nited States, Poland Sign Limited Missile Defense Pact

14 August 2008

Anti-missile plan will enhance European security, White House says

By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington -- A limited anti-missile defense system to be stationed in Poland and the Czech Republic will make a substantial contribution to NATO's collective security, the White House says.

"I'm pleased to announce that negotiations are complete and that we have initialed an agreement" to place an American missile defense base in Poland,  White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said August 14.

The initial agreement was signed by chief U.S. negotiator John Rood, acting under secretary of state for arms control and international security, and Polish negotiator Andrzej Kremer, deputy foreign minister, August 14 in Warsaw.

Under the European ground-based missile defense plan, the United States will base 10 missile interceptors, which have no warheads, in Poland. They are designed to knock down a limited number of ballistic missiles launched from a rogue state such as Iran. The United States will place an advanced radar tracking facility in the Czech Republic.  The system is expected to be in place by 2012.

The United States July 8 signed an agreement with the Czech Republic allowing the construction and operation of the missile defense system’s radar station, an agreement that must be ratified by the Czech parliament.

In exchange for agreeing to base the interceptors in Poland, the United States agreed to provide Poland with a Patriot air defense battery that can shoot down short-range missiles or attacking aircraft.  The air defense battery would be operated by about 100 U.S. Army personnel, according to the Pentagon.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said August 14 the arrangement also includes a "mutual commitment" between the two nations to come to each other's assistance in an emergency, according to an Associated Press news report.

"President Bush has said that we recognize the need for the Polish armed services to be modernized and we have offered to help in that regard," Perino said.

The agreement now will be reviewed and approved by the respective legislatures, and then there will be a final signing agreement, Perino said.  She added that the United States has been clear with the Russian government from the outset about the missile defense basing plan.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said August 15 in Tbilisi, Georgia, that she and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have met with their counterparts in Moscow a number of times to discuss the missile defense plan and even have invited the Russians to participate in a continent-wide missile defense system.

At a White House briefing, Perino said, "In no way is the president's plan for missile defense aimed at Russia.  In fact, it's just not even logically possible for it to be aimed at Russia, given how Russia could overwhelm it.  The purpose of missile defense is to protect our European allies from any rogue threats, such as a missile from Iran."

BUSH AND MEDVEDEV DISCUSS MISSILE DEFENSE

A European-based missile defense system was discussed by Bush and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at their July 7 bilateral meeting during the G8 Summit in Japan.  Medvedev agreed to continue existing efforts to transform the current U.S. missile defense plan into a system that in the future would be jointly managed by the United States, Russia and Europe.   

“I believe that one of the reasons we’ve seen the proliferation of these missiles in the past is that there has historically been no defense against them,” Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, said at a July briefing.  “So they are of a lot of value to nations like Iran and North Korea.  If we join together -- United States, NATO, Russia -- and field effective missile defenses, I believe it will have an effect on the value of these weapons.  It will devalue them in the eyes of some of these countries.”