REQUIRED LEGAL WARNING - AT 5:14 P.M. ET:  Urgent Agenda advisers are urged to read the stories coming out of Moscow with two eyes, and a third if you are so blessed.  The New York Times breathlessly reports:

MOSCOW — The United States and Russia, seeking to move forward on one of the most significant arms control treaties since the end of the cold war, announced Monday that they had reached a preliminary agreement on cutting each country’s stockpiles of strategic nuclear weapons by as much as one-third.

COMMENT:  The key words are "preliminary agreement."  The piece of paper has no details, does not even provide for verification, and is essentially just an expression of intent.  "Yes, Alphonse, I will marry you."  The marriage may or may not take place.

This agreement is not a treaty, is not yet ready for ratification, and may never be.  It's eyewash.  Follow the story closely and watch the details.  Watch what we're willing to give up to get the thing in final shape.  That will be the payoff.

July 6, 2009