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| Europe | |
| US and Poland agree missile defense shield deal | |
| 2008-08-14 | |
| The US and Poland have agreed a preliminary deal on plans for the controversial US defence shield, Warsaw has announced. The plan would see the US base 10 missile interceptors in Poland in exchange for help strengthening Polish defences, said PM Donald Tusk. The scheme is highly controversial and has been opposed by Russia.
The US signed a deal with the Czech Republic in July to base tracking radars there as part of the missile defence system. The US wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012. Russia has expressed concern about the system in the past, with one official saying the deal "complicates" global security. | |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #10 Russia really made the decision for the Poles. Russia now expresses surprise and anger? Hello?? What the hell did they expect? Day by day, the cost to Russia for their excellent adventure in Georgia mounts. The Russians now control major parts of Georgia. But the price is high, and getting higher by the day. I think the Russians screwed up. Oh yeah, bigtime. |
| Posted by: Slats Glans2659 2008-08-14 19:47 |
| #9 I lack the detailed knowledge of this story since it began, but seems unlikely the timing here is a coincidence. Amusingly, I heard on the radio just minutes ago (they just rip/read wire reports) the Polish version that the US had agreed to concessions to cement the deal. Perhaps, but .... uh .... not hard to see why Warsaw might, uh, have a small fire under it's butt at the moment. It's also being reported that the deal included some sort of corrollary general commitment to Poland's security. Heh. Of course we'll never do it, but the perfect complement to these mysterious sudden breaththroughs in former Bloc cooperation deals would be a high-profile call for revisiting the self-determination questions as they apply to the myriad potential mini-states in the Russian Federation. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2008-08-14 19:33 |
| #8 DoDo, check out the Ukrainian radar thread. 2 missile warning radars become available next year. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-08-14 18:02 |
| #7 The Ukranians may want to talk also. The Crimea would be an interesting place to put some early detection sites. To watch Iran, of course. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2008-08-14 17:14 |
| #6 bigjim-ky, Czechs already signed, I would tend to think that they are extra-sensitive (and trusting Russians? Hahahahahaha!), so they did already as if in premonitory mode. Slovaks, not sure, but it is likely they too would get an itch that needs to be scratched. |
| Posted by: Spike Uniter 2008-08-14 16:17 |
| #5 Russia has expressed concern about the system in the past, with one official saying the deal "complicates" global security. Yes, and my wifes insistence that I be able to account for my unsupervised time "complicates" my personal security as well.... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2008-08-14 15:54 |
| #4 I wonder how Czech Repub and Slovakia will react. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-14 14:43 |
| #3 Blowback: Part One... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-08-14 14:22 |
| #2 I wonder who else will seek closer military ties with the US. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-08-14 14:17 |
| #1 Can you say, "Poland got nervous and wanted a tripwire force in place?" |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-08-14 14:12 |