Re: NATO Meeting to Expand Missile Offense Systems

On Nov 19, 8:27�am, Global Network <global...@mindspring.com> wrote:

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101118_8695.php<http://gsn.nti.org/>
NATO Won't Cite Iran in Missile Defense Plan Thursday, Nov. 18,
2010 NATO this week does not intend to explicitly make the connection
between its proposed missile shield and fears of an Iranian missile
strike, alliance head Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the Financial Times
(see GSN<http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101116_4727.php>, Nov. 16).

The move is intended to win the support of Turkey, which could host
part of the system and which has voiced strong reservations against
singling out its neighbor.

"We do not want to single out particular countries," Rasmussen said.
"More than 30 countries already have -- or are aspiring to acquire
-- missile technologies with a range that can hit NATO territory.
So there is no need to single out or name specific countries, because
this is an evolving threat."

Leaders from the 28 NATO nations are meeting tomorrow and Saturday
in Lisbon, Portugal, to consider a new mission statement that would
address strategies for dealing with modern-day security challenges.
The heads of state are anticipated to determine whether to officially
include missile defense among NATO objectives, paving the way for
an initiative to integrate and augment the protective systems of
member states.

An Obama administration plan to gradually field land- and sea-based
missile interceptors around Europe would be incorporated into NATO
missile defense plans. A draft of the organization's new mission
statement reportedly calls for shield infrastructure to be deployed
in Romania, Poland and Turkey.

Even if Tehran is not specifically identified as a missile threat,
Ankara might still oppose allowing a radar base to be located on
its soil while giving its backing to missile defense as a core NATO
objective, alliance diplomats said. That could require further talks
down the line (James Blitz, Financial
Times<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1cf8d676-f279-11df-a2f3-00144feab49a.html#axz
z15dPzWS76>, Nov. 17).

Ankara wants the missile shield's command-and-control architecture
to be established on Turkish soil, Politico reported today.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week if
command-and-control was not located in Turkey then it would be
impossible for his government to agree to host the radar base.

Obama administration officials, however, do not want wish to see
foreign nations hosting the command infrastructure. They anticipate
instead it would be situated at U.S. military installations in
Germany.

Allowing Turkey or another European state to house command-and-control
is "not going to happen," an unidentified Obama official said. "Only
the U.S. is going to have control over this."

President Obama is to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
at Lisbon to discuss prospects for NATO-Kremlin collaboration on
missile defense.

Specific agreements for moving forward on joint missile defense are
not anticipated to come out of the summit, according to analysts.
Rather, it is more likely the two sides would lay the groundwork
for additional defense talks (Gordon Lubold,
Politico<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45305.html>,
Nov. 18).

Rasmussen said if Moscow and NATO are able in coming months to come
to an understanding on Russian involvement in the shield, it would
be a "big breakthrough" in their security ties, the Times reported.

"If we succeed in establishing cooperation on missile defense, we
can create a common security roof covering all European territory
and this would create a common Euro-Atlantic security architecture,"
the NATO secretary general said.

NATO sources said some organization members from Eastern Europe are
concerned about the alliance's outreach to Moscow. They want the
summit's joint statement to declare that Russia continues to be a
danger.

"I understand the concerns raised by some allies in eastern and
central Europe," Rasmussen said. "But an improved relationship
between NATO and Russia would be to the benefit of all allies"
(Blitz, Financial Times).

Russia's ambassador to NATO said the Kremlin in discussions last
week was unable to persuade the United States to restrict its
European missile defense plans, Reuters reported.

"We tried to convince the Americans that ... it is necessary to set
limits on a missile defense system -- on deployment zones, on the
number of interceptor missiles, and on the speed of the interceptors,"
Dmitry Rogozin told the Izvestia newspaper.

Moscow was a vehement opponent of Bush administration plans to
deploy long-range missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base
in the Czech Republic, calling the effort a threat to its strategic
security. It has remained wary of the Obama administration shield
program, which focuses on countering short- and medium-range missile
threats, notably from Iran.

Rogozin played down the missile danger, saying the U.S. plan is
akin to "swatting a fly on a comrade's head with a sledgehammer."

Russia has insisted on its right to withdraw from a nuclear arms
control deal with the United States should U.S. missile defense
efforts become particularly threatening. The New START pact has not
been ratified by either nation (see
GSN<http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101117_7409.php>, Nov, 17; Steve
Gutterman, Reuters<http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AH2W220101118>,
Nov. 18).

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