US Playing Anti-Russian Card To Raise Defense Spending

MILPLEX

Russian President Vladimir Putin is followed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (R) on his way to the podium, 10 February 2007 in Munich, southern Germany, during the 43rd Conference on Security Policy. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were the key speakers at a high-level conference examining the global security situation. Photo courtesy AFP.

by Staff Writers
Amman (RIA Novosti) Feb 14, 2007
President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of 'playing the anti-Russian card' to solve its domestic problems and secure more substantial defense spending. "I have an impression that some partners are promoting themselves and have started using the non-existent Russian threat to get more money from the U.S. Congress for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the expensive missile defense project," Putin said during his visit to Jordan, adding that it was not Russia's problem.

Last Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington needed sufficient forces to combat large armies and special units to fight terrorism, adding that developments in countries such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and China were unpredictable.

The president also said that what he spoke about last Saturday at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy contained nothing unexpected and other countries also talk about it.

"[Some countries] speak about U.S. administration rudely and confrontationally and insult it. We believe it is unacceptable. Others speak about it in undertones," Putin said adding that "It is better to speak directly and openly."

The Russian leader told the conference in Munich that the reasons the U.S. cited in favor of deploying a missile defense system in Europe are not convincing enough, as launching North Korean ballistic missiles against the U.S. across western Europe would be in conflict with the laws of ballistics.

"This clearly contradicts ballistics laws. Or, as we say in Russia, it's the like trying to reach your left ear with your right hand," he said at the conference.

Putin also said the U.S. ignores the basic principles of international law and is striving to impose its own rules on other countries.

"We are seeing increasing disregard for the fundamental principles of international law," the Russian president said.

Washington has recently moved its largest sea-based missile defense radar in the Pacific from Hawaii to the Aleutian Islands, not far from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. It has also announced plans to install a radar system in the Czech Republic and a missile interception system in Poland, which it says it needs to protect itself against a potential threat from Iran.

Source: RIA Novosti

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MILPLEX

Waking The Military Dinosaur

Washington (UPI) Feb 13, 2007
Perhaps the most serious deficiency in the American armed forces is the fact that both ground forces, the U.S. Army and the United States Marine Corps, remain Second Generation military organizations (so do the U.S. Navy and Air Force, but in the kinds of wars we are likely to fight, they don't much matter).

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