Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Tuesday 6 February 2018
After victory over IS: Russia says it met nuclear limits,
US begins reducing troop level in Iraq questions American compliance

By S. GEORGE has ended, and so the vember.
Q. ABDUL-ZAHRA level of the American pres- The U.S. first launched air- By V. ISACHENKOV pliance with its Treaty ob-
Associated Press ence will be reduced," said strikes against the Islamic MOSCOW (AP) — Russia ligations and is fully com-
AL-ASAD AIRBASE, Iraq government spokesman State group in Iraq in Au- said Monday it has met the mitted to continuing to
(AP) — The U.S. has start- Saad al-Hadithi, who used gust 2014. The intervention nuclear arsenal limits of a implement New START."
ed to reduce the number the Arabic language acro- was described at the time key arms control treaty, but The State Department add-
of its troops in Iraq follow- nym for IS. as "limited," but as Iraq's mil- it raised some issues with ed: "In order to meet the
how the United States has central limits of the Treaty,
sought to comply with the the United States devel-
2010 accord. oped and utilized con-
In a separate statement, version procedures in full
the Russian Foreign Minis- compliance with its Treaty
try also scathingly criticized obligations," it added.
a different U.S. nuclear re- "We will continue to en-
view, saying it could lower gage Russia in the Bilat-
the threshold for using nu- eral Consultative Commis-
clear weapons. sion and other diplomatic
The New START treaty channels to work coopera-
signed in 2010 restricts the tively to address technical
U.S. and Russia each to questions and issues relat-
1,550 deployed strategic ed to the ongoing imple-
nuclear warheads on a mentation of New START,"
maximum of 700 deployed it said. Russia-U.S. ties have
intercontinental ballis- remained tense over the
tic missiles and strategic Ukrainian conflict, the Syr-
bombers. The deadline to ia war and allegations of
verify both countries' com- Moscow's meddling in the
pliance was Monday. 2016 U.S. presidential elec-
The Russian Foreign Minis- tion.
try said it now has 527 de- On Friday, the Trump ad-
U.S. Army soldiers stands next to a guided-missile launcher, a few miles from the frontline, in the ployed intercontinental ministration declared it
village of Abu Ghaddur, east of Tal Afar, Iraq. American troops have started to draw down from
Iraq following Baghdad’s declaration of victory over the Islamic State group last year, according ballistic missiles and stra- will continue much of the
to western contractors at a U.S.-led coalition base in Iraq. tegic bombers and 1,444 Obama administration's
(AP Photo/Balint Szlanko) strategic nuclear war- nuclear weapons policy,
heads. The U.S. reported it but take a more aggressive
has been in compliance stance toward Russia. It said
ing Baghdad's declaration Al-Hadithi stressed that the itary struggled to roll back with the limits since August. Russia must be convinced
of victory over the Islamic drawdown — the first since the extremists, the coali- While acknowledging the it would face "unaccept-
State group last year, an the war against IS began tion's footprint in the coun- U.S. statement on meet- ably dire costs" if it were
Iraqi government spokes- more than three years ago try grew steadily. ing the treaty caps, Russia to threaten even a limited
man and Western contrac- — was still in its early stages "We've had a recent voiced concern about the nuclear attack in Europe.
tors said Monday. and doesn't mark the be- change of mission, and U.S. reconfiguring some The Pentagon-led review
The move marks a shift in ginning of a complete pull- soon we'll be supporting a submarines and bomb- of the U.S. nuclear arsenal
priorities for the U.S. follow- out of U.S. forces. different theater of opera- ers to carry conventional and the policies that gov-
ing the collapse of the ex- "Continued coalition pres- tions in the coming month," weapons. The foreign min- ern it reflected the admin-
tremists' so-called caliph- ence in Iraq will be condi- U.S. Army 1st Lt. William istry said it does not have a istration's view that Russian
ate late last year. It also tions-based, proportional John Raymond told the AP way to confirm the recon- policies and actions are
comes about three months to the need and in coor- at the Al-Asad base. figured hardware was ren- fraught with potential for
ahead of Iraqi national dination with the govern- He spoke as he and a dered incapable of carry- miscalculation that could
elections in which paramili- ment of Iraq," Army Col. handful of soldiers from his ing nuclear weapons. lead to an uncontrolled
tary groups with close ties Ryan Dillon, a coalition unit conducted equipment The ministry added that the escalation of conflict in Eu-
to Iran are set to play a de- spokesman, told the AP. inventory checks required U.S. also "arbitrarily convert- rope. It specifically point-
cisive role. One senior Iraqi official before leaving Iraq. Ray- ed" some missile launch fa- ed to a Russian doctrine
Dozens of U.S. soldiers have close to Prime Minister Haid- mond declined to specify cilities designated for train- known as "escalate to de-
been transported from Iraq er al-Abadi said 60 percent where his unit was going ing purposes, a use it said escalate," in which Mos-
to Afghanistan on daily of all U.S. troops still in Iraq because the information wasn't envisaged by the cow would use or threaten
flights in the past week, will be withdrawn, accord- has not yet been made treaty. to use smaller-yield nuclear
along with weapons and ing to the initial agreement public. "The Russian federation weapons in a limited, con-
equipment, the contrac- reached with Washing- In the lead up to the Iraqi confirms its adherence to ventional conflict in Europe
tors said. ton. The plan would leave elections slated for May, the New START Treaty while in the belief that doing so
An Associated Press re- about 4,000 U.S. troops to the indefinite presence of insisting that the United would compel the U.S.
porter at the Al-Asad base continue training the Iraqi U.S. troops in the country States continues a con- and NATO to back down.
in western Iraq saw troop military. continues to be a divisive structive search for mutu- The report, known as the
movements reflecting the The official spoke on condi- issue. ally acceptable solutions," Nuclear Posture Review,
account by contractors. tion of anonymity because Al-Abadi, who is seeking to "issues that may arise said the U.S. would modify
The contractors spoke on he was not authorized to another term, has struggled between the parties under "a small number" of existing
condition of anonymity in talk to the media. to balance the often com- the Treaty," it said. long-range ballistic missiles
line with regulations and As of late September, there peting interests of Iran and Responding to the Russian carried by Trident strate-
declined to reveal the ex- were 8,892 U.S. troops in the United States, both key claims, the U.S. State De- gic submarines to fit them
act size of the drawdown. Iraq, according to a Penta- allies who have backed partment insisted that "the with smaller-yield nuclear
"The battle against Daesh gon report released in No- him against IS. q United States is in full com- warheads.q