What is the purpose of an open skies agreement?
Open Skies agreements do this by eliminating government interference in the commercial decisions of air carriers about routes, capacity, and pricing, freeing carriers to provide more affordable, convenient, and efficient air service for consumers.
Most observers agree that the Open Skies Treaty will add little to U.S. knowledge of Russian military forces and activities and little to Russian knowledge of U.S. or NATO forces and activities.
The United States and Russia each operate sophisticated observation satellites that can provide information without any cooperation from the other side.
Nonetheless, many have noted that the observation flights will provide
nations who do not have their own satellite systems with a way to participate in the data collection and confidence building process.
As Ambassador John Hawes, the U.S. representative to the Conference on Open Skies, noted, "the treaty offers each of the participating states,
regardless of size or level of technological development, the opportunity for direct involvement in the observation of military forces and activities of concern on the territory of other participating
states. For most of the participating states ...
Open Skies will provide the first opportunity they have had to acquire this kind of hard information relevant to their security."
The primary benefits of the Open Skies Treaty will accrue to its European participants. These nations will not only be able to acquire information about military forces and activities in neighboring nations,
they will also be able to collect this information themselves, without relying on the observation satellites of other nations.
(((you don't pull out of the treaty, no warning, to deflect from impeachment going ons
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