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Russia criticises US missile plans, talks up alternatives
Moscow (AFP) Dec 5, 2007 Russian officials criticised the United States Wednesday for what one called an "unconstructive" approach to missile defence, while voicing hopes for cooperation on Moscow's own missile proposals. The criticism came after a US intelligence report undercut US allegations about Iran's atomic goals, which have been a pillar of US arguments for building new missile defence facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland. Russia has vehemently opposed Washington's plans for central Europe. At a news conference, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained that Washington had gone back on an offer to allow full-time Russian monitors to be based at the Czech and Polish sites. Lavrov said Russia was "disappointed at how ideas that appeared to be moving in a reasonable direction turned out on paper." Interviewed by the Interfax news agency, a defence ministry advisor, Ilshat Baichurin, said that the United States had demonstrated an "unconstructive approach on a matter concerning the security of millions of European residents." However Baichurin added that "at the ministry of defence there is hope that common sense will prevail and the United States will accept Russia's proposals." Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko went into more detail in an interview with the ITAR-TASS agency, praising cooperation between Russia and NATO -- of which the United States is a key member -- on "theatre missile defence." Grushko implied that cooperation could be stepped up in this area, the development of systems to guard against shorter-range missiles rather than the strategic missiles envisaged by the proposed US system. Such a system would have particular use in protecting peacekeeping missions, he said. "Russia and NATO have made significant progress towards creating a single system that could be deployed against possible real threats rather than imaginary strategic ones," said Grushko. "Russia is vigorously working with NATO on the missile defence problem.... We have a plan for creating a tactical theatre missile defence system that has all along been intended for protecting joint peacekeeping contingents," he said. Grushko noted that Russia and NATO were to hold a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Friday. Russia has vehemently opposed US plans to install a powerful targeting radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland by 2012, describing them as a threat to Russian security. Washington insists the system would be directed against threats from "rogue states" such as Iran. On Monday the US intelligence community said in a report that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and that US charges about Tehran's atomic goals had been overblown for at least two years. The National Intelligence Estimate said however that Iran was still pursuing sensitive activities that could be a step towards nuclear weapons and was expected to have the technical ability to develop a nuclear weapon sometime between 2010 and 2015. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Thompson Files: No missile warning gap
Arlington, Va. (UPI) Dec 4, 2007 On Nov. 10 the U.S. Air Force launched the last satellite in its secret Defense Support Program missile-warning constellation. Since 1970, the Defense Support Program has been the most important asset in the United States' entire military posture, because it is the only system that can reliably warn of a ballistic-missile attack against America no matter where that attack originates on the face of the Earth. Every strategy for averting nuclear war begins with being able to know whether the nation is under attack. If the military can't be sure of detecting an attack, then neither the threat of retaliation nor the possibility of active defense is credible. |
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