The United States has blamed Russia for aggression after Putin's comments on the US Missile Shield programme. Mainstream Media have obediently followed the U.S. government line without investigating the background to Russia’s complaint. I am thus publishing a Missile Shield source review from February – early June 2007 in the hopes that a more balanced reportage will follow. One can see that the U.S. has been vigorously campaigning on behalf of NATO. It was thus astonishing to read, for example, a Guardian story saying that Mr Putin launched an "extraordinary broadside at the west over missile defence response." Not so "extraordinary" if one is aware of the background.
Jazeera reports (8 June), "George Bush ... has thanked Poland for being ready to host the U.S. missile shield and sent a clear signal he would not scrap the plan in the face of an alternative offer from Russia." Bush adds:" "We will negotiate a fair agreement that enhances the security of Poland and the security of the entire continent against rogue regimes."
What financial benefits will countries reap from this 'fair agreement'? No one has explored that subject yet. The time has come for a tangible gesture of reciprocity," said Radowlaw Sikorsky , the former Polish minister of national defense.
The purpose of the Missile Shield program is ‘to protect the free world from missile attacks by rogue states.' The United States unfortunately no longer represents 'the free world' and is the "rogue state."
MISSILE SHIELD: FEBRUARY 2007
NATO
Must Calm Putin Missile Shield Fears, Jung Says
15.02.07. Patrick Donahue. “NATO must do more to allay concerns
expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. plans to build a
missile-defense shield in Eastern Europe, German Defense Minister Franz
Josef Jung said.
Putin on Feb. 10 told policy makers in Munich including U.S. Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates and North Atlantic Treaty Organization head Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer that Russia ``must react'' to the missile shield now being
discussed by the U.S., Czech and Polish governments. The shield would
``completely neutralize'' the deterrence threat posed by Russia's own
nuclear missiles, meaning ``there will be no more balance of power.''
"It's right for us as members of NATO that we remove those fears,''
Jung told an audience in Berlin late yesterday, adding though that Germany
supports the missile shield. Talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov had convinced him that Russia's concerns were genuine and that the
NATO-Russia Council could do more to improve dialogue, Jung said.
MISSILE SHIELD, MARCH 2007
EU wants US
anti-missile defence integrated in NATO
03.03.07. Neurope. German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung on March 2
said US plans for a European-based anti-missile defence system should
become part of a wider NATO framework, a move which could ease current
Russia’s security concerns over the initiative.
U.S.
open to NATO solution for missile shield
16.03.07. China post. The United States is open to suggestions by some
Europeans that a missile shield it plans to deploy in Poland and the Czech
Republic be made available to NATO, the top U.S. missile defense official
said on Thursday. "What this could do from a NATO context is it could
provide the long-range ... protection (sic) of a more extensive NATO
missile defense capability, and we would welcome that," U.S.
Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency,
told reporters in Berlin. His comments appeared aimed at reassuring
countries such as Germany that have expressed concern the plan could
splinter NATO and urged more consultations with Moscow, which sees the
shield as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence.
Germany
suggests NATO use U.S. missile shield
02.03.07. Reuters / IHT.
Merkel:
NATO should defuse missile tension
06.03.07. Gopusa. Merkel made the remarks to the Financial Times Monday
after the head of Russia's strategic bomber force said Russian bombers
could easily knock out the installations, which the Bush administration is
so far planning to build in Poland and Czech Republic.
Russia
to Take Military Steps on U.S. Missile Shield (Update1)
15.03.07. J. Brooke, Bloomberg. Russia will take ``military measures'' to
counter the U.S. plan to install a missile- defense system in Central
Europe and the Caucasus, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said.
US
says missile shield complementary to NATO
16.03.07. English People. Seeking to allay European fears over the planned
missile shield, Director Henry A. Obering of the US Missile Defense Agency
is briefing the German government and parliament in Berlin. The system is
needed to counter the threat from Iran's nuclear program, he told
reporters, reaffirming that it is not aimed at Moscow.’
Merkel,
in Poland, Stresses NATO Missile-Shield Role (Update1)
16.03.07. K. Andrusz, Bloomberg. German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
beginning a two-day visit to Poland today, will stress that talks on
erecting a U.S. missile-defense shield in Europe should be conducted
through NATO (ie. US), a government spokesman said.
