Political Quotes

“just last May our President and the Russian President issued a joint statement following a summit. One of those statements was that the United States and Russia are each committed to the ABM Treaty, a cornerstone of strategic stability. That is how important the ABM Treaty is to the Russians. Should they be afraid of our defenses? Should they be threatened by our defenses? Gosh, we do not think so because we are good guys. The truth of the matter is they are. What is the proof of that? General Shalikashvili's statement and Secretary Perry's statement, which says flatout that if we act in this way to undermine the ABM Treaty, we jeopardize the reduction in START I and START II. So we are not afraid of defenses. We should be afraid of 8,000 Russian warheads which probably now will not be dismantled if we jeopardize a treaty which has provided some strategic stability. That is the threat to us, the 8,000 warheads which are currently being dismantled, reduced under START I and II, which now will probably not be dismantled according to two pretty important folks, Secretary Perry and General Shalikashvili. That is current evidence of what the stakes are here.”