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| Europe | |
| US denies giving up missile shield plan | |
| 2009-08-28 | |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Washington has denied reports that it was abandoning a plan to deploy defense missile shield bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. "I would call that report inaccurate," US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters. "Our review of our missile defense strategy is ongoing and has not reached completion yet." Leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, citing officials and lobbyists in Washington, said the United States was scrapping plans to build the bases in Poland and the Czech Republic and was looking at alternatives including Israel and Turkey. Former US president George W. Bush's administration devised the missile defense plan, saying that it was a precautionary measure against attacks from 'rogue states' like Iran and North Korea. Russia responded furiously to what it saw as an encroachment in the former Soviet bloc and threatened to deploy it own missile system in Kaliningrad and exclave near Poland.
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| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 In other news: Russia Approves US Military Overflights to Afghanistan By VOA News 06 July 2009 President Barack Obama meets with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (right) at the Kremlin in Moscow, 06 July 2009 Russia has authorized the United States to use its airspace for flights carrying troops and military supplies to Afghanistan. The deal, signed Monday at a U.S.-Russian summit in Moscow, permits up to 4,500 military flights a year - about 12 a day - carrying troops, arms, munitions, military vehicles and spare parts. Senior U.S. officials say the flights will not be charged Russian transit fees and will not stop in Russian territory. Moscow had previously limited U.S. shipments across its territory to non-military supplies carried by train. The White House said the air transit agreement will save more than $130 million a year in fuel and other transit costs. The two presidents also agreed to boost joint anti-terrorism and anti-crime measures, including cooperation in sharing financial intelligence in the fight against heroin trafficking. Link |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-08-28 07:01 |