US, Russia Still at Odds Over Missile Defense

A US sailor looks on from his station next to the weapons control deck of the USS Monterey, carrying AEGIS class ballistic missile defense technology, in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, June 7, 2011

A ballistic missile defense system stationed in Europe has been a contentious issue between the United States and Russia for many years.

The missiles mind game

Drawing by Niyaz Karim

The debate on a joint European missile defense system that gained momentum after the Russia-NATO Lisbon Summit in November 2010 has reached its logical conclusion. On the eve of the meeting of Russian and NATO defense ministers, the alliance’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, officially declined Russia’s idea of “sectoral” missile defense and Russia’s demand for legal guarantees that the system would not target Russia. The same was said with total finality at the meeting. The discussion has thus been thrown back to the chronic phase in which it has languished for 10 years (the topic was broached by then-defense minister Sergei Ivanov in the early 2000s).

Czech Republic pulls out of US missile shield plan

Alexandr Vondra - Czech Defense Minister

The Czech Republic is withdrawing from U.S. missile defense plans out of frustration at its diminished role, the Czech defense minister told The Associated Press Wednesday.

Vondra: Czechs do not want US “consolation prize” in defence area

Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra made it clear in Brussels Wednesday that the Czech Republic is not satisfied with the U.S. offer to host an early warning centre within NATO’s planned missile defence and said Prague does not seek a mere “consolation prize” from the USA.

Obama’s Nuclear Strategy Intended as a Message

President Barack Obama with Sec. of Defense Robert Gates

President Obama’s Nuclear Posture Review, released yesterday, contains a new strategy that makes every nonnuclear state immune from any threat of nuclear retaliation by the United States.   However, it excludes Iran and North Korea. They are now labeled “outliers” rather than the Bush term of “rogue states.”  Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates stated, “There is a message for Iran and North Korea here,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

At the heart of President Obama’s new nuclear strategy lies a central gamble: that an aging, oversize, increasingly outmoded nuclear arsenal can be turned to the new purpose of adding leverage to the faltering effort to force Iran and North Korea to rethink the value of their nuclear programs.

The 50-page “Nuclear Posture Review” released on Tuesday acknowledged outright that “the massive nuclear arsenal we inherited from the cold-war era” is “poorly suited to address the challenges posed by suicidal terrorist and unfriendly regimes seeking nuclear weapons.”

Russia Seeks Limits on U.S. Arms after Pact

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, announced that Russia will withdraw from the treaty if Russia feels threatened by the United States missile defense plans.  Secretary of State Clinton weighed in by saying that “it’s no surprise that the Russians remain concerned about our missile defense program. The START treaty is not about missile defense [though].”  Lavrov continued on to say how it is important to have a world free of nuclear weapons, and therefore agrees with Obama’s statements regarding the issue.

Two days before Obama is to sign a landmark nuclear arms reduction pact with President Dmitry Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also repeated Moscow’s threat to withdraw from the treaty if U.S. missile defense plans threatened Russia.

But he suggested the plans were unlikely to pose a threat in the near future.

New Missile Installed at Fort Greely

MDAA was at Fort Greely last month, on the original installation date. Due to bad weather conditions we did not get to witness the install. We did however get a rare glimpse of a missile in the silo. The above shot is of that view. Pretty impressive if we do say so ourselves.

A new missile was installed in a silo at Fort Greely last month, the 22nd interceptor at the Missile Defense Agency site outside Delta Junction.

Ralph Scott, the spokesman for Alaska Missile Defense, said the latest installation is part of an effort to steadily add missiles at the site. The Defense Department has plans to install 26 missiles at Fort Greely, with the process to be completed by October.

Iran Could Face Expanded Sea-Based Checks, Official Says

In order to put increased pressure on Iran, the United States is thinking of intercepting sea-based cargo entering and leaving Iran.  This maritime interception would be a way for the US to seek out sensitive materials, that could be threatening to the US and its European allies.

The United States is weighing various options for intercepting sea-based cargo entering or leaving Iran in a potential bid to further pressure the Middle Eastern state to halt controversial aspects of its nuclear program, Defense News reported today (see GSN, Feb. 26).

Still, the Obama administration is not “at this stage” mulling “tripwire-type military challenges” to Iran, a high-level U.S. official said. The United States, Israel and several European powers have expressed concern that Iran’s nuclear program could support weapons development, but the Middle Eastern nation has insisted its atomic work has no military component.

If the U.N. Security Council adopts a fourth sanctions resolution hitting Iran over its disputed nuclear work, “we’re going to want to see consideration for empowering rights already provided for under international maritime laws and the [Proliferation Security Initiative],” the official said Thursday.

Washington is also laying the diplomatic groundwork for seeking out sensitive materials on Iranian vessels registered to additional third-party states, the official said.

The source also hinted at targeting Iran through a 2005 amendment to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts.

One analyst argued that only a stronger show of intent could pressure Iran to alter its nuclear policies.

Clinton Urges NATO Security Cooperation with Russia

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, made a statement Monday, urging Russia “to join NATO [and assist] in developing a missile defense system that can protect all citizens of Europe and Russia.”  This speech was crucial because, NATO is currently conducting a review of its goals for the coming years and plans to expand NATO are also being discussed.

Clinton said new partnerships, including with Cold War foe Russia, will help NATO to take on growing transnational threats including nuclear proliferation, terrorism, piracy and cyber security.

“While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them,” Clinton told a Washington think tank, stressing that a new U.S. plan for European missile defense was no threat to Moscow.

“Just as Russia is an important partner in efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation, so should it be in missile defense,” she said. “And we invite Russia to join NATO in developing a missile defense system that can protect all citizens of Europe and Russia.”

Czechs in Talks to Host Missile Command Center

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has become third European nation to announce that it is in talks about participation in the US missile defense plans;  joining Poland and Romania. The Czech republic would not be hosting missiles, instead it would be the home to a missile command post. This development is another step in the direction of Obama’s revised missile defense plan.

A high-level defense policy expert with ties to Washington, D.C. said the Czech Republic is in discussions with the Obama administration to host a command center for the United States’ altered missile-defense plan.

The official, who requested anonymity because discussions are ongoing, said, “The Czech Republic is not out of the picture.”

“There are strategic dialogues going on between the United States and the Czech Republic,” said Jirí Beneš, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman. “No concrete proposal has been mentioned yet.”