The SALT II Treaty arrives in the Senate with blessings from all the usual establishmentarians, but not with Sen. Kyl. Therefore it is in trouble. As things are going, it will not be ratified. We need to go beyond START to re-start.

At the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson sailed off to the Versailles peace talks without bothering to bring the leaders of the Republicans from the US Senate with him. He told the European allies what the US had to have, then came home and told the Senate what the Europeans had to have, which turned out in both cases to be what Wood Wilson had to have. Despite his health-destroying campaign across the country, Wilson's scheme for a League of Nations failed to gain Senate approval. The idea was flawed (it was too idealistic, as Theodore Roosevelt said), and it therefore contributed to the development of World War II.

Barack Obama, bearing Wilson's example in mind, might as well acknowledge that the Republicans, while not in charge in the Senate today, have the power to stop START. They have some good arguments, nicely described by our John Wohlstetter.

But, more than that, they have political logic on their side. We need a thorough new operating understanding with the Russians. It's not just limits on nukes. Accepting a missile shield in Europe (as the Kremlin seems more open to doing lately) could be part of that. But the array of issues is still bigger. Ultimately, treaties are expressions of mutual trust, not sources of such trust. Enlightened self-interest

Unlike many in the US, I think we can do business with the current Russian government. But here is a case where our government will have to proceed from a truly united American position. That doesn't exist now.