Gee, I promised myself I was going to stay out of this one!
Nash, some people sleep between 10:10 and 03:14, be patient.
After a thorough re-read of the news article, I do find a few nuggets of humor/interest.
The 1995 agreement was secretly forged by Vice President Al Gore and then Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.This raises an eyebrow but it may be just the reporting. This agreement may have been a "secret" but I'd hope SOMEONE in Congress was advised. That's the way our system is supposed to work; if it was a "secret" held totally in the Executive Branch, I'll wager some laws were broken here. No data, though.
The agreement maintained that the U.S would not punish Russia for its arms sales to Iran if Russia agreed to stop selling arms by Dec. 31, 1999
...many said they were furious with Gore for sidestepping the legislature, particularly since Gore wrote the 1992 law that said any country that sold arms to Iran would be sanctioned. A little irony here, n'est pas? Gore wrote the law and then negotiates the agreement that totally ignores said law? Gotta love that one!! (Take a deep breath, Nash. Just shows he a typical, worthless, lying politician, no better or worse than the average Dubya.)
It highlights the flimsiness of the deal in the first place. These were naive agreements at the outset because they exchanged something of immediate value to the Russians only for a promise. We've lost in the short run and we've lost in the long run.Exactly why I said "Friends don't let Americans do Foreign Policy".
Our politicians can be cheaply bought, they have no principle, the people exercise no oversight of them and they don't understand "Realpolitik" despite Henry K's heavy-handed, clumsy attempts to show and explain it to them. What's worse is that they're stupid.
Another agreement allowed Russia to transfer nuclear technology.THERE'S a brilliant piece of Foreign Policy work. Let's give Iran a reactor! Guess what you can make with a functioning reactor? (Besides electric power.) Not that it matters, since we've let China in on how to make our warheads and improved their missile guidance packages. Wait...they probably promised not to pass on the info, so we're OK there.
Maybe they still have those old '50s bomb shelter plans on the internet! Note to self: Find secluded, steep sided valley in Northern Rockies and build small cabin. Move there soon.
