Either Mr. Pikayev is stupid, or pretends to be.
Posted on 12/25/2006 5:15:16 PM PST by lizol
Stationing of U.S. missile defenses in Poland a threat to Russia -analyst
MOSCOW. Dec 25 (Interfax) - The United States' plans to station missile defenses in Poland pose a threat to Russia, a senior Russian analyst said, accusing Washington of deceit and questioning the confidence between the United States and Russia.
"It's obvious that, since they are deploying all this in Poland, it is directed against Russia," Alexander Pikayev, head of the disarmament department of the Russian Institute of World Economics and International Relations, said in an interview with Interfax.
The U.S. Defense Department said building a missile defense was a priority for the Pentagon. U.S. administration sources said the United States wished to deploy elements of such a system in Poland and that Warsaw might receive a proposal to that effect in the first few weeks of 2007, with Polish media saying such proposal was due to come in January 2007.
Pikayev said the planned defenses in Poland would be able to shoot down Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.
U.S. assurances that the defenses are to be a shield against possible missile attacks from Iran and North Korea do not hold water, "because, if one looks at the map, what does Poland have to do with them?" he said. "Iranian missiles surely won't be sent through Poland if they are fired at all. And North Korea is known to launch its missiles toward the east," the analyst said.
But even if Iranian or North Korean missiles do fly toward Poland, Moscow would still have reasons to worry, he said. "If missiles are intercepted over Russian territory, fragments will fall on the Russian Federation, and this may cause damage and there may be fatalities," Pikayev said.
He said the U.S. plans were a breach of a promise NATO made during its 1997 wave of enlargement, namely that it would station no new weapons on the territory of its new members.
"But now, as usually happens, it has all turned out to be so much deceit, which, of course, puts the issue of confidence between the United States and Russia on the agenda," Pikayev said.
Ping
Reminds me of when Reagan put nukes in West Germany. The Russians cried bloody murder but it let them know we meant business. Truman did not allow the blockade of Berlin, showed them we meant business.
The only thing the Russians know and respect is someone who will not back down. Putin has been the neighborhood bully for far too long and has been getting away with crap far too long. It is time to remind him that there is still an 800 pound gorilla that is the lone superpower in the world.
If the Poles were in a humorous mood, they should send a terse note to Moscow, admitting mild annoyance with Russia "meddling in Poland's internal affairs."
Good map!
No more than Russia selling arms to Iran.
Actually, much less.
And anyway Ivan, these are defensive missles.
And it's quite possible we can shoot down a Iranian missile before it hits Moscow. Who would you rather trust, Pikayev?
If Russian Topol missiles can get through the anti-ballistic missile defense systems, why is Russia so much against Poland posting the defense?
Thank you for the ping.
The map in post 1, explains the situation, so that even I understand it..........thanks.
Russia has had a persecution complex since as far back as I remember.Their only problem is they are the Ones usually persecuting their own people.
Yeah, I can see the logic in that. Not.
LEKHTUSI (Leningrad Region), December 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is opposed to the United States' plans to deploy an anti-missile shield in Central Europe, the defense minister said Friday.
Sergei Ivanov, who is also a deputy prime minister, said these plans do not even make "political sense, to say nothing of military sense".
He said deployment of a missile defense system will not affect Russia's security in any way.
"The Topol-M ground based missile complexes that we demonstrated recently reliably overcome any missile defense systems. So we take these [U.S.] plans in stride," he said.
He dismissed the argument that the missile defense system in Central Europe is designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles of so-called threshold states, namely Iran and North Korea.
"I have every reason to say that there are no ICBMs in Iran or North, nor are there going to be any [in the foreseeable future]. So the real question is, against what countries will this system be used," Ivanov said. President Vladimir Putin said in mid-December that the deployment of mobile Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile systems contributes a great deal to Russia's national security.
"This is a significant step forward in improving our defense capabilities," he said while inspecting the first regiment of mobile Topol-M ICBMs, put on active duty this month in the Ivanovo Region in Central Russia.
Vladimir Putin said last month that developing Russia's strategic forces is the main priority on the national defense agenda.
"Maintaining a strategic balance will mean that our strategic deterrent forces should be able to guarantee the neutralization of any potential aggressor, no matter what modern weapons systems he possesses," the president told a meeting with top military officials.
He called for the creation of cutting-edge strategic weapons, and emphasized quality over quantity.
Russia currently has five missile regiments equipped with silo-based Topol-M missiles, and one regiment equipped with mobile Topol-M systems. The total number of Topol-M ICBMs, including three silo-based systems to be deployed at the Tatishchevo base, will reach 48 by the end of the year, according to Russia's Strategic Forces Command.
Sergei Ivanov said earlier that Russia is planning to purchase 69 silo-based and mobile Topol-M ballistic missile systems in the next decade.
As of January 1, Russia possessed 927 nuclear delivery vehicles and 4,279 nuclear warheads for strategic offensive weapons, while the United States owns 1,255 and 5,966, respectively, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Russia of course can defeat any antimissile system but just in case there shall be no missile defense systems in a position to constrain Russia's right to launch missiles.
Russia has been reported recently to be improving the survivability of its silo-based Topol-Ms.
The headline of this thread (Stationing of U.S. missile defenses in Poland a threat to Russia-analyst) is redundant. Everything is a threat to Russia.
42,000 dead of alcohol poisoning last year yet only a second place in suicides.
Geography shows a logic to placing missile defense in Poland.
However to the New Soviet Man a missile defense base in Poland makes no sense except as a threat to Russia.
Ah, Russia! A Third World country with a First World military.
Sadly, their people have a lot more potential, they're educated, and could be efficient. Problem being is that they've been locked into a backward economic/political system for decades....
And are now aborting themselves into oblivion.
Very sad state of affairs. There is no reason why the United States could not be an ally with Russia other than an embittered communistic ruling class.
Anti-missile defense systems are not "weapons". They defend against weapons
AHHHHH I dont think that is the flight path. Take out your globe and you might see that those will fly right smack over the top of the north pole-or there-abouts.
And your right...they will go directly over Poland. So we hit em over the top of Russia. And down they go, right into Russia.
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