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| Europe |
| Russia threatens to strike NATO missile defense sites |
| 2012-05-03 |
| Russia’s most senior military officer said Thursday that Moscow would preemptively strike and destroy U.S.-led NATO missile defense sites in Eastern Europe if talks with Washington about the developing system continue to stall. “A decision to use destructive force preemptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” Russian Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov said at an international missile defense conference in Moscow attended by senior U.S. and NATO officials. The threat comes as talks about the missile defense system, which the U.S. and its allies insist is aimed at Iranian missiles, appear to have stalled. “We have not been able to find mutually-acceptable solutions at this point and the situation is practically at a dead end,” Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said. Ellen Tauscher, the U.S. special envoy for strategic stability and missile defense, insisted the talks about NATO plans for a missile defense system using ground-based interceptor missiles stationed in Poland, Romania and Turkey were not stalemated. But she acknowledged Wednesday that the recent elections in Russia and the upcoming elections in the U.S. make it “pretty clear that this is a year in which we’re probably not going to achieve any sort of a breakthrough.” She reiterated that the U.S.-built system, still in development, is being designed to shoot down Iranian intermediate-range missiles aimed at Europe, not Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Russian officials insist that the system has the capability to shoot down their ICBMs, thus robbing their nuclear deterrent of its credibility and destabilizing the Cold War-era balance of mutually assured destruction. Neither the State Department nor the Pentagon had any immediate comment on the Russian threat Thursday. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #7 what happened to giving Obama room? reality. Unknown (to him) disclosures that he'd sell the US down the river to complete his two terms. Fuck him and his anti-American agenda |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-05-03 23:12 |
| #6 I still think Russia is more worried about missile sales than anything else. Beyond that, what happened to giving Obama room? Perhaps that died when the sound bite got out, or this is fake barking to give Obama the chance to be a foreign policy hero. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2012-05-03 22:45 |
| #5 Act Of War. Someone may want to remind them of just how vulnerable they are to US submarines in terms of making Russian ships disappear, and how we have all kinds of fun restive minorities we can fund inside their border. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2012-05-03 22:18 |
| #4 How's that Reset Button and "post re-election flexibility" working out for ya, Champ. Russians can smell a needy p*ssy. They know you inherently want to delete the Missile Defense Shield and are willing to sell us out. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-05-03 21:29 |
| #3 Weakness in the face of islamofascism is bound to provoke forces besides those of islamofascism. When the last remaining superpower is challenged on her own territory, goes to war and loses the war the consequences will necessarily be global. Non nuclear It is far from clear the the US security umbrella covers even US territory. How can American security guarantees for other nations be taken seriously? The 'World without America' (which I did not wish for) is a reality that allies of the US have to accept and must adapt to. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Omoluck4463 2012-05-03 20:18 |
| #2 Russia's most senior military officer said Thursday that Moscow would preemptively strike and destroy U.S.-led NATO missile defense sites in Eastern Europe if talks with Washington about the developing system continue to stall. Only in a feckless Obama administration would the Russians make such threats. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-05-03 19:14 |
| #1 Shared Security And Mutual Common Ground & Confirmation Of Mutual Co-Operateration Persists Sooner Than : Anticipated : Peaceful Negotiations Will Endure , WATCH ! |
| Posted by: Don Vito Lover of the Trolls3439 2012-05-03 17:57 |