At a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to launch an atomic war in Europe, the Biden administration has restarted public sharing of sensitive nuclear data.
Legislators and defense experts agree that Putin is trying to strengthen a nuclear Russia by withdrawing from New START. Moscow’s dramatic escalation in reaction to the new knowledge about American capabilities coincided with the release of the data, which came only days before the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
In a time when Russia is disguising its capabilities and threatening to ignite an atomic war in Eastern Europe, the decision to release classified nuclear data has left defense hawks on Capitol Hill scratching their heads. The leak of State Department documents is only the most recent example of a foreign policy crisis that has spotlighted the Biden administration.
The House China Committee has voiced worry that the United States lacks the resources to counter China effectively, and a government inspector has determined that the United States missile defense system is in disrepair.
Even if Iran violates the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Biden administration is just as committed to enforcing New START as it was to doing the same. Former Pentagon consultant and current military expert at the American Enterprise Institute Michael Rubin claims that the Biden administration’s dedication to New START will not cause a leader like Putin to alter his behavior.
The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus was revealed by Moscow last week, marking the first time these weapons have been sent outside of Russia’s borders since 1991. The United States only possesses 200 tactical warheads, with half located in Europe, whereas Russia is said to have over 2,000.
Putin has threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in any military actions taken against Ukraine, but U.S. officials think he is bluffing.
The use of nuclear blackmail is becoming increasingly important to Putin, according to defense analysts. To resist America’s atomic forces while expanding their own, China, North Korea, and Iran may find the publication of the New START data valuable.
As the House Armed Services Committee leader, Republican Alabama representative Mike Rogers called the administration’s ongoing commitment to the New START deal “idiotic and put our national security at risk.”
According to him, the Biden administration is giving away classified information about U.S. national security to an enemy without getting anything in return.
