NATO's European Missile Defense System Goes Live Today

© Flickr/ US Army Corps of Engineers Europe District

New York Times: NATO Ratchets Up Missile Defense Despite Russian Criticism

LONDON — NATO’s European missile defense system will go live on Thursday when a base in Romania becomes operational. The next day, Poland is scheduled to break ground on its NATO missile-defense base.

The decision by the United States and its allies in Eastern Europe to proceed with ballistic missile defense in the face of increasingly loud Russian criticism is an important stage in the alliance’s new stance toward Moscow.

Those deployments will be coupled this spring with major military exercises in Poland and the Baltics, with significant American participation, and a beefed-up rapid reaction force of up to 5,000 troops.

Altogether, said Derek Chollet, a former United States assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, “There will be a quite robust display of military power in Europe and allied resolve, and hopefully Moscow will see it for what it is, an alliance improving its capabilities.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Russian reaction to these troop deployments and to missile defense is going to be harsh .... to Moscow this is just an affirmation that we are entering a new Cold War and a new arms race.

New U.S. Missile Defense Site In Romania Now Operational

© U.S. Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System Romania

Reuters: U.S. missile defense site in Romania becomes operational

A new U.S. missile defense site south of Bucharest that will defend against potential attacks from Iran has been completed, the United States and Romania announced on Friday.

The Aegis Ashore site includes a powerful radar, missile interceptors and communications equipment.

The system has been handed over to military commanders, who are expected to declare it operational, or ready for initial combat use, in early 2016 as they integrate the site with NATO's broader ballistic missile defense system.

It coincides with deliberations by U.S. officials about how to respond to an Iranian ballistic missile launch on Oct. 10 that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.

WNU Editor: The claim is that this military site will defend Europe from Iranian ballistic missiles .... Moscow has a different interpretation, even making it very clear that they will destroy these sites in any conflict .... Russia says it can destroy NATO’s antimissile defense systems in Romania and Poland (Romania Insider)

More News On The U.S. Missile Defense Site In Romania Becoming Operational

US, NATO Certify Anti-Missile Defense Site in South Romania -- AP
U.S. missile defense site in Romania starts up, angering Russia -- Navy Times
Navy accepts missile interceptor system in Romania -- Stars and Stripes
US and Romania Missile Defense Site 'Technically Capable' -- Sputnik
New part of NATO air defense system goes online in Romania -- RT

Russian Foreign Minister: With An Iranian Nuclear Deal In Place There Is No Need For Missile Defense In Europe

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

RT: Lavrov: Russia expects US to abandon Europe AMD plans after Iran deal

Moscow hopes the US will fulfill its promise not to develop a system of missile defense in Europe after a deal with Iran has been reached, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Vienna on Tuesday.

“We all probably remember that in April 2009 in Prague [US] President [Barack] Obama said that if the Iran nuclear program issue is sorted out, then the task of creating the European segment of the missile defense system will disappear,” Lavrov said at press conference in Vienna.

He said that Tehran and the P5+1 powers (the United States, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China) have agreed on “joint all-inclusive plan of actions, which consists of the main document and five very detailed technical appendices.”

Update: Lavrov: Russia expects US to abandon missile defense shield plans due to Iran deal -- ITAR-TASS

WNU Editor: He is saying this while knowing that the real reason why a missile defense system is being deployed in eastern Europe is to counter Russia .... not Iran. Such is diplomacy and public relations.

Why Russia Has A First Strike Policy Against Europe

U.S. Navy

These Ships Have Russia Considering A Missile Strike Against Europe -- Business Insider

The Navy is deploying four Guided Missile destroyers to Rota, Spain to serve as an integral part of the European Defense Shield.

The shield has been riling up Russia since it was announced, and in May the Kremlin came out and said it was not ruling out a first strike against the NATO shield in Europe.

Not long after the strike was threatened a story came out saying that Obama would release classified data on the shield to the Russians in an effort to calm them down.

Read more ....

My Comment: Russian concerns are not justified .... these ships are incapable of stopping a swarm of Russian missiles if the Russians should decide to launch a missile attack against Europe. The problem is politics, and the perception of looking weak.

NATO's Missile Defense Shield To Be Activated In May

Indymedia

NATO Will Switch On Its (Tiny) Missile Shield in May -- The Danger Room

BRUSSELS, Belgium — This is what years of development, revamp and acrimony have yielded: Starting in May, Europe will have the beginning of an operational shield against ballistic missiles, courtesy of NATO.

