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Monday, March 10, 2008

U.S. And Poland Make Good Progress On Missile Shield

From PatDollard.Com:


WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush said on Monday he had agreed the United States would help modernize the Polish military as part of a U.S. plan to base components of a global missile defense shield in Poland.

Bush’s announcement, after White House talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, appeared to mark a major step toward meeting Poland’s demand that Washington boost military aid in exchange for allowing the basing of 10 missile interceptors in Poland.

The two leaders hailed their meeting as a success but made clear that no final deal had been reached on the anti-missile system, something U.S. and Polish officials have said could still take months more.

“The United States recognizes the need for Polish forces to be modernized,” Bush told reporters. He said “before my watch is over” — he leaves office in January 2009 — U.S. experts would have assessed those needs.

Bush again played down Moscow’s concerns about the missile shield, saying, “This system is not aimed at Russia. I will continue to work with President (Vladimir) Putin and give him those assurances as well.”

The Bush administration wants to put the interceptor base in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a global system it says is meant to protect the United States and allies from long-range ballistic missiles from “rogue states” such as Iran and North Korea.

Russia has insisted, however, that the shield could pose a threat to its security, and Putin has warned that Moscow will target its missiles at the system if it is deployed in Eastern Europe, Russia’s former sphere of influence.

The United States and the Czech Republic are close to finalizing an agreement, but the Polish government has taken a tougher stance in negotiations and many details remain to hammered out.

Tusk, sitting with Bush in the Oval Office after Monday’s talks, said Poland was ready to cooperate on missile defense as part of an overall security effort that would include upgrading Polish forces.

“All these issues come in the same package,” he told reporters. He deemed it a “breakthrough” that Bush and the U.S. government now “understand quite clearly our expectations.”

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Bush rocks! He's the only one who's doing something about the Iranian/North Korean threat. Europe better thank him for this!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would hope so eh? At least Europeans are electing pro-U.S. governments. I see Russia and maybe China as being the threats in the future. I think North Korea is on the way out. Iran?.. well, it's getting weaker because of pressure initiated by the U.S.

China's ecomony is tied closely to the U.S. Regardless, the future remains uncertain.

The Russians are still hungry to re-live they're mythical past glory. They have taken some advantage of the free-market system but bringing the country into the 21st century has been a dismal failure. I think they will leverage oil as a tool for political power as time goes on.

Rik.

Sweetface24 said...

I agree, I do see China and Russia as threats in the future. But right now Russia is so screwed-up internally and their military posturing is laughable.
I think Bush is doing a pretty good job with North Korea right now- at LEAST his administration's doing something bout 'em! Iran will probably get crushed by their own stupidity in the future, so I'm not too worried about them right now. I do worry about what they're doing to the troops and innocent civilians in Iraq.