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U.S. missile shield is provocation: Austrian minister
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian Defense Minister Norbert Darabos has called U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in eastern Europe a "provocation" reviving Cold War debates. "That the United States are installing a defense shield in eastern Europe is a provocation in my view," Darabos was quoted as saying in an interview with daily Die Presse on Thursday. "The U.S. has chosen the wrong path in my opinion. There is no point in building up a missile defense shield in Europe. That only unnecessarily rekindles old Cold War debates."
| Thank you, Minister Pissant. Always helpful to hear what the Austro-Hungarian Empire has to say. |
The remarks drew a swift reaction from Washington. "We view the Cold War as being over. Such comments are not helpful and we now face a new strategic environment that requires us to move beyond Cold War thinking," State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said. "We've been open and transparent with all E.U. and NATO allies on this, and we'll continue to do so. We're discussing missile defense with the Russians," Gallegos said at a news briefing.
Darabos said he saw no danger from Iranian long range missiles and the United States should try for a different solution.
| "We could always buy them off. It's worked for us Austrians in the past," he added. |
A memo to our Y'urp-peon allies: we're doing this pretty much out of the goodness of our hearts. We're designing the system, and we'll pro'ly end up paying for about 90% of the development and installation. We think it's useful to let the Iranians know that they won't be able to rattle a nuclear sabre at your continent for a long, long time. We think there are certain advantages to that for you and us together, like, for example, survival. But if you disagree and don't want a missile defense system on your continent, we'll be happy to back down.
Understand however, that we won't leave our military in a Europe that is defenseless against a strike from a single (or a few) crude Iranian missiles. We can't justify that to our people, especially to our military people who run the risks so that we can be free. So if you won't want the missile defense system, we'll be happy to cancel the installation, and we'll be happy to pull out of NATO the very next day. We'll strike some side deals to keep access or facilities here and there where it meets our interests, but we'll no longer consider an attack on Berlin, Brussels -- or Vienna -- to be the same as an attack on New York. You'll then be free to handle European defense in whatever way you think best.
And if you manage to start yet another world war, we'll observe quietly from across the pond. |
Posted by: Steve White 2007-08-23 |
