Congressional member of the United States and potential Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, along with fellow party members Ilhan Omar, James McGovern and Mark Pokan, introduced a bill to Congress that, according to her, would not allow Washington to withdraw from the Medium-size and Medium Missile Treaty. shorter range (PRSMD).

The corresponding document under number 1249 "On the prohibition of the US Secretary of Defense to allocate or spend funds on projects to create missiles prohibited by the INF Treaty" was registered in the lower house of the US parliament. It is currently referred to the relevant committees.

“The law on compliance with the INF Treaty will ensure that our country complies with its provisions and will not allow at least one dollar of taxpayers to spend on weapons that may violate this agreement. This is the step towards maintaining national security and peace, which the congress can and should do now, ”said Gabbard, presenting her bill.

According to her, the actions of President Trump, who had previously announced the beginning of the procedure for the United States to exit the INF Treaty, threaten US national security. According to Gabbard, instead of withdrawing from the treaty, the United States should have led the process of diplomatic dialogue on turning the INF Treaty from a bilateral US-Russian agreement into a multilateral international legal act. According to Gabbard, now because of Trump's actions, the risk of a nuclear catastrophe is higher than ever.

“The threat of nuclear war is real. President Trump’s reckless decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty intensifies this threat, inflates a new cold war, provokes an arms race between the US and Russia and brings us closer to a nuclear holocaust, ”the congressional spokeswoman said.

Congress against

President Trump’s decision to begin the exit procedure from the INF Treaty was criticized by the Democrats controlling the lower house of the US parliament. Thus, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said that the actions of the White House undermine international security and stability and "create unacceptable risks."

  • Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi
  • Reuters
  • © Kevin Lamarque

“Over the next six months, the administration should make all possible diplomatic efforts and work closely with NATO allies to prevent the US from engaging in a dangerous arms race,” Pelosi said.

In turn, according to Adam Schiff, chairman of the congressional intelligence committee of the United States, “the administration’s statement to suspend US commitments under the INF Treaty can provoke just such a buildup of nuclear weapons, which it was intended to prevent and, moreover, upset the strategic balance in Europe , Asia and other parts of the world. "

Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith emphasized that the current administration has a generally negative attitude towards arms control, which threatens US security.

“The risk of miscalculation or misunderstanding is already higher than ever since the end of the Cold War. This decision only aggravates the situation, ”the politician emphasized.

At the same time, the condemnation of Trump’s actions did not prevent the Democrats from accusing Russia of violating the INF Treaty and stating that the US’s withdrawal from the treaty was allegedly beneficial for Moscow and also urge the White House to “punish” the Russians for their bad behavior.

Exotic candidate

“From the constitutional point of view, the conclusion of contracts is the prerogative of the president. Congress is unlikely to be able to ban the president from withdrawing from the contract, but it is possible to impose restrictions on financing through the budget, ”Yury Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the USA, commented on prospects for the bill in an interview with RT.

A similar point of view in a conversation with RT was also expressed by Corresponding Member of the Academy of Military Sciences, political scientist Sergei Sudakov. He stressed that, despite the fact that in the Senate the relative majority is reserved for the Republicans, it depends on the lower chamber how the state budget funds will be distributed.

“Now it’s unrealistic to prohibit withdrawal from the INF Treaty. But it is quite possible to revise those budget items that will be directed to the development of medium-range and shorter-range ground-based missiles, ”said Sudakov.

However, according to experts, support for the Tulsi Gabbard initiative may result in serious political risks for the political establishment. Views Gabbard, who announced her intention to participate in the election race on February 2 and fight for the right to become a Democratic presidential candidate, cannot be called traditional for Democrats.

On the one hand, back in 2013, Nancy Pelosi called Gabbard the "rising star" of the party. It seemed that she, as the first congresswoman of American Samoa in Congress and the first Hindu elected to parliament, is meant to embody the ideals of multiculturalism and tolerance.

On the other hand, Gabbard is a veteran of the Iraq war and a major of the US National Guard is a principled opponent of the United States intervention in the foreign policy of other countries.

  • Tulsi Gabbard
  • © gabbard.house.gov

In the past, Gabbard not only spoke critically about the Iraq campaign, in which she was directly involved, but also opposed the NATO aggression against Libya, and also questioned the responsibility of the Syrian government for chemical attacks, which became the pretext of American bombings in Syria, and in 2017 even met in 2017 with ATS President Bashar Assad. Now Gabbard is against a possible American invasion of Venezuela.

At the same time, in 2015, she supported the operation of the Russian videoconferencing in Syria, noting that, unlike the then American President Barack Obama, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, is waging a real fight against Al Qaeda terrorists. In 2016, Gabbard again went against the stream, meeting with the newly elected US President Donald Trump, while other representatives of the Democratic Party avoided contact with him. Also last year, Gabbard became one of the representatives of the US Congress, who condemned the glorification by official Kiev of the formations of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) * that operated during the Second World War.

It is not surprising that after the announcement of the politician’s intention to run for president, the liberal media accused Tulsi Gabbard of having the support of the Kremlin, and her position coincides with that of RT and Sputnik.

“It’s beneficial to go out”

According to experts, the support of the legislative initiative of such a presidential candidate will add political points to the Gabbard piggy bank, which constantly goes against the establishment's position.

On the other hand, after the Democrats sharply criticized Trump’s decision to quit the INF Committee, it would be logical to use the House of Representatives they controlled against the president.

“This is a political game,” says Rogulev. - For the congress, it is not so important to save the INF Treaty, as it is to annoy Trump, not to allow him to participate in the presidential race. Democrats will do everything to spoil the reputation of Donald Trump. "

The expert recalled that the first complaints, which boil down to the fact that Russia allegedly violates the Treaty, came precisely from the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.

According to Sergei Sudakov, Tulsi Gabbard wants to show that "America chooses not the best way of development, trying to destroy the system of international relations." However, according to the expert, a member of the congress will not be able to resist the lobby of the military-industrial complex (MIC), which is interested in providing money for the construction of medium-range and shorter-range missiles and scientific research in this area.

“In the American practice, no law passes if there is no initiative group that feeds the project with money,” Sudakov notes. “We do not yet see that anyone could invest in her project.”

In addition, the expert notes, Gabbard's comrades could have done something before the decision to quit the INF Treaty, but nothing was done. According to him, the Democrats will not slow down this process now.

  • Pershing II missile systems
  • © Wikimedia Commons

“No one will stop the train at full speed,” states Sergey Sudakov. “It is profitable for America to get out of the INFMT: new jobs will appear and an entire industry of the military-industrial complex will be modernized.”

* “Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (UPA) is a Ukrainian organization recognized as extremist and banned in Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 11/17/2014).