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U.S. State Department Intercepts Russian Missiles
// Over Belarus
The U.S. State Department has reacted to the announcement of Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov that Russia will place nuclear facilities in Belarus. Washington advised Moscow against the move, saying that the placement of its missile defense elements in Eastern Europe does not present a threat to Russia. Even American experts are beginning to doubt the claims of the U.S. administration, however.
“It's simply untrue to try and assert that the placement of a radar installation and ten interceptors requires any kind of strategic counter on the part of Russia or any other government,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Tuesday. Russian Ambassador in Minsk Alexander Surikov hinted at exactly that possibility on Monday. He stated that “In response to Washington's plans, Russia and Belarus may make the decision to create new joint military facilities, including nuclear.”
Casey advised Moscow to refrain from responsive measures to U.S. actions in Eastern Europe, since the missile defense system being set up in Poland and the Czech Republic “poses absolutely no challenge, threat, or degradation of the strategic nuclear capabilities of Russia.” “Let's be clear about what our missile defense programs are or aren't. This is a very limited capability system. It's designed to counter a limited threat posed by nations like Iran or others in the Middle East that might, at some point, develop a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Casey repeated Washington's familiar argument that the ten missile interceptors that will be placed in the Czech Republic cannot by their technical specifications compete with Russian ballistic missiles. That claim was disputed on Tuesday evening in the U.S. Congress by Prof. Theodore Postol of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a former employee of the U.S. Defense Department.
Appearing at hearings organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Postol said that the Missile Defense Agency distorted facts about the harmlessness for Russia of the facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic. The professor presented calculations that showed that Washington is intentionally exaggerating the speed of Russian ballistic missiles and understating the speed of their own. According to the calculations of Postol and his colleagues, the American missiles would be fully capable of intercepting Russian ones.
Postol also pointed out that, while ten missile interceptors do not pose a threat to the security of Russia, their number could be increased. He added that any military advisor would tell the political leadership of the country to oppose the U.S. plans.
Work on establishing the missile defense bases is moving forward. Polish Deputy Defense Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who is leading the negotiations with the Americans over the radars stations to be placed in his country, announced yesterday that “An agreement between Warsaw and Washington could be ready within weeks. The maximum the work could take is ten weeks.” Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski stated at the beginning of the month that early elections in the country may take place in November, so his government still has time to conclude the agreement with the U.S.
Alexander Gabuev
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 30, 2007
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