BuddyLee
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Poland, Czech and I feel much safer now.US Scraps Missile Defense Shield Plans
Originally Posted by CNN
The United States has suspended Bush-administration plans for a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, officials from both countries said Thursday -- a move likely to please Russia, which had fiercely opposed the plans.
A U.S. delegation held high-level meetings Thursday in both Poland and the Czech Republic to discuss the missile defense system. While the outcome of the meetings wasn't clear, officials in both countries confirmed the system would be scrapped.
Czech Prime minister Jan Fischer said in a statement that U.S. President Barack Obama told him in a Wednesday phone call that the United States was shelving its plans. Fischer did not say what reason Obama gave him for reconsidering.
A spokeswoman at the Polish Ministry of Defense also said the program had been suspended.
"This is catastrophic for Poland," said the spokeswoman, who declined to be named in line with ministry policy.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. James E. Cartwright, who is vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday morning. The Defense Department has not announced what will be discussed, but Cartwright is the point man for the missile defense shield program.
Poland and the Czech Republic had based much of their future security policy on getting the missile defenses from the United States. The countries share deep concerns of a future military threat from the east -- namely, Russia -- and may now look for other defense assurances from their NATO allies.
"At the NATO summit in April, we adopted a resolution focusing on building a defense system against real, existing threats, i.e. short-range and medium-range missiles," Fischer said. "We expect that the United States will continue cooperating with the Czech Republic on concluding the relevant agreements on our mutual (research and development) and military collaboration, including the financing of specific projects."
By contrast, Russia may view the move as a diplomatic victory after complaining about the program consistently for years.
There was no comment Thursday morning from Russian officials. But the issue has been a sore point in relations between Washington and Moscow, with Russia believing the shield would ultimately erode its own strategic nuclear deterrent.
With the program scrapped, it opens the way for Russia to join with the United States in taking a harder line on Iran, CNN Correspondent Matthew Chance reported from Moscow. The United States cited the perceived nuclear threat from Iran as one of the key reasons it wanted to install the missile shield in eastern Europe.
The United States proposed the plans under then-President George W. Bush, but since taking over this year, the Obama administration has been reviewing whether to move ahead with them.
"There's been no public announcement on our review of what will best secure our European allies, and ultimately as well as the U.S., from potential capability Iran may possess in the future," U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told CNN's Chris Lawrence in Baghdad, Iraq, where he is on a brief trip.
Biden, who said he is "deeply" involved in the review, added that the United States is now "fully capable and secure" in dealing with any potential Iranian threat.
"The whole purpose of this exercise we are undertaking is to diminish the prospect of Iran destabilizing that region of the world," Biden said. "I am much less concerned about Iranian potential -- they have no potential at this point -- to launch a missile that can strike the United States of America."
The United States proposed the plan under then-President W. George Bush; the Obama administration has since been reviewing the plan. The missile shield issue came up in July during a meeting between Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. Obama maintained that Russia had nothing to fear from such a system, which would be designed to intercept a solitary missile from Iran or North Korea, as opposed to "a mighty Russian arsenal."