The Obama administration is crafting plans to close an Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) squadron just three years after promising lawmakers that the New START U.S.-Russia arms reduction treaty would not affect our ICBM force.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has prepared a timeline that includes “[eliminating] an ICBM squadron” and destroying its silos by December 5, 2017.
The OSD document describes the reductions “as necessary to meet the New START treaty compliance date by closing an ICBM squadron and eliminating the associated launch facilities.”
Although Montana is home for many ICBMs, both of the state’s Senators–Sens. Max Baucus (D) and John Tester (D)–voted for the New START treaty in 2010. They even issued a press release after doing so in which they pledged ICBMs “would continue to play a key role in U.S. national security for decades to come.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.
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