After whining about Republicans blocking the START treaty months ago, Obama finally signed it on Tuesday morning, and the US media was a bit miffed that they weren't allowed in the room. And now we find out from the UK Telegraph
Information about every Trident missile the US supplies to Britain will be given to Russia (WT note: that link is for the actual WikiLeaks cable) as part of an arms control deal signed by President Barack Obama next week.
The fact that the Americans used British nuclear secrets as a bargaining chip also sheds new light on the so-called “special relationship”, which is shown often to be a one-sided affair by US diplomatic communications obtained by the WikiLeaks website.
Defence analysts claim the agreement risks undermining Britain’s policy of refusing to confirm the exact size of its nuclear arsenal.
Time and time again, Obama has blown off our special relationship with Britain. Sending back the bust of Churchill, treating Prime Minister Gordon Brown and wife, along with the UK media, shabbily and dismissively, talking about how Britain is just another friendly country, giving the Queen an iPod with Obama greatest speeches on it, among others, and now this.
As Niles Gardiner writes further at the Telegraph
The matter is serious enough to merit Congressional hearings in Washington as well as parliamentary hearings in London. It is easy to see why the Obama team refused to allow the US Senate access to the negotiating documents for New START, as they would have sparked outrage on both sides of the Atlantic that would almost certainly have killed the Treaty. The Telegraph report clearly contradicts repeated claims by the Obama negotiating team that no side deals were struck with their Russian counterparts. Not for the first time, the current US administration has been eager to appease America’s enemies while shamelessly undercutting her allies.
You know that Harry Reid will not call for hearings. Will the Senate Republicans force hearings? Wait and see. One thing we can expect is that the UK media will surely stop giving Obama and preferential treatment, though the UK Guardian is still in the tank for Team Barry at the moment.
Crossed at Pirate's Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.
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