EU
split on US missile shield sites in Europe
30.03.07. Peninsula Qatar.com.
A
New Era Of Nuclear Fear May Loom In Shadown Of Missile Shield
30.03.07. spacewar.com. Media reports from the last few weeks increasingly
resemble Hollywood horror movies. The United States is reportedly
developing a new-generation hydrogen warhead for its Trident II, (D-5)
strategic submarines. (Have there BEEN any UK mainstream media reports
on this subject?)
Czech
Republic plans to consult NATO, Russia on U.S. missile shield: PM
31.03.07. English people
MISSILE SHIELD, APRIL 2007
Note that the U.S. is busy whipping NATO members into support its
missile shield progrmme.
U.S.
steps up missile system push in Eastern Europe
04.04.07. P. Spiegel, LA Times. The effort may escalate the issue into an
international dispute, depending on Moscow's reaction.
Russia
threatening new cold war over missile defence
11.04.07. L. Harding, Guardian. Kremlin accuses US of deception on east
European interceptor bases. ‘Russia is preparing its own military
response to the US's controversial plans to build a new missile defence
system in eastern Europe, according to Kremlin officials, in a move likely
to increase fears of a cold war-style arms race.’
Ukraine
President Yushchenko rejects US anti-missile system
12.04.07. Raw Story.
Standing
up to the west
12.04.07. Guardian Leader. It should come as no surprise that Russia is
preparing its own military response to US plans to build a missile defence
system in eastern Europe.
U.S. seeks
control of Europe through missile shield – Gorbachev
12.04.07. rian.ru. Deployment of U.S. missile-defense bases in Poland and
the Czech Republic is an attempt by the U.S. to control Europe, the former
Soviet president said Thursday.
Czech
minister says U.S. defense system to be linked with NATO
12.04.07. English people. Speaking about the planned stationing of a U.S.
radar base in the Czech Republic, Parkanova said "NATO (ie the US) is
now concentrating on the development and construction of a defense system
against short and medium-range missiles, which is considered correct by
the USA as this 'shared responsibility' should be preserved and the
systems should be accomplished and reinforced mutually."
Iran
atom plan shows need for missile shield: Germany
13.04.07. Reuters / English sabah.
U.S. Missile
Defense: Cooperation With NATO and Russia
16.04.07. State Department Reply.
The U.S. plans to design U.S. MD assets in Europe so that they could be
complementary to any future NATO ballistic missile defense system.
* The proposed U.S. system in Europe is designed to counter long-range
threats and would be able to protect all NATO countries facing a
long-range missile threat from the Middle East.
* Some southern European countries do not face long-range threats from
Iran given their proximity to the Middle East. For these countries to be
protected, they require short- and medium-range missile defense systems.
* NATO has focused its missile defense development efforts on countering
shorter range threats. The United States and NATO efforts are
complementary and could work together to form a more effective defense for
Europe.
* The U.S. will retain command and control of our missile defense system
assets in Europe and will be able to link to NATO systems to ensure
interoperability with their shorter range systems.
US
anti-missile shield could damage European unity
17.04.07. Daily Times. STRASBOURG: A senior member of the Council of
Europe on Monday joined the chorus of critics of a decision by two Central
European countries to discuss hosting part of a planned US anti-missile
shield, warning of risks to European unity.
U.S.
seeks to sway NATO and Russia on antimissile plans
18.04.07. IHT.
US Pushes
Missile Defense Plan
19.04.07. AP / Truthout. ‘Speaking ahead of talks with Russia and NATO
allies, the director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said the strategic
defense shield was needed to deter Iran and others in the Middle East from
developing long range rockets that could threaten Europe or North
America.’
US urged
to open missile shield plan
20.04.07. The International News / anti-war.com. Nato allies urged the
United States on Thursday to ensure its planned anti-missile shield could
one day be broadened to cover the whole of Europe but did not commit
themselves to joining the project. … Nato has since the mid-1990s been
studying creating its own shield against short-range missiles for 2010,
and officials said one option was that such a system could ultimately be
used to protect areas of southeast Europe—Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and
Romania—that the US system will not cover.
NATO,
Russia differ in assessments of missile threat- Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
itar-tass.com. Russia is ready to cooperate with the U.S. and NATO in the
political, economic and diplomatic areas to prevent the emergence of those
hundreds of missiles in the Middle East, Totsky said.
