So, Putin decided to make himself look a little nicer than he is; he offered to make a "compromise" on the whole missile shield situation. This paragraph from Stratfor pretty much sums it up.By rejecting the proposal, Washington would look hostile and uncompromising. Accepting it would mean basing the missiles near the Iranian border, possibly too close to intercept long-range missiles fired from there. Using Russian radar -- which currently is insufficient for U.S. needs -- would make the entire system dependent on Russian cooperation. And pulling the system from Poland would be a signal to Central Europe that military agreements with the United States are subject to negotiation with the Russians. That, of course, is exactly the signal Putin wants sent.
If, and only if, Bush decides to go through with the missile shield, he shouldn't build it in Azerbaijan.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
No Missile Shield in Azerbaijan
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4 comments:
Hey Simmons,
My take on this goes back to the mid-1980s when I came from CA to DC, in part, to work against Reagan's Star Wars.
On the surface, missile defenses seem intuitive; why not defend yourself against possible nuclear attacks?
However, there's a subtle, yet powerful reason to the contrary: We don't want ANY future leader to gain a false sense of security in regard to nuclear weapons. We don't want future generations to slip into treating nuclear weapons like another tool in the tool box.
Adoption of missile shields crosses a psychological line that suggests wars can be fought with nukes.
The name of the game is "deterrence," and missile shields undermine that strategic foundation.
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - A. Einstein
I like gdaeman's take on this. Let's not forget that the U.S is the only country who has used nukes on people, but that's no biggie because just about everyone has biologics now!!
thanks Bobby.
Thanks for the comments.
@GDAEman:
I had written a post basically agreeing with everything you just said, but it, magically, disapeared (stupid computer). That's why I added the little note at the end of the post, "If, and only if, Bush decides to go through with the missile shield..."
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