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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian anger at US missile deal
2008-08-16
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that a preliminary deal allowing the US to site missiles in Poland is aimed against Russia.

Poland will host the missiles as part of a defence shield the US says it needs against "rogue states" like Iran. But Mr Medvedev said it demonstrated that Russia's concerns about new systems in eastern Europe were valid. "The deployment of new anti-missile forces has as its aim the Russian Federation," he said.

Mr Medvedev was speaking at a press conference after holding talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the on-going unrest in Georgia.

Under the deal signed on Thursday, the US will install 10 interceptor missiles at a base on the Baltic coast in return for help strengthening Polish air defences.
Oh, excellent! We put in missiles and then help the Poles strengthen the very thing needed to help protect the missiles. How sly.
A top general in Moscow said the move would worsen ties with the West already strained by the Georgian conflict.
Posted by:Fred

#11  A new cold war is the most unnecessary conflict

The time for Russia to have shown that was fifteen years ago by not proliferating nuclear technologies to Iran. I'm afraid by now it's too late for the New COld War to be unnecessary. It was, but Russia went ahead with it anyway.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman   2008-08-16 23:35  

#10  Im pretty cool.

Taiwan issue is actually not heating up now, and India-Pak isnt our issue. WOT we're handling, along with many other countries.

As for a renewed cold war, I dont want anyone, and AFAICT no one in the US does. We DO have to make it clear to the new members of NATO that we will keep our treaty obligations to them. Since Im sure Russia has no designs to attack ANY of them, I cant see how thats a problem for Russia.

And of course if Russia continues to act with beligerence and arrogance, it wont be a question of what the US alone does, as the Europeans will join us.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2008-08-16 23:07  

#9  Pakistan/India isn't really a US conflict. Pakistan/Afghanistan is (well, it's really a NATO conflict, but there seems to be a dearth of... enthusiasm... from quite a few members).

Taiwan isn't.
Posted by: Pappy   2008-08-16 23:05  

#8  liberalhawk

You might want to cool down as well a little.
How many conflicts can the U.S. handle?

War on Terror
A new Cold War
Pakistan/India conflict looming
Taiwan issue

A new cold war is the most unnecessary conflict
Posted by: Sherese Jones6358   2008-08-16 23:01  

#7  And for all these years, I thought Hollywood was America's Trojan horse. Paranoid delusions are no excuse to bow to Moscow's demands.
Posted by: ed   2008-08-16 22:55  

#6  NATO promised not to send forces into the visograd states when they made the deal for them to join, way back in the mid 90s. At that time Russia was governed by Yeltsin, who was halfway conciliatory to the West. Also at that time Iran seemed less of a threat. And this technology did not seem promising.

All three of those things has changed. Iran is heading towards nukes and has long range missiles - and Russia has been at most grudging in trying to stop that. There are techs that CAN stop it.

And russia has been engaged in behavior since 2001 that brings the original deal into question.

Even so weve tried to get Russia involved in this tech, and make it as unthreatening as possible.

Yet Russia, days after invading a sovereign state, and WHILE its forces rampage through said state, is threatening nuclear retaliation for this. If they WANTED NATO to extend further defenses into Poland they couldnt do a better job.

We have not threatened Russia so crudely in the entire era since 1991. It is time for Russia to cool down, while it still has some sympathy.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2008-08-16 22:54  

#5  My understanding is that the Russian believe that NATO just moved the "missile front" closer to Russia and into territories NATO promised not to venture.

And that "missile defense" serves as a Trojan Horse.
Russians tend to be paranoid about this.
Posted by: Sherese Jones6358   2008-08-16 22:41  

#4  must be missiles aimed at Germany and France then. as if natural gas threats werent enough to keep them in line.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2008-08-16 22:39  

#3  And two armored brigades and one in the Baltics to protect the AA batteries.
Posted by: ed   2008-08-16 22:29  

#2  Missiles from Russia towards the USA would go over the Pole, not over Poland. The Russians know this.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2008-08-16 22:21  

#1  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that a preliminary deal allowing the US to site missiles in Poland is aimed against Russia.

Now why would we do that? Just cause you threatened nuclear launch?
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2008-08-16 11:06  

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