Planned
US missile shield gets NATO backing
20.04.07. SE Times. While backing a plan to extend the US missile defence
system into Europe, NATO member states agreed on Thursday (April 19th)
that the territory of all 26 nations in the bloc must be protected from
potential missile threats.
"The unanimous view was that the principle of the indivisibility of
security should apply," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
told reporters following high-level consultations at the Alliance's
headquarters in Brussels. "There is a shared desire that any US
system should be complementary to any NATO missile defence system." (The
NATO system IS the U.S system)
NATO
ministers to focus on missile defenses, Afghanistan
25.04.07. AP/IHT. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to
lead a new effort to persuade (sic) Russia to soften its
opposition to Washington’s missile defense plans when Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov joins the NATO talks.
Missile-Defense
Plan No Threat to Russia, Rice Says
26.04.07. M. Landler, NYTimes/anti-war.com.
'Grave
concern' as Putin freezes defence pact
27.04.07. Australian News / anti-war.com. ‘In heated NATO talks in Oslo,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Russia was to halt its
application of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty and could
even pull out if the allies did not endorse it.
NATO
United on missile defence approach
27.04.07. NATO press release.
NATO
calls for calm in row with Russia on missile shield
28.04.07. Wilmington Star.
MISSILE SHIELD, MAY 2007
GENERAL
Do the United
States and Europe Need a Missile Defense System?
03.05.07. Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian
Affairs, Dept. of State. Testimony Before the House Foreign Affairs
Committee Subcommittee on Europe and the Subcommittee on Terrorism,
Nonproliferation and Trade. ‘The short answer to the question of whether
we and our Allies need a missile defense system is an emphatic yes. This
answer is based on an assessment of the strategic context we face today,
which is radically different than that prevailing during the Cold War.
What we face is the possibility that some of the world's most threatening
and unstable regimes will develop and deploy lethal nuclear arsenals, and
the ballistic missiles to deliver them to Europe and the United States.
‘(Yadda Yadda)
Missile
Defense Seen as Dangerous
04.05.07. Ivan Eland, Consortium. President Bush’s plan to deploy
missile defenses in Central Europe will reduce U.S. security, not enhance
it. Installing radar for tracking incoming missiles in the Czech Republic
and anti-missile interceptors in Poland could do more harm than good.
Daniel Fried
- Missile Defense Plans for Europe
09.05.07. Scoop. ‘I testified with my friend and colleague John Rood
yesterday on missile defense, and we are in the United States and in
conversations with Europe just still in a beginning stage of working
through this issue with our allies, with the Russians and with the
Congress. … our central message is getting through and that is this:
missile defense should not be seen in the categories of 25 years ago as a
replay of the debate over President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.
/// Iran … And as Secretary Gates said in Moscow and in Warsaw, we must
think 20 to 25 years ahead about other threats that could arise. …
Funding … Qs and As.
House
Panel Considers Cuts for Missile Defense
10.05.07. T. Shanker, NT Times.
Afghanistan,
Kosovo, missile defense on agenda as Bush meets with NATO chief
19.05.07. IHT.
Bush,
NATO chief discuss Afghanistan, enlargement
22.05.07. English People. U.S. President George W. Bush discussed
Afghanistan, NATO's enlargement and efforts to deploy missile defense
shield in Eastern Europe with visiting NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer Crawford, Texas on Monday.
U.S.
scraps missile-defense test as target misfires
25.05.07. Reuters.
"The target did not reach sufficient altitude to be deemed a threat,
and so the ballistic missile defense system did not engage it, as
designed," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the
Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency. Read more at
Wired: “The failed test underscored the need of the U.S. to install
10 interceptors in Poland and a tracking radar station in the Czech
Republic as a defense against potential missile attack from Iran, Lehner
said. It showed that any missiles that Iran launched could similarly go
astray and land in Europe even if Europe was not Iran's target, he added.
US
Missile Defense in Europe to Complement NATO Systems
29.05.07. epicos. NATO Parliamentary Assembly statement. “We needed to
move quickly.”
NATO,
US: Ballistic Missile Defense and a Display of Unity
Stratfor. NATO is considering building a new ballistic missile defense
site in southeastern Europe to protect its exposed flank. The announcement
is a huge ... Subscription
Czech Republic
Czech Leader Backs U.S.
Missile Defense
25.05.07. NBC/anti-war.com. But Russia
rejects Czech cooperation
And
Czech demonstrators protest missile shield plans
26.05.07. Reuters
Israel
US to invest $205m in missile defense with ISRAEL
19.05.07. Jerusalem Post.
Japan
U.S. Missile Data Leaked in Japan
22.05.07. Military.com / anti-war.com. Classified information about a U.S.-developed missile defense system was leaked from Japan's navy to students at a naval academy, a news report said Tuesday, as officials investigated security gaps in military information shared between the allies.
Poland
Poland, US begin talks on missile shield
15.05.07. The int. news.
Poles ‘may’ allow Russia to visit missile site
25.05.07. Reuters/anti-war.com
Russia
Russia to respond to threats from US system: military
08.05.07. nation multimedia. "If we see that these installations, which could be set up in Europe, represent a threat, then we will definitely plan actions against them," Yury Baluyevsky told reporters in Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.
U.S. says Russia can't alter missile shield plan
09.05.07. Reuters. Washington has enraged Russia and unsettled some European allies with a plan to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic which it says would help shield Europe from possible missile attack by nations such as Iran.
Putin likens U.S. foreign policy to that of Third Reich
09.05.07. IHT / ICH. ‘The comments marked the latest in a series of sharply worded Russian criticisms of the foreign policy of the Untied States - on Iraq, missile defense, NATO expansion and, broadly, the accusation that the United States has striven to single-handedly dominate world affairs.’
Russians reject US missile shield
10.05.07. Angus Reid Global monitor. Poll.
U.S., German ministers to meet Putin amid strains
14.05.07. Reuters/anti-war.com
Rice: Russia rift not a new Cold War
15.05.07. USA Today
Bush Tries to Reassure Putin on Missile Shield Plan
22.05.07. Washington Times / anti-war.com.
Missile shield tension brings Putin to US
31.05.07. A. Blomfield, Telegraph.
MISSILE SHIELD, JUNE 2007
US 'imperialism' means new arms race – Putin
01.06.07. Yahoo, Stuff.co.nz/ICH. Putin said Russia's tests on Tuesday of two new missiles were a direct response to US moves to create a missile defence system in Europe. … "There is a clear desire by some international players to dictate their will to everyone without adhering to international law," Putin said. "International law has been replaced by political reasons."
"In our opinion it is nothing different from diktat, nothing different from imperialism," he added. See also AP story here.
Putin’s Censored Press Conference
10.06.07. Mike Whitney, ICH. The transcript you weren’t supposed to see
(NB: This article arrived in postbox just following publication of Index Research Missile Shield blog:)
First Strike against Russia: The Real Danger behind US ABM Deployment in Eastern Europe
11.06.07. Chimes of Freedom, Global Research. ‘Recent disinformation by the western media about Russia starting a new Cold War not only masks the threat of a US Anti-Ballistic Missile shield deployment but, as always, projects the blame on the victim, Russia.’
Current Concerns (Issue No 9, June 2007) is devoted to ‘Missile Shield’. Following are articles which can be read soon on line:
Dr. Heinz Loquai (retired Brig. Gen., Mechenheim: German Media, Russia and the “Anti Missile Shield – PR and Politics
Johan Galtung, text of speech in Oslo 25.04.07: “Nato – you re not welcome!”
Karl Muller: Russia, Europe, Germany and the USA
Dr. Erhard Eppler: There is the Smell of Rotten Oranges … a Result of Ideological Self-conceit. ‘There are no convincing arguments in favour of a US missile defense shield.’
Sergei Lawrow, Europe at the Crossroads.
Silvia Cattori (interview excerpt) Returning to the Worst Days of the Cold War
NB: Most of these articles have all appeared on the monthly 'Index on Afghanistan' reports.
Other Index articles on NATO:
NATO: The Bathtub of Unreadiness (Updated 12/01/07)
Afghanistan : NATO is now US-ATO
NATO: FOR THE LOVE OF EMPIRE, the preface to Index on Afghanistan: May 2007: Part II - NATO; Human Rights. (05.06.07).
The url to US-NATO 'Missile Shield' Programme: Index Timeline is: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2007/06/us-nato-missile-shield-programme-index.html
The smaller url is: http://tinyurl.com/26qqnv
Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK
