The USA forces Russia into another arms race

The US administration has returned to one of its most favorite subjects. The White House is pondering over a possibility to defend the nation against a possible threat from the East. Apparently, security concerns of the USA and its allies are going to vanish with the creation of a new air defense center. The construction is to be complete before 2011, although the location has not been chosen yet.

Photo: The USA forces Russia into another arms race

The USA forces Russia into another arms race

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will decide in which part of Europe the USA would like to build a new air defense complex. The project, the cost of which is evaluated at $1.6 billion, can be based in either Poland or the Czech Republic. US defense officials emphasize that such a project of the US administration has a solely peaceful goal to defend the USA and its allies against possible attacks from the East. The USA already has similar air defense complexes in Alaska and California. The new system is to be built close to Russia’s borders, which may aggravate the complicated relations between Russia and the USA.

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in April of the current year that Russia had a right to take all necessary measures to safeguard Russia’s national security in the event Russia sees a threat near its borders. Furthermore, if the USA deploys its anti-missile base in Poland or even in Great Britain, it endangers Russia’s Plesetsk space port.

USA's intentions are mirrored in the latest report from NATO. The report particularly says that Europe may suffer from long-range missiles, launched from the East. US defense specialists started working on the extensive report in 2002, but it was finished only several days ago.

The biggest part of the research is obviously being kept secret for it carries the complete information about all types of ballistic missiles in European countries. NATO’s report has brought some optimism to those states fearing for their security. NATO member countries will have to think if they are going to participate in the construction of the new air defense system. Germany and France have already expressed their protests against the creation of the air shield above Europe.

Russian military expert, the Vice President of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems, Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, said in an interview with Pravda.Ru that the Russian administration should treat the above-mentioned information seriously. The new defense structure will let the USA down missiles launched from Russia’s Plesetsk space center. Ivashov believes that NATO is working on the technical part of its plan aimed against Russia.

“If these plans of the Pentagon come true, the USA will considerably raise the efficiency of its air defense structure. The missiles launched from the European part of Russia will be intercepted on the accelerating part of their trajectory,” the specialist said.

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov
Pravda.Ru