The New START Treaty Is No Mistake - Brookings Institution
Brookings looks over the criticism from Romney of the new START treaty proposals
Massachusetts’ former governor asserts that the treaty “impedes missile defense.” In fact, the preamble notes the relationship between offense and defense, a strategic reality that has been recognized for more than 40 years, but the preamble limits nothing. New START’s only constraint on missile defense appears in Article V, which bans placing missile defense interceptors in converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos or on missile-carrying submarines. This prohibits the United States from doing something the Defense Department does not want to do in any case. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, head of the Missile Defense Agency, testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 16 that, if he needs more missile defense interceptors, it would be simpler and cheaper — $20 million less — to build new silos rather than convert ICBM silos.