We're sliding into world war
U.S. missile shield could protect Russia: general
Reuters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070328/pl_nm/shield_russia_usa_dc;_ylt=Au5fd3uYkBHMaUtXUC8mypdZ.3QA
A top U.S. general sought to ease Russian concerns about U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in central Europe, saying it could help protect western Russia, a German newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The United States wants to deploy a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland by 2011-12. It says the system would counter threats from so-called "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.
Russia, which sees the missile shield as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence, has accused Washington of using Cold War tactics to persuade Europe to host the system.
"The countries covered will be France, Germany, Italy -- all countries that need to be protected. Even western Russia as well," U.S. Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, was quoted as telling weekly Die Zeit.
The United States has repeatedly said the project was purely defensive and was not aimed at Russia.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear in an article he wrote for Wednesday's edition of Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper that Moscow believes the missile shield may one day be used for offensive weapons.
"The missile shafts needed for the interceptor missiles copy in a dangerous way the facilities for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles. What will find its way into these shafts in five to 10 years," he said in the article.
Lavrov also called for "serious discussions" with the United States about the project and dismissed nearly one dozen briefings Washington had given Moscow as insufficient.
Obering told Die Zeit that Russia had nothing to fear. He said Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles would not be threatened by the missile shield.
"They (the interceptors) can't catch them," he said.
Lavrov wrote that the U.S. plan would destabilize global politics and undermine attempts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons with diplomacy.
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Reuters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070328/pl_nm/shield_russia_usa_dc;_ylt=Au5fd3uYkBHMaUtXUC8mypdZ.3QA
A top U.S. general sought to ease Russian concerns about U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in central Europe, saying it could help protect western Russia, a German newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The United States wants to deploy a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland by 2011-12. It says the system would counter threats from so-called "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.
Russia, which sees the missile shield as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence, has accused Washington of using Cold War tactics to persuade Europe to host the system.
"The countries covered will be France, Germany, Italy -- all countries that need to be protected. Even western Russia as well," U.S. Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, was quoted as telling weekly Die Zeit.
The United States has repeatedly said the project was purely defensive and was not aimed at Russia.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear in an article he wrote for Wednesday's edition of Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper that Moscow believes the missile shield may one day be used for offensive weapons.
"The missile shafts needed for the interceptor missiles copy in a dangerous way the facilities for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles. What will find its way into these shafts in five to 10 years," he said in the article.
Lavrov also called for "serious discussions" with the United States about the project and dismissed nearly one dozen briefings Washington had given Moscow as insufficient.
Obering told Die Zeit that Russia had nothing to fear. He said Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles would not be threatened by the missile shield.
"They (the interceptors) can't catch them," he said.
Lavrov wrote that the U.S. plan would destabilize global politics and undermine attempts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons with diplomacy.
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posted by St. Jim the Composter at 6:18 AM
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