Donald Trump, the accidental president of the United States, has just committed the worst and the most dangerous decision of any American president in a long time. He announced a decision to withdraw America from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987 by president Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, then General Secretary of the U.S.S.R .
That treaty eliminated cruise and ballistic missiles with ranges from 300 to over 3,000 miles from both nuclear arsenals. Both sides sometimes argued that the other had committed violations, but the treaty remained in effect. Trump’s decision to abandon the treaty is an absolute gift to Vladimir Putin and a huge reason for all of NATO to be very worried. Putin has no reason not to start building those missiles now, and they can threaten any capital in Europe, any of our NATO allies.
So where are U.S. Lindsey Graham and the defense-minded GOP now? So far, they have failed at every chance to hold Donald Trump to account on traditional GOP principles. Will they fail this chance, too?
Michael Hart, West Ridge
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Shameful history
Georgia Anne Geyer’s column in the Friday Sun-Times reminds me of those pieces strategically placed in newspapers and network and cable TV to persuade the American people that we should invade a country in the Middle East back in 2002. We may be forgiven for being fooled once, but America’s shameful history of intervention in South and Central America should caution us to ask ourselves, why are we so concerned about what is happening in Venezuela? After all, people are suffering in many countries. Could it be that, like Iraq, it is a country with oil, actually the largest oil reserves in the world?
Lynn Nelson, Uptown
Think twice
Those folks calling for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s head should think about any racial, gender, ethnic remark or action that they might have made in the past. As my pappy used to say to me, “Be careful not to point a finger at someone because three are pointing right back at you.”
Dennis Gorecki, Orland Park
