of the treaty. He noted that notifications existed for the transfer and return of missiles to and from a third party. Additionally, he pointed out, the Russian Federation will receive unique identifiers for each of the missiles transferred to the UK, which was more information than was disclosed under START.
The Telegraph’s revelations have sparked a good deal of interest on Capitol Hill, where a number of Congressional offices are already demanding answers from the Obama administration over the treatment of America’s closest ally. The attempt by the administration to spin this story also raises important questions as to why the negotiating documents for the New START Treaty were not handed over to the Senate for scrutiny during the debates over START. It is hugely important that government officials convey an accurate account of policy decisions that are made behind the scenes – away from the public eye, but in the name of the American people.
The Telegraph’s report raises major questions over what other deals may have been struck by Barack Obama’s team at the expense of US allies in order to clinch a deal with the Russians, and why the whole negotiating process has been hidden from Congressional scrutiny. There can be no doubt that, despite the Mr Crowley’s attempts to bury the story, Congressional interest in Washington will grow intensely in the coming weeks, as lawmakers demand to know what was said and promised during these negotiations.
Tags: Hillary Clinton, New START Treaty, PJ Crowley, State Department, US politics
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100075257/hillary-clintons-spokesman-calls-telegraph-nukes-story-bunk-but-fails-to-check-his-facts
