.Poland stalls Bush's 'lame duck' deal on missile shield
President George Bush's hopes of sealing agreement to site parts of the Pentagon's missile shield in central Europe before he leaves office are fading fast, according to senior Polish officials who despair of reaching to reach a deal with the United States before the end of the year.
The US has been negotiating with the Polish and Czech governments for five years over deploying missile interceptors in Poland and a radar-tracking station in the Czech Republic - the first elements of the American missile defence programme that would be stationed outside the US.
But while the Americans and the Czechs recently concluded their negotiations, the Polish government has balked at the US terms on offer, insisting on large-scale military aid from the US to modernise its armed forces in return for agreeing to host the silos for 10 interceptor rockets.
"Bush promised us a package, but the US is not delivering," said a senior Polish official. "Bush is a lame duck and the Pentagon is now sabotaging him.
"Why should we do any favours for Bush?"
He indicated that Warsaw had decided to wait until a new US administration is installed in January in the hope that would produce a better deal.
The installations in central Europe are ostensibly aimed at intercepting potential missile attacks from Iran, although Russia contests this and insists that the Polish and Czech deployments are ultimately aimed at the Kremlin's nuclear arsenal.
The new Russian president, Dmitriy Medvedev, used his first foreign visit to China last week to drum up Beijing's support for Russian opposition to the missile shield, one of the key disputes that has led to worsening relations between Russia and the west in recent years.
Poland is keen to host the interceptor rockets because it believes that having American troops and military sites on its territory reinforces its security against its traditional enemy, Russia.
But unless it markedly improves its defences, the Polish government also believes hosting the shield will diminish, rather than enhance national security in the face of a strengthening Russia.
On Monday in Brussels, the Polish defence minister, Bogdan Klich, said Warsaw needed the kind of military aid from the US that Washington supplies to Pakistan or Egypt, indicating that the cost to America could run to billions.
The Bush administration, meanwhile, could yet turn its back on Poland and shift to deploying the interceptor rockets either at sea or in Britain, say senior Nato officials in Brussels.
Guardian
The Pentagon is sabotaging Bush? That's news to me. You would think something like that would make big news headlines...
The US has been negotiating with the Polish and Czech governments for five years over deploying missile interceptors in Poland and a radar-tracking station in the Czech Republic - the first elements of the American missile defence programme that would be stationed outside the US.
But while the Americans and the Czechs recently concluded their negotiations, the Polish government has balked at the US terms on offer, insisting on large-scale military aid from the US to modernise its armed forces in return for agreeing to host the silos for 10 interceptor rockets.
"Bush promised us a package, but the US is not delivering," said a senior Polish official. "Bush is a lame duck and the Pentagon is now sabotaging him.
"Why should we do any favours for Bush?"
He indicated that Warsaw had decided to wait until a new US administration is installed in January in the hope that would produce a better deal.
The installations in central Europe are ostensibly aimed at intercepting potential missile attacks from Iran, although Russia contests this and insists that the Polish and Czech deployments are ultimately aimed at the Kremlin's nuclear arsenal.
The new Russian president, Dmitriy Medvedev, used his first foreign visit to China last week to drum up Beijing's support for Russian opposition to the missile shield, one of the key disputes that has led to worsening relations between Russia and the west in recent years.
Poland is keen to host the interceptor rockets because it believes that having American troops and military sites on its territory reinforces its security against its traditional enemy, Russia.
But unless it markedly improves its defences, the Polish government also believes hosting the shield will diminish, rather than enhance national security in the face of a strengthening Russia.
On Monday in Brussels, the Polish defence minister, Bogdan Klich, said Warsaw needed the kind of military aid from the US that Washington supplies to Pakistan or Egypt, indicating that the cost to America could run to billions.
The Bush administration, meanwhile, could yet turn its back on Poland and shift to deploying the interceptor rockets either at sea or in Britain, say senior Nato officials in Brussels.
Guardian
The Pentagon is sabotaging Bush? That's news to me. You would think something like that would make big news headlines...
posted by madtom at 1:17 PM
2 Comments:
It may be that the Congress is sabotaging the Pentagon and the Pentagon, which will run out of money in July as it is without the supplemental being passed real soon and is busily shifting money form all other sources to support combat operations, is delaying sending arms and money to Poland?
Please the pentagon has money stashed everywhere.
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