The system will be modest at first, not much more than SM-3 interceptor missiles aboard the U.S.S. Monterrey, a ship enabled with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system and stationed in the Mediterranean. It’ll be aided by an early-warning radar system Turkey’s hosting at its Kurecik base.

Read more ....

More News On NATO's/Europe's Missile Defense Program

NATO missile shield to be based in Germany: diplomat -- Deutsche Welle
NATO 'to base missile shield command in Germany' -- AFP
EU missile shield command post to be deployed to Germany -- Voice of Russia
Russia, NATO May Hold Missile Defense Drills in March -- RIA Novosti
Russia, NATO to stage joint anti-missile drills -- China Daily/Xinhuanet
In Negotiating Missile Defense with Russia, Obama Could Learn from Reagan’s Example -- Scott Erickson, Heritage Foundation

The U.S. And Russia Are Still "Miles Apart" On Missile Defense

A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile Photo: REUTERS

Missile Defence Still A Thorny Issue Post Cold War -- Damien McElroy, The Telegraph

Missile Defence is a relic of the Cold War that endures as a dividing line between Russia and the US despite Washington's recent drive to bring the Kremlin on-board.

President Barack Obama made modification of plans to erect a missile-based defence shield a signature plank of his foreign policy.

Russia objected to President George W Bush's policy of ensuring the US could prevent any intercontinental attack.

Moscow was also hostile to an encroaching US footprint in its former Eastern European satellites designed to address the increasing range of Iranian missiles.

In a significant concession, plans to put ballistic missile batteries in Russia's neighbours were abandoned.

Scrapping the fixed missile positions incurred considerable anger from host countries and across America's central European allies.

Read more ....

My Comment: Europe's missile defense is primarily aimed at Iran .... unfortunately .... Russia does not perceive (or accept) the possibility that Iran may one day be a formidable adversary with a missile arsenal and WNDs. It is this disagreement on Iran as a threat that is driving the wedge between Europe/U.S. and Russia. Who is right? I would like to hope that Russia will be vindicated, and that Iran's nuclear and missile programs will ultimately be shut down followed by Europe's missile defense program. Unfortunately .... when it comes to the Middle East .... we in the West have not been that lucky. The Missile Defense program will continue .... and we should expect Russian reaction to be just as negative (if not more so).

Missile Defense Continues To Harm U.S.- Russian Relations

U.S. President Barack Obama (right) and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 Summit in Deauville, France. Radio Free Europe

For Obama And Medvedev, Some Cold War-Style Frost Over Missile Defense -- L.A. Times

Reporting from Deauville, France - President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev have a friendship reputed to be so warm that they can go out for hamburgers together, and joke about mutual acquaintances (even if they refuse to say who they are).

The two 40-something lawyers like to point out that they came of age in the Cold War, and then moved beyond it.

But on Thursday, they were reminded of the difficulty of those old battles.

Read more ....

More News On U.S. - Russian Disagreements Over Missile Defense

Medvedev Uncorks a Stunner on U.S. Missile Defense Shield -- FOX News
Medvedev Says Not Happy With U.S. Missile Defense Response -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Smiles but Little Else as Medvedev Meets Obama -- Moscow Times
US, Russia still split on missile shield -- Boston.com
Obama set for high-stakes missile defense talks -- CBS News
Obama: U.S., Russia To Work On Missile Defense -- Radio Free Europe
Why Missile Defense Talks Will Fail -- Ruslan Pukhov, Moscow Times

Turkey's Conditions On Missile Defense Will Kill It's Deployment In That Part Of The Middle East

Turks Seek Control Over Shield -- Wall Street Journal

Prime Minister Increases Conditions, Says NATO Plan Needs Local Commander.

ISTANBUL—Turkey said it would seek a leading role in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization missile-defense shield if it is to agree to host the system's radars, ratcheting up its conditions days before a key alliance meeting.

Turkey would demand that NATO assign a Turkish commander to oversee the shield, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. "Especially if this is to be placed on our soil, [command] definitely should be given to us—otherwise it is not possible to accept," Mr. Erdogan told journalists at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Monday, according to Anadolu Ajansi, Turkey's state-funded news agency.

Read more ....

