DOD NOM FACING SCRUTINY OVER POSSIBLE RUSSIAN TREATY VIOLATIONS

By ExchangeMonitor

Brian McKeon, the Obama Administration’s nominee to be the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is likely to face tough questions from Republicans at his confirmation hearing Tuesday on what is believed to be Russian violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. In a Feb. 20 letter to McKeon, Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) questioned why the Administration didn’t disclose the concerns about Russian cheating during debate on the New START Treaty in 2010, and how much McKeon knew. At the time, McKeon was the top liaison to Vice President Joe Biden on New START. He is currently the chief of staff for the National Security Council. “We are concerned that the relevant committees of the United States Senate may not have been fully briefed by the Obama administration on the potential Russian treaty violations during consideration of the New START Treaty in 2010,” Ayotte and Wicker wrote. “If the administration knew about potential violations of the treaty and did not fully inform the Senate of these violations while it debated New START, this would represent a serious abrogation of the administration’s responsibilities.”

The INF Treaty that was signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987 required each country to get rid of missiles with ranges of 300 and 4,000 miles, and the accord also prevents each country from testing or building such weapons. But reports last month suggested that top State Department officials met with NATO allies in January to provide info on alleged Russian tests of a new land-based cruise missile that violates the treaty. “If the article is accurate, these violations raise serious concerns about Russia’s commitment to its treaty obligations, as well as the administration’s commitment to keep Congress fully informed,” the Senators wrote.

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