Remember how the intelligence community warned that it won’t be able to verify the Moscow Treaty after the START inspection protocol lapses?
The Bush Administration, Nicholas Kralev in the Washington Times, wants to keep it that way:
The Bush administration has rebuffed Russian overtures to negotiate a legally binding replacement of the 1991 START I treaty that reduced the two countries’ strategic nuclear forces but is set to expire in 2009, U.S. and Russian officials said yesterday.
An expert-level meeting between the former enemies to discuss options after the treaty’s expiration is expected to take place as soon as this month, but their differences are not likely to be resolved, the officials said.
While the Russians insist on a legally binding agreement, the Americans have focused on “transparency and confidence-building measures” that would still allow both sides to verify each others’ arsenals and capabilities.
Even getting a expert group has, apparently, been a huge problem, with Russian officials telling Kralev that “Mr. Joseph resisted expert-level talks and preferred ‘strategic political discussions.’”