In what is becoming a game of brinkmanship between the United States and one of its closest European allies, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday that Washington was prepared to seek a different location for part of its planned antiballistic missile shield if the Polish government could not agree on the terms. This was the first public acknowledgment by the U.S. State Department that talks with Poland had become difficult to the point of rupture because of tough conditions set by the Polish government over the location of up to 10 interceptors for the antimissile system. "The United States would very much like to place those interceptors in Poland," Stephen Mull, the State Department official, said at a news conference in Washington after another round of talks over the issue. Senior Polish government officials said Wednesday in Warsaw that they were extremely concerned that they were failing to persuade the Bush administration to finance the modernization of the Polish armed forces in exchange for deploying part of the shield on Polish territory. They said it appeared that the administration and the U.S. Congress were becoming increasingly reluctant to link the deployment of the missile shield to upgrading Poland's air defenses, at a cost that could run into billions of dollars.
In what is becoming a game of brinkmanship between the United States and one of its closest European allies, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday that Washington was prepared to seek a different location for part of its planned antiballistic missile shield if the Polish government could not agree on the terms.
This was the first public acknowledgment by the U.S. State Department that talks with Poland had become difficult to the point of rupture because of tough conditions set by the Polish government over the location of up to 10 interceptors for the antimissile system.
"The United States would very much like to place those interceptors in Poland," Stephen Mull, the State Department official, said at a news conference in Washington after another round of talks over the issue.
Senior Polish government officials said Wednesday in Warsaw that they were extremely concerned that they were failing to persuade the Bush administration to finance the modernization of the Polish armed forces in exchange for deploying part of the shield on Polish territory.
They said it appeared that the administration and the U.S. Congress were becoming increasingly reluctant to link the deployment of the missile shield to upgrading Poland's air defenses, at a cost that could run into billions of dollars.
The US isn't interested in deals - it wants to dominate and control any exchange. So the Poles aren't going to be finding a lot of support for a tit for tat coming from Washington.
Don't they know they have never been demonstrated to work, probably can't be made to work ?
And who are the missiles protecting them from ? Are politicians capable of independent thought without lobbyist money greasing the works ? keep to the Fen Causeway
A) They don't work. B) They are being sold on the premise of protection against a non-existent threat. C) They have nothing to do with the methods of the people they have pissed off enough to seek some retribution. D) They aren't effective against the new Russian missiles, even if they did work (See A). E) The country is broke and can't afford these boondoggles anymore. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
I can just imagine the racial slurs being slung around the white house. Still over 200 days of terrorism from that group to endure. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
