IF (big IF) it
could be true or not.
Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program"Co-sponsored by Sam Nunn, former Democratic Senator from Georgia, and Indiana Republican Richard Lugar, the Act was first approved in 1991 in response to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Designed to limit the threat of suddenly itinerant weaponry, Nunn-Lugar established a fund to pay for the identification, destruction and disposal of nuclear and chemical weapons. The initiative also actively welcomed former Soviet scientists into the American community, hoping to lure prospective bomb-makers and chemical-mixers away from rogue nations."
Additional info:
The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Lugar and Obama Urge Destruction of Conventional WeaponsAugust 30, 2005
DONETSK, Ukraine – U.S. Senators Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) called for the immediate destruction of 15,000 tons of ammunition, 400,000 small arms and light weapons, and 1,000 man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) or shoulder missile launchers that are often sought by terrorists.
Lugar and Obama toured the Donetsk State Chemical Production Plant, a conventional weapons destruction facility where the U.S. has taken the lead in a three-year NATO program to destroy the weapons. Another 117,000 tons of ammunition and 1.1 million small arms and light weapons are slated for destruction within 12 years.
The visit underscores the importance of legislation Lugar and Obama have authored that would commit additional U.S. resources and expand authorities in cooperative threat reduction of conventional weapons around the world. The bill is part of the Foreign Relations Authorization Bill that is pending in the Senate and will be introduced as a free-standing bill by the senators this fall
Lugar and Obama Detained at Russian Airport for Several HoursObama, Lugar Secure Funding for Implementation of Nonproliferation LawDecember 16-18, 2008
Synopsis of Senator Lugar's 'Confidence Building' Moscow Mission"Senator Lugar met with Russian officials December 16-18 to discuss the future of U.S.-Russia relations"
"In each of his meetings and interviews, Senator Lugar was greeted as a close friend of President-elect Obama. Each host and media interviewer wanted Senator Lugar to recount the 2005 trip in which he brought then Senator Obama to Russia for his first visit. During that visit, Senators Obama and Lugar were detained for three hours at the Perm airport. It is clear that stories of the detainment have taken on epic proportions in Russian popular culture."
"Lugar has said his Moscow trip is intended to find out "what's on the minds of the Russian leadership" and report back to the new administration of president-elect Barack Obama."
"Lugar, a key member of U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committees, is a veteran of U.S.-Russian arms control efforts who has worked closely with Obama on safeguarding loose nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union.
He was reportedly under consideration to be Obama's secretary of state until Hillary Clinton was offered the job instead, even though Lugar represents the Republican Party as opposed to Obama's Democratic Party."
" Lugar is holding a series of meetings in Moscow to sound out the prospects for an intensified dialogue on future nuclear arms cuts after the Obama administration takes office."
"
Lugar isn’t the only heavyweight in play. His visit follows an even more telling event: Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger visited Russia as well recently, and reportedly met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Dec. 12. According to a Stratfor source, however, Kissinger actually spent the bulk of his trip meeting quietly with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In Russia, Kissinger is the most respected and highly regarded American, period. If he is there at any time, he is there with authority to speak for the U.S. administration. Lugar’s subsequent trip suggests that Kissinger’s meetings were —- at least in part —- focused on renewing meaningful arms-control discussions."
Bush and Nunn-Lugar
Bush Releases Money to Destroy Russian Arms"But critics in Congress have been imposing stiff conditions on the release of the funds, saying Russia has not spent enough of its own money on the program or fully complied with its arms control and human rights obligations.
As a result, no funds have been released in more than three years. But the waivers Bush signed Friday override those conditions for one year."
link"As an October 2001 Time magazine piece pointed out, "the 2002 federal budget calls for cuts of about $140 million
. That's quite a hit for an initiative whose seven-year operating costs were only $3 billion — less than the annual cost of missile defense research and development efforts." Despite the administration's rhetoric about weapons of mass destruction – which unprotected nuclear weapons surely are – in the president's 2005 budget proposal, funding for the program again fell slightly from 2004 levels. As the Carnegie Endowment for Peace reported in March 2004, "Bush's proposed budget for FY 2005 cuts funding for Nunn-Lugar by 10 percent and cuts the Department of Energy's Russian nuclear security funding by 8 percent." In the president's 2006 budget, he has called for $416 million for the Nunn-Lugar program, which is $7 million above the 2005 enacted level, and about even with what the program has been receiving since its inception."
