Remember all that talk from John Kerry during the campaign about the need to do far better in securing Russia’s nuclear and chemical weapons stockpiles? He was right.
U.S. programs to help Russia protect and destroy its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons are far behind schedule, despite President Bush’s warning this fall that terrorists getting such weapons is “the biggest threat facing this country.”
A half-billion dollars set aside by Congress in the past two years to secure or scrap Russian weapons sits unspent, a USA Today review of figures provided by program managers finds. Federal audits released in the past 18 months show hundreds of millions more have gone to ineffective projects.
Some of the problem seems to deal with a disagreement between Bush and Putin over how much access inspectors can have to Russian weapons sites. This shouldn’t concern anyone, of course, because the president has looked into the former KGB agent’s “heart and soul” and believes him to be an honest man. I feel safer already.
But it’s also worth noting that the American-Russian agreement that helps secure loose stockpiles has already been undermined by — you guessed it — the Bush administration.
From July 2003:
The Bush administration has decided not to renew two U.S.-Russian agreements that form the basis for cooperative efforts to cut plutonium stockpiles and keep Russia’s nuclear weapons material — and expertise — out of terrorists’ hands.
The administration wants stronger liability protections than the 10-year-old agreements provide for U.S. agencies and contractors that work in Russia on the security projects. It is trying to negotiate new terms. The decision not to renew the agreements may provide leverage to get the Russians to accept new terms.
The impasse threatens to derail two programs that send Russia hundreds of millions of dollars to secure nuclear material and employ weapons scientists in peaceful jobs. President Bush has hailed those efforts as a key tool to prevent enemy states and terrorist groups from obtaining nuclear arms — or luring cash-strapped Russian scientists to help them.
The deadline for the U.S.-Russian pact governing these programs expires in June 2006.
So, in summary, Bush is prepared to walk away from the programs that help secure Russia’s WMD stockpiles and is now “years behind” on his own administration’s plan to deal with crisis.
Anyone who thinks Bush is keeping America safer just isn’t paying attention.