Europe warms to US missile shield
Concerns about Iran have reduced opposition to US plans to extend its 'star wars' defense system.
from the February 26, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Currently two bases – one in Alaska, one in California, believed to host 13 and three missiles respectively – make up the US missile defense shield. Detractors say missile defense technology – in which radars and missile silos work in tandem to pinpoint and then intercept enemy missiles – still remains unproven.
But Mr. Bush has made missile defense a priority: He has earmarked $18.5 billion to be spent by 2009. Czech media reported that the US plans to set aside $118 million for a base in Central Europe this year.
"The US is eager to move quickly on this because they have spent a lot of money and they want something to show for it," says Mr. Williams.
The plan is to start constructing the base and radar station next year, with the shield coming online by 2012.
Russia fears 'arms race'
Russia, whose Kaliningrad enclave borders Poland, has been the plan's most vocal opponent so far. A Russian general recently threatened Czechs and Poles with a future retaliatory missile strike.
And in Munich earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the missile shield would plunge the world into a new arms race, and that the US, Europe, and Russia were on the brink of a new cold war.
"[The proposed shield] is very serious, and it breaks the strategic balance that now exists in Europe," says Alexey Fedotov, Moscow's ambassador to Prague.
Germany chided the US for not informing Russia of its designs on an antiballistic missile base in Poland, but it also appeared to throw some support to the US, calling for a full discussion of the proposal without protests and "anti-American insinuations." France, traditionally Europe's staunchest opponent of missile defense, has been silent on the issue, as have Denmark and Sweden – two countries that have been cool toward past US missile defense plans.
"You don't see the French and Germans kicking up much of a fuss about this," says Williams.
RSS feed