Additional info
Obama Wants New Russia Nuke Pact"According to sources at the White House, which the newspaper did not name, Hillary Clinton's State Department is going to take the lead in looking for a pact to replace the 1991 "Start" agreement (U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), and now, Washington is really willing to play ball.
Under former President George W. Bush, the U.S. aggressively pursued a plan to build missile defense installations on Russia's door-step — in Poland for instance. Mr. Bush maintained the missile defense system was crucial to defend America and its allies against the increasing threat of ballistic missiles from countries like Iran and North Korea.
According to The Times, however, Obama's administration has already halted the development of the missile defense program and as a means of getting the ball rolling on new disarmament talks, and has said the entire plan is subject to "review."
Depending on the outcome of that "review," Russia has signaled a willingness to enter negotiations on a new treaty."
Russia signals new optimism on ties with U.S" Russia on Sunday welcomed a pledge by the United States "to press the reset button" on relations with Moscow, in a sign the former Cold War rivals could repair relations under President Barack Obama.
Vice President Joe Biden, in a speech at a security conference in Munich, said on Saturday it was time to end a dangerous drift in ties and work with Moscow.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, speaking at a news conference in Munich after meeting Biden on Sunday, said the United States had sent a strong signal about its willingness to cooperate.
"It is obvious the new U.S. administration has a very strong desire to change and that inspires optimism," Ivanov said."
Joe Biden: Obama's 'new tone' for worldObama, Pentagon pull in different directions on no nukes goal"President Barack Obama has set a goal of a "world without nuclear weapons" but the Pentagon is leaning in a seemingly contradictory direction: a modernized nuclear arsenal.
The new administration has signaled its intent to swiftly engage Russia in negotiations on deeper cuts in their respective arsenals, with the ultimate aim of reducing them to zero.
But US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been leading another kind of charge, arguing in the final months of the previous administration that deeper cuts must be underpinned by production of a new warhead to replace an ageing nuclear stockpile.
On the other hand, former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former defense secretary William Perry and former Senator Sam Nunn say that nuclear weapons are increasingly ineffective as a deterrent."
START: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty1991: Superpowers to cut nuclear warheads"The United States and the Soviet Union have signed an historic agreement reducing their stockpiles of nuclear warheads by about a third.
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as Start, was signed in Moscow by US President George (HW) Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
At a joint news conference after the signing ceremony, Mr Bush described the Start treaty as "a significant step forward in dispelling half a century of mistrust".
Mr Gorbachev said it promised to be the start of "an irreversible process" of arms reduction, but stressed there was "still a lot to do". "
Additional links
August 28, 2007
Lugar, Nunn Push Arms Security ProgramJanuary 15, 2008
Toward a Nuclear-Free WorldBy GEORGE P. SHULTZ, WILLIAM J. PERRY, HENRY A. KISSINGER and SAM NUNN
Sam Nunn lines up behind Barack Obama"The former senator, considered one of the nation’s preeminent experts on U.S. defense, met with Obama’s foreign policy team this morning.
In a just released statement, Nunn said Obama “will have the sound judgment to put together an outstanding governing team, bringing people together across old boundaries.”
“My own role in this campaign will be as an advisor - particularly in the field of national security and foreign policy,” Nunn said.
Said Obama on Nunn, in a prepared statement: “Few public servants have done more than Sam Nunn to keep America safe, and I look forward to drawing on his counsel as we work to combat nuclear proliferation and other threats to America’s national security.”
Was Kissinger in Russia December 2008? Probably.
Was he there at the request of Obama? It's possible.
It's also possible that Nunn asked him to go or that Lugar asked him to go...or that he went on his own.
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