Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Ellen Tauscher remains the top
administration official in charge of missile defense negotiations with Russia
despite reports to the contrary, a senior administration official told The Cable.
The Washington
Times reported
this week that Tauscher "was given a demotion" and no longer was serving as the
lead administration official in charge of the negotiations, which are part of
the bilateral working group meetings that the United States and Russia have
been conducting for over a year. The same article reported that Tauscher had
annoyed colleagues due to her abrasive style, and that she often referred to
herself in the third person as "The Tausch." Jim Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy,
was now in charge, according to the report.
But that's simply not true, one senior
administration official and one State Department official told The Cable. They pointed out that
Tauscher is in Brussels now, meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's lead
negotiator on missile defense cooperation.
"Ellen leads our team to the talks and her
counterpart is Ryabkov and any contention that she has been demoted is just
plain wrong," the senior administration official said.
Tauscher is in charge of diplomatic engagement with
Russia on this issue and Miller is the technical expert who works with her, the
official explained.
"Jim's an extremely able player on missile defense
issues, and has been involved in discussions with the Russian Ministry of Defense
that complement the overall talks on missile defense," the official said.
As for the accusation that Tauscher refers to
herself as "The Tausch," that is apparently a nickname that was given to her by
colleague and friend Rep. Loretta
Sanchez (D-CA) when both served in Congress, according to the State
Department official. It's a term of affection that some on Tauscher's staff
have adopted, but not a nickname she is known to use herself, the official said.
The senior administration official also took issue
with the Washington Times' assertion
that the U.S.-Russia missile defense talks have "largely [been] kept secret
from Congress and the public."
"The fact of
these talks is a matter of public record -- that's not to suggest the details
of the talks aren't private," the senior administration official said. "As the
president has made clear, we see the possibility of missile defense with Russia
as something that can serve both of our interests, it doesn't constrain us in
any way."
Tauscher explained the rationale of pursuing missile
defense cooperation with Russia in a speech at the Global Zero conference in
Washington on April 8.
"Thirty years ago at the height of
the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan
saw virtue in cooperating with Moscow on missile defense. We in the Obama
administration do, too, because Missile Defense cooperation could make us safer
and facilitate talks on further reductions on strategic, non-strategic, and
non-deployed nuclear weapons," she said. "We want Russia inside the missile defense
tent where it will see that missile defenses that the United States has planned
to put in Europe are not about undermining Russia's strategic deterrent."
Meanwhile, the administration has
been moving forward on implementing the Phased Adaptive Approach that was
announced in 2009, which altered the Bush administration's plan to plant
missile interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic. The latest announcement
was a deal with Romania announced on May 3
to station interceptors there.
The article was written by Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz,
who has written articles critical of Tauscher's bureau for months and has long
drawn the ire of the State Department. As one State Department official said in January,
"This
particular reporter, as you know, has his own foreign policy."
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