Archive for the 'Things that make you go Hmmmm' Category
13
Apr
09
KYMATICA
Alex Collier stopped discussing the information he received from the Andromedan race monitoring this planet when he was eventually “visited” by 3 officials apparently from the Navy.
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By ROBERT BURNS
The Associated Press |
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Russian government is likely to “test the mettle” of Barack Obama and his administration by taking a tougher stance against U.S. missile defenses, a senior State Department official said Wednesday. John Rood, the department’s top arms control official, told reporters he believes the Russians are waiting to size up the Obama administration before Moscow advances its position on disputed arms issues.
In discussing the state of Russian opposition to U.S. missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, Rood said it appears that Moscow has “paused” in anticipation of a new national security approach in Washington.
“My assessment is that the Russians intend to test the mettle of the new administration and the new president,” he said. “The future will show how the new administration chooses to answer that challenge.”
Asked to elaborate, he said, “I think missile defense and other subjects will be among those that the Russians intend to determine what the new administration’s posture will be.” He said he reached this conclusion on the basis of an impression gained during talks in Moscow on Monday rather than from explicit Russian statements.
He also said the Russians have been less flexible lately in talks on missile defense. In particular he cited their stance on U.S. proposals to give the Russians more assurance that a missile interceptor site in Poland and a missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic would pose no security threat to Russia.
The U.S., with the support of the Polish and Czech governments, has proposed that Russian officials be given regular access to the interceptor and radar sites and that they be allowed to monitor activity at both sites through undisclosed technical means. Rood did not elaborate on the details in dispute.
“I don’t want to spell out all the details because I think this is a high-priority dialogue for us in the United States, and I don’t think that putting all the details out will facilitate a resolution to it,” he said.
Rood led a U.S. government delegation in talks with senior Russian officials on a range of subjects, including efforts by both governments to negotiate a treaty to replace the 1991 START nuclear arms deal, which expires in December 2009. Rood said the talks were useful but did not achieve any breakthroughs.
In Moscow on Tuesday, Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying Moscow hopes the Obama administration will agree that the weapons limitations under START “should be preserved and strengthened, rather than weakened.”
Rood said the Russians want to expand the scope of a follow-on to the START treaty to include limitations on non-nuclear strategic weapons such as long-range conventional bombers and possibly submarines. The Bush administration has resisted that, saying the restrictions should be on nuclear warheads only.
Rood said he consulted with members of Obama’s transition team before traveling to Moscow and will brief them on the substance of the talks. And he said he expects additional talks with the Russians on these subjects before President Bush leaves office Jan. 20.
Brooke Anderson, the Obama transition office’s chief spokesperson on national security affairs, declined to comment on Rood’s remark about the Russians likely seeking to test the new president.
The missile defense issue has been one of the most divisive over the past few years. The Bush administration has argued that extending its U.S.-based defense system to Europe is important in defending Europe and the United States from a possible long-range missile strike from Iran, while the Russians dispute the immediacy of an Iranian threat and worry about U.S. military expansion near Russian borders.
On Nov. 5, the day after Obama’s election, President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia would move short-range missiles to NATO’s borders to “neutralize” any U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe if necessary.
Medvedev has since backed off slightly. He stressed on Nov. 15 that Russia would not act unless the United States took the first step and expressed hope that the new U.S. administration will be open to negotiations.
Obama has not been explicit, at least in public, about whether he would proceed with the missile defense plan in Poland and the Czech Republic. More broadly he has said he supports missile defense but wants to ensure that it is proven to be a reliable system that does not detract from other security priorities.
WASHINGTON – U.S. officials said Monday that they want answers from Russia on whether it is selling advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran, a move the U.S. insists could threaten American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. A senior military intelligence official said that while Moscow has sent out conflicting responses to reports on the sale of long-range S-300 missiles, the U.S. believes it is taking place. However, it appears that no equipment has yet been delivered to Iran, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Russia’s state arms export agency said Monday it is supplying Iran with defensive weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, but did not say whether they include sophisticated long-range S-300 missiles.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. is seeking clarification from Russia.
“We have repeatedly made clear at senior levels of the Russian government that we would strongly oppose the sale of the S-300,” Wood said. “As the U.S. government has said before, this is not the time for business as usual with the Iranian government.”
Iran currently has an antiquated missile defense system, dating back to the 1960s and 1970s, so the Russian sale would provide Tehran a much longer range, more mobile and lethal capability. With a range of roughly 75 miles, the Russian system would allow Iran to reach coalition forces operating in Iraq and Afghanistan, if the missiles were moved near the borders.
Both the U.S. and Israel have strongly opposed the sale, saying that supplying such an advanced anti-aircraft system to Iran would shift the military balance of power in the Middle East. It also would make any strike at Iran’s first nuclear power plant — which Russia is helping to build — more difficult.
There have been indications that Russia intends to supply only defensive weapons to Iran, thus keeping in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions that impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment and prohibit supplying Iran with materials that could contribute to its nuclear program.
Officials acknowledge that the sale of the S-300 system is not prohibited by the resolution.
Israel and the United States fear that Iran could use the S-300 missiles to protect its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz or the country’s first atomic power plant now under construction at Bushehr by Russian contractors.
The U.S. and other nations believe Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists its uranium enrichment program is intended solely for civilian energy needs.
While the possibility that the U.S. might launch an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities faded about a year ago, Israel has never ruled out a strike of its own, and is considered the nation most likely to take action.
Iran’s president has said that Israel should be “wiped off the map.”
The sale of S-300 missiles, said the military intelligence official, presents a decision point for Israel, since once the anti-aircraft system is in place it could deter any strike.
