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Nobody seems to have noticed this latest round of sabre rattling...... And to think that we had those glorious years between the wall coming down in Berlin and the twin towers coming down in NY when it seemed like peace was breaking out everywhere - now it appears that we are staggering toward the end of days in every sphere. I'm off to get drunk.

Jim Kuhnhenn, *Associated Press*

                                                                                                Posted:              Tuesday, July 29, 2014, 1:08 AM                                             

WASHINGTON - In an escalation of tensions, the Obama administration accused Russia on Monday of conducting tests in violation of a 1987 nuclear missile treaty, calling the breach "a very serious matter" and going public with allegations that have simmered for some time.
The treaty confrontation comes at a highly strained time between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russia's intervention in Ukraine and Putin's grant of asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
An administration official said Obama notified Putin of the U.S. determination in a letter Monday. The finding will be included in a State Department annual report on compliance with arms-control treaties that will be released Tuesday.
The U.S. says Russia tested a new ground-launched cruise missile, breaking the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that President Ronald Reagan signed with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Russian officials say they have looked into the allegations and consider the matter closed.

    The Obama administration  has expressed its concern over possible violations before, but this is the first  time that the administration has formally accused Russia of violating the  treaty. It comes in the wake of the downed Malaysian airliner in Ukraine and as  the U.S. and the European Union seek to ramp up sanctions against Russia. 

Two officials said the U.S. was prepared to hold high-level discussions on the issue immediately and wanted assurances that Russia would comply with the treaty requirements. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive issue publicly ahead of Tuesday's report.
The New York Times first reported the U.S. move Monday.
The officials said the Obama administration has informed Congress and U.S. allies of its decision to seek Russian compliance. Obama, who has made nuclear disarmament a key foreign-policy aim, has little interest in having Russia pull out of the treaty altogether.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20140729_U_S___Russia_tested_missile.html#OcPPCSIg4BTmDCIX.99