My Comment: This political positioning by Turkey on the missile shield reminds me of the behavior that they exhibited before the 2003 Iraq war. After intense negotiations on using Turkey as a launching pad for the U.S. 4th Division to enter Iraq from the north .... the Turks decided (at the last moment) not to give permission, thereby putting an unexpected monkey wrench into U.S. war plans and operations.

Seven years later .... and I now see the same tactics and behavior. Bottom line .... Turkey feels closer to Iran than to Europe, and they do not want such a defensive weapon system on their soil because they know that it will be directed at only one country, and that country is Iran. By putting and advancing conditions that they know will be unacceptable to the West .... they are now laying the groundwork not only for a rejection of the missile shield, but to also gain a significant political win in front of the Muslim World and key Middle Eastern countries.

Is Russia Changing It's Position On European Missile Defense?

Collage: "The Voice of Russia"

Russia Open to Joint Missile Defense With NATO, Medvedev Says -- Global Security Newswire

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his country is open to collaborating with NATO on a system of mutual missile defense in Europe, RIA Novosti reported today (see GSN, April 26).

Medvedev told the Danish Broadcasting Corp. that the Kremlin has for some time "said that the system of global missile defense must protect not only a definite country or a group of countries, but function in the interests of all responsible participants of the international society."

Read more ....

More News On Russia's Position Towards Missile Defense

Medvedev says Russia interested in NATO proposals on anti-missile defense -- RIA Novosti
Russia is ready to weigh any serious proposal by NATO -- Voice of Russia
Medvedev: Russia Ready to Join NATO Missile Defense -- Novinite
Medvedev: Russia prepared to consider joining missile shield -- Earth Times

My Comment: This is a surprise .... but the proof is in the details, and the details have not been released.

Romania To Host US Missile Interceptors

Romania Agrees To Host US Missile Interceptors -- Christian Science Monitor

Romania's decision to host US missile interceptors is not widely seen as a threat to Russian defense capabilities, unlike the scrapped plan for a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Romania will allow the US to place interceptor missiles in the former Soviet state as part of President Obama’s revamped missile shield plan.

The move is unlikely to invoke the same level of ire from Russia as former President Bush’s plan to place a larger defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Obama shelved in September.

Read more ....

More News On Romania's Decision To Host US Missile Interceptors

Romanians Accept Plan for Basing of Missiles -- New York Times
Romania approves US missile defence shield -- The Telegraph
Romania backs U.S. plan to host anti-missile shield -- Reuters
Romania to host US missile interceptors: president -- AFP
Romania to host US missile interceptors -- Washington Post/AP
Moscow wants answers from U.S. on Romania missile shield plan -- RIA Novosti
U.S. missiles in Romania would threaten Russia - analyst -- RIA Novosti

A Summary Of News Reports On The Elimination Of Missile Defense In Europe

Pentagon Policy Chief: New Missile Plan 'Dramatic Improvement' -- Voice Of America

The Pentagon's top policy chief says the Obama administration's new missile defense plan for Europe is a "dramatic improvement" over the strategy planned by former U.S. President George W. Bush.

The defense department's leader on policy, Michelle Flournoy, defended the revamped missile plan during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington Thursday.

Read more ....

More News On Missile Defense

Timing of missile defense announcement criticized -- AP
No missile shield planned in Balkans -U.S. official -- Reuters
Poland President: Concerned Over A Russian Power Move -- Nasdaq
Poland sees merit in new Obama missile plan: aide -- Washington Post
Missile Defense's Shelving Reflected Military's Concerns -- Washington Post
Missile defense shift has winners and losers -- L.A. Times
U.S. ships anti-missile systems to Israel -- UPI
MISSILE DEFENCE: A New Plan For ‘Star Wars’ -- In Depth News
Anti-Missile Missiles and the Politics of Fear -- Baltimore Chronicle
Deciphering the Fallout on Obama's Missile Plan -- New York Times
Military Pushed for New Missile Defense Plan -- Global Security Newswire

President Obama Scraps Missile Shield For Eastern Europe

The findings follow a 60-day review ordered by Mr Obama and
are expected to be announced next week. Photo: Getty

Eastern Europe Awaits Decision on Missile Shield -- New York Times

BERLIN — The Obama administration is expected to announce Thursday that it will shelve plans to deploy its controversial anti-ballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe, a Polish official said, a move that will be welcomed by Russia but deeply regretted by Poland and the Czech Republic, two key American allies.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the administration was “very close” to the end of a seven-month review of a missile defense shield proposal but he would not give any more details.

