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August 20, 2008
SouthAmerica: In the new arms race between the United States and Russia â right now the ball is in the Russians side of the court â for the Russians to prove that they are back and mean business then they need to match the United States move by placing a military base in Cuba armed with a similar system.
The Russians can use a similar rhetoric when they announce their agreement with Cuba: ââMissile defense, of course, is aimed at no one,â said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who signed the agreement in Warsaw with her Polish counterpart, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. âIt is in our defense that we do this.ââ
I bet the United States would not mind if the Russians made such a move.
The United States is already in terrible financial shape and it canât afford a new arms race against the Russians and also with China.
The Russians response to the latest Unite States agreement with Poland it will show if the Russians are really back or just making some meaningless noises.
It would be interesting also if the Russians decided to place a radar system in Venezuela as part of their new arms race with the US.
By the way, the Russians will need to move fast if they want a big bang for the buck - if they want to see pictures of Fidel Castro participating in any agreement event they have to move fast before the old man drop dead from old age.
The Fidel Castro symbolism would give a bigger impact to the new game.
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Rice Signs Missile Deal With Poland
By NICHOLAS KULISH and TOM RACHMAN
Published: August 20, 2008
The New York Times
WARSAW â Despite fierce opposition from Moscow, the United States and Poland signed a long-stalled agreement on Wednesday to place an American missile defense base on Polish territory.
The Kremlin has leveled sustained criticism against the American plan, characterizing it as a hostile act near the Russian border. But American officials insist that the system will defend against threats from countries like Iran and would not target Russia.
âMissile defense, of course, is aimed at no one,â said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who signed the agreement in Warsaw with her Polish counterpart, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. âIt is in our defense that we do this.â
The United States and Poland finally reached agreement on the deal last week, after Russia sent forces into Georgia, a move that has alarmed former Soviet satellite states like Poland. The talks between the United States and Poland had been deadlocked for months, but the Russian military intervention in Georgia appears to have given both sides a final push to get the deal done.
As part of the deal, an American Patriot missile battery is to move from Germany to Poland, and this would be operated at least temporarily by American military personnel. Under the agreement, Poland would host 10 missile interceptors, intended to shoot down a small number of ballistic missiles.
A separate tracking radar system is to be based in the Czech Republic. The system is expected to be in place by 2012.
Last week, Russian officials reacted angrily to the announced deal with Poland, saying that the move would worsen relations with the United States. A senior Russian defense official, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, suggested that Poland was making itself a target by agreeing to host the antimissile system. Such an action âcannot go unpunished,â he said.
American officials have tried to frame the discussion in terms of defending against Iran, saying that the limited system could not possibly deter a nuclear arsenal as large as Russiaâs.
For Poland, meanwhile, the goal has been to anchor an American military presence in the country at a time of growing concern in former Communist countries about a newly rich and powerful Russiaâs intentions in its former cold war sphere of power.
âFreedom can be denied for a while but it cannot be denied forever,â Ms. Rice said, after signing the agreement. âPoland has always been a strong defender of freedom, even in dark days when it was not able to fully express its desire for freedom.â
Ms. Rice also spoke of the âdeepeningâ friendship between the United States and Poland. âIn troubled times, the most important thing is to have friends,â she said. âBut it is even more important to have friends who share your hopes and aspirations and dreams. And Poland and the United States are those kinds of friends.â
The signing ceremony took place at the prime ministerâs chancellery in Warsawâs city center. Several dozen protesters stood opposite the chancellery, holding signs with slogans in Polish and English like âWeâve had Moscow. We donât want Washingtonâ and âWe donât want to be a human shield.â
âThe shield is in fact a sword, of the White House and the Polish government,â said Andrzej Zebrowski, a Polish peace activist.
But Polish officials have insisted that the deal was struck in Polandâs own interests. âPoland made this decision as a sovereign state,â President Lech Kaczynski said late Tuesday, according to Bloomberg News. âNobody has the right to tell Poland what to do; times have passed.â
Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, director of the Institute of Public Affairs, a leading independent think tank in Warsaw, said Moscow perceived Poland âas one of the major players against Russia.â
âThey feel that Poland is one of their territories and Poland is entering their field,â she said.
Zbigniew Lewicki, a professor of political science at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, argued that Poland had acted wisely in signing the deal. âItâs in Polandâs interest to stay on the American radar, to be seen from Washington, and if we are ever in trouble, to hope at least for American support,â Professor Lewicki said.
He said Poland was also sending a message to Russia. âWe had to do it, if only to retain our sovereignty. If we had rejected, the Russians would have interpreted it as a success,â Mr. Lewicki said.
The agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic, both members of NATO, must still be ratified by their Parliaments.
The fears about a resurgent Russia were codified to some degree in what Polish and American officials characterized as unusual aspects of the final deal, including an obligation on the United States to defend Poland in case of an attack with greater speed than required under NATO.
Russia has long opposed the deal, saying the United States was violating post-cold-war agreements not to base its troops in former Soviet bloc states and devising a Trojan horse system designed to counter Russiaâs nuclear arsenal, not an attack by Iran or another adversary.
Nicholas Kulish reported from Warsaw and Tom Rachman from Paris. Graham Bowley contributed reporting from New York.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/world/europe/21missile.html?em
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