European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch – 12 March | 79 comments (79 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Reuters: Germany's Schroeder slams U.S. missile shield plans

DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - U.S. plans to build a high-tech missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic are dangerous and absurd, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Sunday.
"The missile defense system planned by the United States and which is to be installed in eastern Europe is politically extremely dangerous," Schroeder said in a speech in Dresden.
"It is viewed, rightly, in Russia, and not only there, as an attempt to establish an absurd encirclement policy, a policy which is everything but in the interest of Europe," he said.
The United States wants to set up a radar system in the Czech Republic and a missile battery in Poland as part of a shield that would counter missiles fired by what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
Moscow sees the system as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence and an attempt to shift the post-Cold War balance of power. Germany has criticized the project's planners for failing to discuss it sufficiently with Russia.

by Fran on Sun Mar 11th, 2007 at 11:46:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 1)

Financial Times: Nato chief warns of split over US missiles

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato secretary general, has warned that the alliance risks being split between countries that would be covered by the US's proposed missile defence programme and other member states left exposed to missile threats from Iran.
Nato officials say the US programme would protect almost all of Europe, but not the southeast, which would need an extra, shorter range system because of the closeness to Iran.
"When it comes to missile defence, there shouldn't be an A-league and a B-league within Nato," Mr de Hoop Scheffer said in an interview with the Financial Times. "For me it is indivisibility of security that is the guiding principle."
The Nato chief's comments open a new front in the debate about the US's plans for missile defence, which has been dominated by Russia's objections to the Bush administration's request to install bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Several western European countries have expressed reservations, given that the scheme may antagonise Moscow. Last week, Jacques Chirac, French president, declared that the US initiative risked returning Europe to the tensions of the Cold War.

by Fran on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 12:24:17 AM EST
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Re: Europe (none / 1)

"For me it is indivisibility of security that is the guiding principle."

Oh, well that's all right then. The goddamn things don't work anyway.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 04:31:53 AM EST
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Re: Europe (4.00 / 2)

If you mean 'providing actual protection from nuclear attack' then no.

If you mean 'providing thick blubbery layers of pork profits to the mil ind complex and also providing a convenient way to attack political union in the EU from within' then they seem to be working to order.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 07:15:05 AM EST
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Re: Europe (4.00 / 2)

Why do we need NATO again?

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 04:39:15 AM EST
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If you keep on asking this (4.00 / 2)

you'll soon end up "disappeared", you know. It's an extremist, terrorist question.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 04:47:14 AM EST
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Re: If you keep on asking this (none / 1)

How many diaries like last night's do I need to post before you figure out just how much of an extremist I am?

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 05:24:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

But (none / 1)

you're working in the City! In a hedge fund!