Bush touts European missile defense

WASHINGTON—President Bush said Tuesday that plans for a U.S.-led missile defense system in Europe are urgently needed to counter an emerging threat of attack by Iran. “If (Iran) chooses to do so, and the international community does not take steps to prevent it, it is possible Iran could have this capability,” Bush said. “And we need to take it seriously — now.”
Bush’s latest warning about Iran’s nuclear ambitions came in a broad defense of his security policies at the National Defense University. He said intelligence estimates show that Iran could have the capability to strike the United States and many European allies by 2015. “The need for missile defense in Europe is real, and I believe it’s urgent,” Bush said. Bush’s warning about Iran was contradicted by Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov during a visit to Tokyo. He said U.S.-led missile defense initiatives in Europe and Asia are based on an erroneous assessment of the threat posed by Iran.
“North Korea poses a fundamental threat, but Iran does not,” Lavrov was quoted as telling Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura. Bush sought to allay Russia’s concerns and draw Moscow in, portraying the proposed system as a “cooperative effort” against “an emerging threat that affects us all.” He spoke somewhat positively of President Vladimir Putin’s offer of facilities for this purpose in Azerbaijan and southern Russia. The idea would be to replace the U.S. plans for missiles based in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic.
Bush said the project as a whole is “part of a broader effort to move beyond the Cold War” and “could lead to an unprecedented level of strategic cooperation between” Russia and the United States. But the president’s words were not likely to appease his Russian counterpart, who has instead sounded as if the Cold War is beginning again over the dispute. Bush said only that Putin’s suggested alternative “could be included as part of a wider threat monitoring system” and made clear that the Poland- and Czech-based plan is still the operative one for the United States. “The danger of ballistic missile attacks is a threat we share and we ought to respond to this threat together,” Bush said.
The United States has proposed delaying the activation of parts of its European missile defense shield if Russia cooperates on the project, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. ates said the possible delay was one of the proposals he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put forward in talks with Russian officials to try to ease Moscow’s concern and win its cooperation over the defense system.
“We continue to encourage the Russians to partner with us in missile defense and continue our efforts to reassure them that these facilities are not aimed at Russia and could benefit Russia,” he said. The United States plans to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of a system Washington says is needed to counter possible attacks from “rogue states” including Iran and North Korea.
Gates said activation of the missile shield could depend on “definitive proof” of a threat. “We would consider tying together the activation of the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic with definitive proof of the threat, in other words, Iranian missile testing and so on,” Gates said. “We have not fully developed this proposal, but the idea was we would go forward with the negotiations, we would complete the negotiations, we would develop the sites, build the sites but perhaps we would delay activating them until there was concrete proof of the threat from Iran,” he told reporters in Prague.
The Americans also offered to allow the Russians to maintain a presence at the Czech site, to promote transparency. Gates, after meeting with Czech officials, said such an agreement would not be completed without Prague’s approval. “Nothing will be done without consent of the Czech government,” he said. Russia argues the missile system would be a threat to its security. President Vladimir Putin said the United States should use a Russian-operated early warning radar in Azerbaijan instead. U.S. officials view that as a potential addition to their plan, not a substitute.Washington’s negotiations are ongoing with both the Czech Republic and Poland. Talks with Poland may be delayed after last weekend’s election brought to power a party that has promised tougher negotiations over the U.S. plans. The Czech agreement might not be finalized and approved by parliament for another six months, said Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar.
Pojar said Russia should be consulted but that Moscow could not have a veto over the European shield. “We are talking with Russians. We are very open with Russians,” he said. “But they should not have veto over our security and over NATO’s security issues and decisions.” U.S. and European officials familiar with the proposals said Moscow and Washington must overcome differences on the imminence of the threat from Iran or other states.
“The difference is over timelines, how soon the ballistic missiles with a range that could reach the United States or greater parts of Europe can be achieved,” a senior U.S. government official told Reuters. Gates is due to meet his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov at a meeting of NATO defense ministers on the Dutch coast on Wednesday and Thursday. Russia is routinely invited to such talks to try to further NATO-Russia cooperation.—Agencies