A memo circulated by Republicans on the Hill in response to Obama’s joint statement with Russian President Medvedev today follows. The author notes that Obama’s expectations for the speed at which the new treaty on arms reductions will be ratified does not conform to precedent. Obama says that these reductions are necessary to dissuade nations rogue states from developing and building their own arsenals — that we must lead by example — but the author also notes that the U.S. stockpile has been shrinking for years, with no discernible effect on the nuclear aspirations of hostile regimes. I’d further note that the United States has prohibited nuclear testing for the last 18 years, with an unknown but likely severe impact on the reliability of the nations nuclear stockpile, yet this has done nothing to dissuade North Korea, Pakistan, and India from testing nuclear weapons — or the Russians and Chinese from cheating at the margins. Read the whole thing: