Europe News
Missile shield offers Europe protection, says US general
Mar 15, 2007, 11:27 GMT
Berlin - A senior US general Thursday defended Washington's plans for a missile shield in Eastern Europe, saying it was needed to counter a possible threat from Iranian long-distance missiles.
'We have the obligation to protect the US and its allies from that threat,' said General Henry A Obering, director of the US Missile Defence Agency.
Washington plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and build a radar tracking station in the Czech Republic as part of its missile defence programme, Obering said ahead of talks with German government and parliamentary officials in Berlin.
The general said he hoped that discussions with the two countries would be concluded by summer so that construction of the facilities could begin in 2008.
The controversial scheme has triggered unease in Germany where Chancellor Angela Merkel said the issue should be submitted to NATO and not decided on a bilateral basis with Washington.
The chancellor is expected to raise the matter with Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski when she visits Warsaw on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the project as a threat to Moscow's security and said Russia would counter the defence shield with a similar system.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said this week that the alliance risked being split between countries that would be covered by the proposed shield and others left exposed to threats from Iran.
Opinion polls have shown a majority of Czechs are against the radar facility, which the US wants to build in a military zone, 50 kilometres south-west of Prague.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
I'd love to know where this self-proclaimed 'US patriot' gets his information from. The rise of a fourth reich has clearly escaped notice throughout all of Europe, and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate is a fantasy invented by the American right wing. What is phenomenal about people who hold these odious and ridiculous views is that none of them have ever studied the issues, or have any knowledge about the Middle East.
With regard to the missiles, what happens if the Iranian 'threat' disappears? Do the remain? If so, for what reason?
The United Staes NEVER does anything for nothing. This Missile defence shield is to protect the United States primarily as they are the main target of Iran. Instead of following the 'Cowboy' route why don't the Americans question their government's foriegn policy which is the cause of the threat?
The European countries are not under threat from anyone other than American imperialism but if they allow the siting of these American controlled missiles they will certainly become targets.
They are in place to defend the United States, its interests, and its allies. Simple as that. I don't know about you guys, but I sleep better knowing there is some kind of insurance over there.
Hey SSgt Wilder, you need to take a BIG look at what this administrations ' Intrests ' are.
the other guy is right. the US never does anything for anyone. eveyone it has helped/created in the past eventually becomes its allies(ie. taliban, various islamic 'terrorist' groups, bin laden, sadaam etc. the proposed military zones only gives the US a better vantage point in which to place missles pimarily for attacks and not defense. the US can not be trusted as it has a history of conspiracy and alternate motives. tell me...what would happen if the US decided to pull of a nuclear or chemical version of 9/11 over european countries to try to sway new 'victims' to support the fictitious 'war on terror.'
the missile can't hurt anyone . they can't kill people can they? no all they are there for is to stop other missiles from getting through. they are a shield, not a sword, they are there to protect other countries not destroy them. who or how is it going to hurt anyone by doing putting the missiles in?
The missile defense shield in Europe is unnecessary. Then again most of the rash actions that this US administration has taken were unnecessary, not to mention mind-numbingly stupid. At least they're consistent. Why can't they stick with the North American missile shield, something that is clearly in the best interests of the US and won't rile as many governments around the world.
On thing I do take exception to is the objections from Russia. Where did that come from? Since when do they even get to have an opinion on something like this. Putin got ridiculously aggressive in his rhetoric, almost as if he was planning some sort of missile attack scenario on the US and the shield would throw a wrench into the works. Hey Putin, how about you stop taking away your citizens' freedoms, then maybe someone will care about your incessant whining.
So many self proclaimed experts here who are obviously too brilliant to read the text of the article:
' Washington plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and build a radar tracking station in the Czech Republic as part of its missile defence programme,''
Does anyone here think that Russia doesn't have more then 10 ICBMs? This system obviously doesn't pose a threat to Russia, Russia knows this, they are just using the whole exercise to toss their weight around.
'the establishment of an Islamic caliphate is a fantasy invented by the American right wing.'
It is out of the al Queda/Wahabbist texts. Thanks for the 'right wing' conspiracy theory.
'What is phenomenal about people who hold these odious and ridiculous views is that none of them have ever studied the issues, or have any knowledge about the Middle East.'
Yes, phenomenal indeed.
'The European countries are not under threat from anyone other than American imperialism...'
Brian, you are an idiot and you demonstrate it every time you post.
You guys are dumb to take this at face value. The first comment by the first user is intended sarcastic.
1. Iran has no long range missiles.
2. Even if they did, they have not had any trouble with Europe, let alone East Europe.
3. The defence industry (the most profitable industry) always need an enemy. If there's none, they need to create one. First it was the USSR, then East Europe, Viets, Korea, China, Panama, Colombia, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq.... Nobody was ever a threat. But you need a threat to scare people into buying your propaganda and your machinery. Remember 'SALT, Tridents, WMDs, TERROR, the sky is falling, falling....'
4. So the next threat will be from the Asteroids, Mars and the planet Naboo. And the US will have an 'obligation to protect those it does business with' by whatever installation, sales, promotions etc. it decides is necessary.
The Us proposal of siting missiles in Europe particularly in Poland and Prague with anti missile system no doubt is the revival of Star war programmes of Reagan times. There is no doubt that Iran has acquired missile strike capability and recently tested some that could threaten some European nations .Iran is emerging as a major threat to West and rapidly and feverishly building its war machine. It has been openly challenging USA and west. As days pass , it is drawing itself into confrontation. Iran is precariously balanced between US/ Israeli strikes and its nuclear continued programme. It is akin to Pre world war II Germany feverishly building war machine. The confrontation with west is inevitable if not now , in very near future. With rise of Euro Islam danger of confrontation between Iran leading the fundamentalist Muslim world and Europe is fore seen . In this scenerio US proposal for a missile shield in Europe is justified. All European nations are not capable of defending themselves against missile strikes by rogue nations. As usual Russia which lost the postion of super power would oppose and it could build its own system. Slowly Russia is drifting towards cold war. But it has lost its earlier partners that formed USSR. In very near future the world in all probabilities would witness major confrontation between rogue Muslim countries and West. Al Qaeda is inspiring for such confrontation. In this scenerio missile defence becomes advatageous.
Dr K Prabhakar Rao
does the thing destroy in or nutrilize it?
page: 1
U.S. PatriotMar 15th, 2007 - 11:55:25
The missile shield is intended to protect eastern Europe from threats emerging from Germany, such as imperialism (aspiring to become a Fourth Reich) or the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in western Europe (i.e. countries with millions of potential Jihadists such as Germany and France).
Poland and Czechs have only a handful of Muslims living within their borders and thus present an ideological/religious Christian bulwark against Islamism.
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