Read more ....

More News On The U.S. Cancellation Of The Missile Defense Program For Eastern Europe

Obama expected to shelve missile defense plan -- Yahoo news/AP
US missile rethink a huge shift -- BBC
Reports: U.S. scraps missile defense shield plans -- CNN
U.S. shield may not be deployed: Polish official -- Reuters
US to scrap plans for missile shield in Europe: report -- AFP
Obama Signals He May Drop Poland, Czech Missile Plan -- Bloomberg
Obama cancels plans for anti-missile radar in Czech Republic -- RIA Novosti
US to scrap European missile defence shield -- The Telegraph
Obama phones Czech premier on missile defense -- AP
Russia welcomes U.S. move to scrap missile plans for Europe -- RIA Novosti
Barack Obama to abandon European missile-defence shield, say reports -- The Guardian
Obama Ends a 'Special Relationship' -- New York Times
FACTBOX: A few details of planned U.S. missile shield -- Reuters

My Comment: I will comment further on this tonight. I have been following this story for the past 6 months, and I have been consistently pointing out that by canceling the program there will be consequences from Eastern Europe. I can only guess that President Obama has made the calculation that by breaking our agreements and deserting our allies is more politically useful for him and the U.S. than by keeping them.

BREAKING!!! U.S. To Abandon Missile Defense Agreements With Poland And The Czech Republic

U.S. To Abandon European Missile Shield Proposal, Report Says -- Global Security Newswire

The Obama administration intends to abandon its predecessor's proposal to field missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic, the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported today, citing Washington lobbyists and an unnamed U.S. congressional source (see GSN, Aug. 26).

Washington is considering alternate deployment sites for the defenses, including warships stationed in the region as well as bases in Israel, Turkey and the Balkans, Agence France-Presse quoted the report as saying. The purpose of the shield would ostensibly be to counter a long-range missile threat from Iran, but Russia has loudly characterized the Bush administration plan as a threat to its strategic nuclear deterrent.

Read more ....

More News On "Relocating" Missile Defense Away From Europe

Poland Without Missile Defence -- Gazetta Wyborcza
Obama Officially Abandons Missile Defense in Europe -- Heritage Foundation
U.S. to relocate missile defense system -- UPI
U.S. to scrap missile shield plan for Poland, Czech Republic – report -- Watch TV
US to abandon Polish-Czech missile shield, lobbyist says -- EU Observer
Washington set to erect anti-missile bases in Turkey and Israel -- Arab Monitor

My Comment: With the exception of UPI, the main wire services are reporting nothing on this story right now. I guess they are covering the Kennedy funeral.

The news of abandoning a major security treaty with Eastern European countries is newsworthy enough to be the top story of every newscast.... and it will be in Europe .... but positioning these anti-missile systems in Israel and/or Turkey/The Balkans ?!?!? This alone should be breaking news for all the cable news networks.

This is a breaking news story, and War News Updates will update it as more information becomes available.

European Missile Shield Not Set In Stone, Pentagon Says

Photo: US Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly, director of the Pentagon Missile Defense Agency, pictured here in Washington July 9. Larry Downing/Reuters

From The Christian Science Monitor:

The head of the Missile Defense Agency suggests the plans could be altered, echoing President Obama's desire to compromise with Russia.

Washington - A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday the Obama administration may be open to tweaking its plans for a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe.

The missile shield, proposed under President Bush to counter a threat from Iran, would locate 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland and a series of missile radar sensors in the Czech Republic.

The move has long angered Moscow, which perceives the development of the missile shield in its backyard as a hawkish move on the part of the US. Meanwhile, American officials have long maintained that the missile system is designed to defend the region against an Iranian missile threat.

Read more ....

Update: U.S. Considering Technological Alternatives for European Missile Shield, General Says -- Global Security Newswire

My Comment: I expected news reports of this type to be making the mass media rounds a month or two after the U.S.-Russian summit of last week. I was wrong .... the Pentagon has received the message from the White House that this is the new tune on missile defense .... and they are playing it.

As for the promise to the Poles and Czechs that a missile defense program was to be installed in their countries this year/next year .... it appears that this is going to be revised.