US European Missile Defense System: Alternatives Being Considered

WASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department official said Thursday that the United States is considering options for European missile defense other than current plans for a system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told lawmakers in the House of Representatives at a hearing on relations with Russia that the Obama administration is looking at various configurations as part of its review of missile defense plans.

"The site in Poland and the radar in the Czech Republic are among the options that are being considered, together with other options that might be able to perform the mission as well," Vershbow said.

The administration has been seeking better relations with Russia, which adamantly opposes the U.S. plans made by the former Bush administration to install 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. Russia has said continuing with the employment would undermine talks launched by the U.S. and Russian presidents on renewed cooperation.

While ordering a review of the plans, the Obama administration has maintained the Bush administration's argument that the European missile defense plans are aimed at countering a threat from Iran and pose no threat to Russia. The administration also has been sensitive to the possibility that canceling the plans in Poland and the Czech Republic will harm relations with those two allies.

Vershbow said the missile defense review will look at a range of options, but will not take Russia's objection into account.

"We are reviewing these internally; we are not engaged in a discussion with the Russians about alternative options at this point," he said. "Our conclusions will be based exclusively on the threat from Iran, the effectiveness of the systems and the cost."

Comments

[Quinterius]

11:40 PM on 08/02/2009

For the US to put a missile defense system in Europe is one the biggest harebrained ideas I have ever heard. It is a total waste of money and will only serve to enrich the military contractors. Whey would Iran want to shoot missiles to Europe. Do you think they are stupid or have nothing else to do? It simply makes no sense.

[gsteinum]

02:30 AM on 07/31/2009

does anyone recall the purpose of m.a.d. (mutually assured destruction)? many people may not recall that the soviet union had superior (numerically) forces in just about every area: tanks, missles, artillery and even submarines. the possibility of nuclear retaliation, however unlikely or implausable some people may think, largely kept the soviets from overwhelming europe in a conventional war. and let's face it, war is all about attrition. like it or not, war is not likely to go out of style any time soon. you don't think wars are going on right now over precious natural resources? moving missle sites to another location sends the signal to russia that it's not going to encounter much resistance (militarily) if it then moves into poland or the czeck republic, just like it did to reclaim ossetia.
but the point is still valid: can the u.s. afford the super power price tag? why shouldn't europeans pay for their own defense, or the japanese for that matter? if europeans want u.s. military technology, then they should buy it and support our economy for a change. what purpose do u.s. military bases in okinawa serve? aren't the japanese technically competant enough to defend themselves from n. korea? we need to back off from our imperial fantasies and work with other countries, rather than work for them.

[mamacat]

05:29 PM on 07/30/2009

This is one of those things that I don't understand, or, to put it another way, that to mean seems pretty crazy.

The European Union is larger than the USA, with lots of both people and money, and armed forces. If they want a missile shield, why don't they do it themselves? Why are we pushing for this? Don't we have enough things to do already?

By the way, I think that just about every country in the EU has some form of universal healthcare for its citizens, something that the USA so far hasn't been able to afford.