The US has dismantled another pillar of global security
On May 21, 2020, US President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty (OST). Exactly six months later, on November 22, America officially ended its participation in the Treaty, signed in 1992 and involving three dozen countries and more than a thousand inspection flights.
According to the document, observers have the right to carry out inspection flights over the territory of participating countries in order to monitor military activity and compliance with existing arms control treaties.
According to good American tradition, the US government blindly called “Moscow’s non-compliance with the terms of the treaty” as a reason for withdrawing from the Treaty, without bothering to provide any evidence.
At one of the press conferences, the protocol mug of US Secretary of State Pompeo simply came out, falsely declaring that “these Russians” do not allow American planes to fly over their territory, “or limit flights at their own request.”
So on November 22, Pompeo took to Twitter to authoritatively grunt: “America is now better protected” - as an official comment on the US withdrawal from the Treaty.
It should be noted that Trump’s statement six months ago about saying goodbye to the Don Treaty was not a big surprise for the Russian leadership. This act was expected; it stemmed from the policy of anti-Russian hysteria adopted by the Obama administration and picked up by Trump.
The fact that the White House would sooner or later take up “open skies” became clear three years ago, in August 2017. The reason for the American attacks on open skies was a CNN report about the flight of the Russian Tu-154M Lk-1 observation aircraft over the Capitol, the Pentagon, the White House and the secret government bunker Mount Weather, located near Washington, at an altitude of about 1000 meters.
This inspection flight caused a furious shriek among the masses of American citizens who mistook American imperialism and arrogance for the greatness of the United States. It is interesting that sensible voices were found in the Pentagon. From there they called on the inflamed patriots to calm down and patiently explained to the media that this was a planned flight of a Russian observation plane that did not pose a threat to national security.
Nevertheless, Washington “hawks”, both from Trump’s entourage and from the opposing camp, latched onto this incident. After waiting a pause, in 2018, US officials began to mutter more and more clearly that Russia was allowing itself too much, and therefore its inspection flights over US territory, which, we note, are conducted from the American Wright-Patterson airfield, and even in a strictly agreed period from September 25 to 30 annually.
There was talk that the American authorities would close the skies over Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands to air control, although even mentally disabled people understood that these steps would provoke retaliatory measures from Russia and the Open Skies Treaty would gradually turn into just another piece of paper.
In general, it was clear that the decision had already been made in the White House and that all that remained was for the sake of decency to frame the slow and sad withdrawal of the United States from the next global security treaty as an urgent necessity.
What should you know about the technical part of the DON?
The most important thing is that the equipment of an observation plane is much inferior to that of a spy plane. According to the Treaty, air inspectors can use optical panoramic and frame cameras, video cameras with real-time image display with object detail up to 30 centimeters in size, side-view radar stations with a synthetic aperture and a resolution of up to three meters, and simple infrared devices.
An important detail: there are always officers from the receiving party on board the observation aircraft, who closely monitor the air inspection process.
This is enough to ensure that the OST partner is complying with signed security agreements, but not enough to obtain detailed intelligence.
What do experts say?
They argue that for Russia, the withdrawal of the United States from the Don Treaty in terms of control over a potential enemy does not technically change anything, since all objects of interest to our military intelligence in the United States and in Europe are clearly visible from satellites equipped much richer and more diverse than observation aircraft.
But there is a nuance. The United States unilaterally leaves the Treaty, but other NATO member states continue to remain parties to it. In this connection, an extremely unpleasant moment arises when the US allies begin to leak information received during inspection flights to their overlord. And this is a matter of principle: if you don’t participate in the DON, you get a donut hole.
Right now, the turn to carry out inspection flights within the framework of the Don Treaty over Russia has passed to France, and our government has appealed to the French government with a request not to transfer the received data to the Americans.
Whether the French fulfill this request or not, we’ll see, but our further participation in the Open Skies Treaty will depend on it.
Everything is complicated by the fact that the US allies are not bound by legal prohibitions on sharing the results of air inspections with the Americans, which means that the cunning inhabitants of the White House have organized another one-sided match, in which they themselves no longer participate, but want to be the main beneficiaries .
Thus, Russia can remain in the Open Skies Treaty only if it receives legally significant obligations from its partners not to share information obtained during inspection flights with the United States.
It should, however, be remembered that the Treaty brings together more than 30 countries, including not only NATO members, but also Ukraine, which is tormented by an unbridled desire to earn a donut from the United States at any cost.
It seems that it will be easier to agree with the majority of NATO members on blocking information for the Americans than with the ruling non-brothers who have degraded to the stage of baboons.
Most likely, Russia will have to leave the Don Treaty, since the consequences of the US withdrawal from the agreement will deprive it of any remaining common sense.
It would seem that if Russia can calmly do without the Open Skies Treaty, then what is the point of being upset? We need to slam the door - and let the remaining participants fly around our borders a hundred miles away and share whatever they want between themselves and the Americans.
The point, however, is that the Treaty, despite its apparent formality, is one of the pillars that has long supported the global security system, which sank after the liquidation of the INF Treaty on Trump’s initiative. It is always better to have additional insurance than to live in a world where there is nothing at all holding the warring parties back.
Yes, satellites see better and more, but the open sky made it possible to maintain trust in the partner without canceling the wonderful principle of “trust, but verify.” Agree, it’s much better when you and a potential enemy check for stones in your bosom on the basis of mutual openness, and it’s a completely different matter to spy on how your enemy sharpens an ax in his house through a crack in the fence or a keyhole. What kind of trust is there...
In general, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is already a thing of the past, and the Don Treaty has also been given a long life. The last pillar of global security remains the START-3 treaty, which has little chance of being extended if Trump wins the presidential race. Biden, it seems, promises to extend START-3 as soon as he ascends the throne in the White House, but there are no special hopes for him either.
The past presidential race, unprecedentedly dirty and ugly, perfectly showed that grandfather, figuratively speaking, has a leaky roof, and the owners of Biden, who is falling into insanity, will, at best, allow him to be a sign of the supreme American power. Instead, he will be steered by the potential vice president, the hawkish woman Kamala Harris, an open Russophobe and boorish person who mocked Trump for his desire to attend the parade in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in Moscow.
It is unlikely that we should expect a new detente and a return to constructive dialogue from this lady. Rather, the BLM lady, like Condoleezza Rice in her time, will be released to burn bridges and fan fires - moderate politicians in the United States have long been in acute shortage...
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