(Newser) – Sarah Palin comes out swinging against New START, the nuclear arms reduction treaty currently being considered for ratification by the Senate, in a National Review op-ed. The treaty is not "in America's interest," the former Alaska governor writes, as it "requires the US to reduce our nuclear weapons and allows the Russians to increase theirs." She also characterizes the new verification regime as "weaker" than that under the previous START, "making it harder for us to detect Russian cheating."

But most offensive is the fact that New START "recognizes a link between offensive and defensive weapons," a "linkage [that] virtually guarantees that either we limit our missile defenses or the Russians will withdraw from the treaty." This is a no-go for Palin, since "missiles that threaten us can come from Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, or anywhere else"—and we shouldn't have to diminish our defense capabilities in general because of a treaty made with one nation in particular. Click for another argument against New START from Mitt Romney.