Missile defense: Washington and Poland just moved the world closer to war

F. William Engdahl, Online Journal Contributing Writer

Aug 18, 2008, 00:20

The signing on August 14 of an agreement between the governments of the
United States and Poland to deploy on Polish soil US 'interceptor missilesÂ’
is the most dangerous move towards nuclear war the world has seen since the
1962 Cuba Missile crisis.

Far from a defensive move to protect European NATO states from a Russian
nuclear attack, as military strategists have pointed out, the US missiles in
Poland pose a total existential threat to the future existence of the
Russian nation. The Russian government has repeatedly warned of this since
US plans were first unveiled in early 2007. Now, despite repeated diplomatic
attempts by Russia to come to an agreement with Washington, the Bush
administration, in the wake of a humiliating US defeat in Georgia, has
pressured the government of Poland to finally sign the pact. The
consequences could be unthinkable for Europe and the planet.

The preliminary deal to place elements of the US global missile defense
shield was signed by Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer and US
chief negotiator John Rood on August 14. Under the terms, Washington plans
to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland coupled with a radar system in
the Czech Republic, which it ludicrously claims are intended to counter
possible attacks from what it calls "rogue states," including Iran.

To get the agreement Washington agreed to reinforce PolandÂ’s air defenses.
The deal is still to be approved by the two countriesÂ’ governments and
PolandÂ’s parliament. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in televised
remarks that "the events in the Caucasus show clearly that such security
guarantees are indispensable." The US-Polish missile talks had been dragging
for months before recent hostilities in Georgia.

The Bush White House Press spoksperson, Dona Perino, stated, officially, "We
believe that missile defense is a substantial contribution to NATOÂ’s
collective security." Officials say the interceptor base in Poland will be
opened by 2012. The Czech Republic signed a deal to host a US radar facility
on July 8.

The signing now insures an escalation of tensions between Russia and NATO
and a new Cold War arms race in full force. It is important for readers to
understand, as I detail painstakingly in my book, to be released this
autumn, Full Spectrum Dominance: The National Security State and the Spread
of Democracy, the ability of one of two opposing sides to put anti-missile
missiles to within 90 miles of the territory of the other in even a
primitive first-generation anti-missile missile array gives that side
virtual victory in a nuclear balance of power and forces the other to
consider unconditional surrender or to preemptively react by launching its
nuclear strike before 2012. Senior Russian lawmakers said on Friday the
agreement would damage security in Europe, and reiterated that Russia would
now have to take steps to ensure its security.

Andrei Klimov, deputy head of the Russian State DumaÂ’s international affairs
committee, said the deal was designed to demonstrate WarsawÂ’s "loyalty to
the US and receive material benefits. For the Americans, it is an
opportunity to expand its military presence across the world, including
closer to Russia. For NATO, this is an additional risk . . . many NATO
countries are unhappy with this, including the Germans and the French."

Klimov called the agreement "a step back" toward the Cold War.

Russian response

The US plans to deploy a radar facility in the Czech Republic and 10
interceptor missiles in northern Poland as part of a US-controlled missile
shield for Europe and North America, have been officially sold under the
ludicrous argument that it is against possible attacks from "rogue states,"
including Iran. Last Spring, then Russian President Vladimir Putin exposed
the shallowness of the US propaganda line by offering a startled President
Bush the use of Russian leased radar facilities in Azerbaijan on the Iran
border to far better monitor Iran missile launches. The Bush administration
simply ignored the offer, exposing that their real target is Russia not
"rogue states like Iran." Russia rightly views deployment of the US missile
shield as a threat to its national security.

The latest Polish agreement advances a Russian response.

Russian officials earlier said Moscow could deploy its Iskander tactical
missiles and strategic bombers in Belarus and RussiaÂ’s westernmost exclave
of Kaliningrad if Washington succeeded in its missile shield plans in
Europe. Moscow also warned it could target its missiles on Poland.

Russia is also discussing putting in place an orbital ballistic missile
system in response to US missile defense plans for Central Europe, according
to a senior Russian military expert.

"A program could be implemented to create orbital ballistic missiles capable
of reaching US territory via the South Pole, skirting US air defense bases,"
said Col. Gen. Viktor Yesin, former chief of staff of the Russian Strategic
Missile Forces, now vice president of the Academy of Security, Defense and
Law Enforcement Studies.

Previously as part of the post Cold War agreements with the US, agreements
which have been ´significantly ignored by Washington as it pushed the
borders of NATO ever closer to MoscowÂ’s doorstep, the Soviet Union had
abandoned such missiles in accordance with the START I Treaty.

Obama backs missile defense too

The deal would further divide European countries into what Barack ObamaÂ’s
foreign policy adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski openly calls, US "vassals" and
those pursuing more independent policies.

Any illusions that a Democratic Obama Presidency would mean a rollback of
such provocative NATO and US military moves of recent years should be
dismissed as dangerous wishful thinking. ObamaÂ’s foreign policy team in
addition to father Zbigniew Brzezinski, includes BrzezinskiÂ’s son, Ian
Brzezinski, current US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European
and NATO Affairs. Ian Brzezinski is a devout backer of US missile defense
policy, as well as Kosovo independence and NATO expansion into Ukraine and
Georgia.

F. William Engdahl is author of A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil
Politics and the New World Order (Pluto Press), and Seeds of Destruction:
The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation (www.globalresearch.ca). This
essay is adapted from a book he has just completed, titled Full Spectrum
Dominance: The Geopolitical Agenda Behind WashingtonÂ’s Global Military
Buildup (release date estimated Autumn 2008). He may be contacted through
his website, www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net .

Copyright © 1998-2007 Online Journal

:: Article nr. 46509 sent on 18-aug-2008 22:41 ECT

www.uruknet.info?p=46509

Link: onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3630.shtml

:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Uruknet

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m46509&hd=&size=1&l=e