ABM decision is good but what about the trade issues?

18 Sep, 2009 22:39 / Updated 15 years ago

The whole army of U.S. Republican Party politicians has ganged up on the Obama administration’s decision to give up land-based anti-missile systems in Europe, says RT contributor Wayne Madsen.

They say Barack Obama has let the East European countries down and made promises he could not keep. But at the same time, there is no wonder he gets a lot of support from his own Democratic Party and from all those who want to normalize relations with Russia, which were badly spoiled during the years of the George W. Bush administration.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin praised Washington’s anti-missile decision, but he also said that maybe it’s time to abandon some of the old trade policies, as well.

“There are still trade issues that were put in effect at the time of the Soviet Union, like the Jackson-Vanik amendment that was linked with the immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel. PM Putin is correct in saying that many of those issues should be revised, as well as the Cold War itself," Wayne Madsen said.