April 20, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates faces delicate talks with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov, when he travels to Moscow on April 23. Gates will attempt to allay Russia's opposition to U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile-defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Somehow I doubt Russia's motivations leave room for being allayed. But we gotta try just to say we did when the moonbats start to howl.
Washington insists that the shield aims at countering missile attacks from "rogue" states. But Moscow says the system threatens Russia and has warned of possible retaliation. The Pentagon chief may also be asked to clarify his recent remarks identifying Russia as a potential threat, together with China, Iran, and North Korea.
| Sounded pretty clear to me when he said it. Russia is a potential threat. Anything else they want to know? |
| In their eyes, you mean. It's a defensive system for us since we'd prefer not to get hit with an NKor or Iranian missile. That the Russkers see it as a threat to them says something about their own strategic rocket force -- perhaps they aren't as good as we thought they were. |
| "Oh yassss, we should give away the store in other areas so that we can get along with the Russians." |
Aleksandr Goltz, a Russian military expert, says Moscow may even see an interest in deepening the dispute. "The problem is that the issue long ago entered the political sphere. Russia wants to be offended at something," Goltz said. "The United States' unreasonable policy
U.S. attempts to soothe Russian misgivings over its missile-defense system ended in failure on April 19 at a NATO-Russia meeting in Brussels. Speaking to reporters after the talks, Russia's ambassador to NATO, General Kontantin Totsky, reiterated Moscow's objections. "We cannot easily accept that now, in Europe, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, there is a deployment of a first strategic element," Totsky said. "And we are against the fact that such decisions are taken unilaterally."
| We didn't feel the need to consult you since you don't really bring anything to the table. Let us know if that changes. |
He ruled out the prospect of Russia agreeing to Washington's offer this week to work jointly in countering the threat of long-range missile attacks.
The United States, however, appears to have been successful in allaying European concerns over the U.S. missile plans.
| The Russian bluster prob'ly helped with that. |