August 9, 2007 (LPAC)--The recently-confirmed Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General James Cartwright, told the Senate Arms Service Committee on July 31 at his confirmation hearing, that the Bush Administration will not extend the U.S.-Russian START Treaty, because "it will provide greater flexibility to pursue prompt global strike solutions." Cartwright has been a promoter of a conventional, non-nuclear "prompt global strike capability," which, he admits, is not easily distinguishable from a nuclear capability. Sergie Markov, head of the Institute of Political Research in Moscow, responded: "All that we see today is that a global superpower is essentially ruled by extremists who commit catastrophic mistakes, throwing the world into risky ventures,'' Novosti reported on August 2.

Cartwright, when asked about ways to reduce tensions with Russia, said that the Russia-NATO Council should work toward ``managing Russia's reaction to possible NATO enlargement." Goals should include "to help allies' concerns about a resurgent and assertive Russian Federation and remind them of the importance of united pushback against Russian behavior when needed." Russia Today on Augusut 1 characterized this view as no different than the rhetoric of the Cold War.

LaRouche responded to Cartwright's statements: "Idiots in a bankrupt nation, want to send that nation to a world war."