Obama to Push Arms Control With Moscow

In Singapore for APEC Meeting, President Will Seek to Advance New Nuke Pact with Medvedev

(AP)  A major pact within tantalizing reach, President Barack Obama aims to nudge forward an arms-control deal in talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum brought Mr. Obama to Singapore, but he is focusing on individual meetings Sunday with Medvedev and with Indonesia's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of the world's largest Muslim nation (and the president's home as a boy). The U.S.-Russia meeting takes place as the nations seek a successor to a Cold War-era agreement.

President Obama also planned another milestone: joining a larger meeting that includes the leader of military-ruled Myanmar. Mr. Obama is sure to face criticism at home, particularly from conservatives, for doing so - a significant step up in his administration's new policy of "pragmatic engagement" that is a shift from years of U.S. isolation and sanctions.

Obama Calls for U.S. Engagement with Asia
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Photos: President Obama in Japan

President Obama and Medvedev agreed in April to reach a new nuclear arms reduction treaty to replace Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty 1 before it expires on Dec. 5. Later, in Moscow in July, they agreed further to cut the number of nuclear warheads each nation possesses to between 1,500 and 1,675 within seven years.

U.S. officials say that the two nations now have agreed on the broad outlines of a new treaty, with the expectation that the leaders will sign one during President Obama's travels to Europe in early December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

Such an agreement would be a big feather in President Obama's cap and bragging rights toward his promise to work toward a nuclear-free world, offering momentum for other arms-control and nonproliferation efforts. The president has been hinting at his optimism on the issue leading up to and during his Asia trip.

"We are already taking steps to bring down our nuclear stockpiles in cooperation with the Russian government," he said during a news conference in Japan with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

A new treaty also could boost relations with Russia at a time that Washington is looking for its cooperation on issues including reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Negotiators already have worked through a number of contentious issues and agreed on the number of warheads, the number of delivery systems and what will count as a delivery system, officials said.

The remaining issues in negotiations involve procedures for the two countries to verify that the other side is meeting the terms of the treaty, two administration officials said speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

"I don't foresee a major problem that can't be resolved within the next four weeks," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, which follows the negotiations. "Neither side wants to go without a new agreement for very long."

Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to President Obama, suggested it wasn't likely the leaders would announce a breakthrough but that holding talks at such a high level while they are going on could help bring one about.

The existing START treaty, signed by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and President George H.W. Bush in 1991, led each country to cut its nuclear warheads by at least one-quarter, to about 6,000. In 2002, Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush signed the Treaty of Moscow, which specified further cuts to between 1,700 and 2,200 operationally deployed warheads by 2012.

The U.S. now has about 2,200 such warheads deployed, compared to about 2,800 for the Russians.

Once a deal is signed, it still would need ratification by the Russian Duma and the U.S. Senate to take effect.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and President Obama is sitting in on their summit. A U.S. president has never met with a leader of the Burmese junta, one of the world's worst human-rights offenders.

Despite the new engagement, the Obama administration has said that sanctions will not be lifted unless Burma's rulers make democratic progress, such as releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democracy icon who has been under house arrest for most of the last two decades.

Obama aides as well as outside Asia experts have defended the administration's new gamble on Burma, even while admitting it may not succeed.

"One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome," said Jeffrey Bader, President's Obama's top Asia adviser.

[RunsWithWolves]

by askagain November 15, 2009 1:10 AM EST
You make it sound like no one benefited from the Bush years. The reality is a lot of people, normal Americans, did very well under President Bush. The truth contradicts all of your claims. That includes Democrats and Republicans alike. My net worth is higher than it has ever been. But I belong to the group of people who make things happen.

AskAgain:
Oh you are right that plenty of wealthy Americans benefited from the Bush years! We all know how well the wealthiest Americans did during the Bush years. They benefited from the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and favorable (little regulation) terms so we could all be raped by Wall Street in the financial meltdown. Under Bush the super wealthy got much much wealthier at the expense of our nations financial health.

[askagain]

There is no reason not to dress in the clothing of another culture for a photo shoot. It symbolizes respect for that culture. If memory serves me correctly, President Obama did not bow when he was introduced to the queen of England. That showed a disdain for the royalty of England. There is always a message in the way people behave.

[searingtruth]

"We found ourselves left to the whims and consequence of a barbarity we ourselves embraced."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[bigermay]

PRESIDENT OBAMA IS WISELY NEGOTIATING WITH RUSSIA. IT WILL LEAD TO A NEW RUSSIAN ASCENDANCY ALREADY UNDERWAY AS THE RUBBLE RISES. THE USA AND ISRAEL GET THE OK TO DEGRADE EXTREMIST ISLAM. SEE THE BOOKS ABOUT IT:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=MENDEL+EDWARDSON&x=7&y=

ALSO, ON YOUTUBE.COM - SEE THE VIDEOS UNDER THE USERNAME "AMMENUEL".

BE PREPARED TO BE SHOCKED AND FACE THE TRUTH AND HELP OUR COUNTRY.

[searingtruth]

"If I had any concern for human rights at all I would vote for those who advocate them openly and regularly, not for those who simply whisper their nobility into my ear."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[YourVeryWrong]

Best part was when they all agreed that upon leaving office, their first goal would be to get a Pacific Rim job. Which the Chinese delegation reports is now more difficult to obtain there.

[babooph]

The shot affirms my awareness that a modern US president must be tall ,with hair-[more important than being a white guy now]-adds to the international importance-maybe why he cannot be photoed with Assad?Ike,one of the best, would now have to wear a piece & Sarcozy shoes...

[jgg000015]

They look like the Supercuts graduating class.

[erb0087]

"Obama looks so at home in his Muslim garb. It suits him so well."
- by BryanW217c November 14, 2009 2:54 PM EST

================================

That isn't Muslim garb, silly.

They're wearing Starship Enterprise uniforms.

The APEC Forum has a Star Trek theme this year.

[hungry1968-17]

by bann65 November 14, 2009 5:35 PM EST
Obama is a socialist and a marxist. This administration and their policies are one unmitigated disaster after another.
Anyone having confidence in Obama is not dealing with reality.







The preceding message has been brought to you by Michael Steele, in accordance with Fat Rush Productions, and this smear and BS is patent pending.

[jimmytoh-2009]

It was Bush and the Republicans brought this country to its knees after 8 years wreckless spending on wars which was not worth the fight at all. Obama is merely picking up the mess that left by the previous administration. How convenient it is to push all the blames on Obama. From day one, he worked hard to prevent this country into great depression. Republicans just shut up! How dare you call him socialist when you are the one who wrecked this beloved country of ours!!!

[askagain]

You make it sound like no one benefited from the Bush years. The reality is a lot of people, normal Americans, did very well under President Bush. The truth contradicts all of your claims. That includes Democrats and Republicans alike. My net worth is higher than it has ever been. But I belong to the group of people who make things happen.

[MalloryDavis]

How quickly they forget 9-11. Yea the whole taco is Bush's. Please.