US-NATO 'Missile Shield' Programme: Index Timeline Part II

by Sarah Meyer Index Research

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In June 2007, Index Research published US-NATO 'Missile Shield' Programme: Index Timeline . This continued information about the US_NATO missile shield programme starting with February 2007. This was later updated to August 2007. Continual updates to this research were then added. Ten months later, the amount of information has become unwieldy. I thought it best, for easier reading, to put the updates from August 2007 - November 2008 in this separate blog.
Updates: click for entry to the period in which you are interested.
2007: August, September, October, November, December.
2008: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November-December,

Jan/Feb '09,
March 2009
Updated to 20.10.09.

Missile shields are now a major topic at the present NATO summit. Mr. Bush bangs on about a rogue nation,' seemingly unaware that most of the world think that the United States is the real 'rogue .' Mr. Bush's speech prior to the opening of the United Nations summit was a repeat not only of continued platitudes but also of many accusations made after 9/11 about Iraq - with Iran now the unjustified focus of "evil." Are Mr. Cheney, and his very own 'poodle,' Mr. Bush, pathologically focused on matters 'nuclear', and intent on a forthcoming war?

It is unfortunate that the Czech Republic is so sycophantic to the U.S. demands for missile shield placements. A confrontation between Russia, who feels (rightly) threatened by U.S. missile shield plans, and Mr. Bush is due to take place on 12 April 2008.

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AUGUST 2007

Lavrov says U.S. failed to justify Europe missile shield -1
01.08.07. Rian.ru.

Public opposition to U.S. missile defense plans deserves respect: Czech president
04.08.07. Englishpeople.com.

Russia Plans ICBM to Counter US Missile Shield
06.08.07. Spiegel/ICH. The Russian navy plans on producing a new submarine-based missile system in 2008. It is part of a big increase in the country's spending on research, development and procurement of weaponry, prompting fears of a new cold war.

ISRAEL
Israel: Missile shield before West Bank pullout
08.08.07. NBC. Barak says Israel must have a missile defense system in place to protect it from Palestinian rocket fire before it could carry out a large scale pullback in the West Bank, an official said Wednesday.
MEANWHILE: a (HO HO) "INVESTMENT IN PEACE" (SIC)
US and Israel in $30bn arms deal
16.08.07. BBC. Olmert has said the aid will preserve his country's military advantage over other countries in the Middle East.
the new military aid package represents a 25% increase from present levels.
U.S.: No strings attached to new defense package for Israel. (Pull the other one?)

Putin increases missile defence rhetoric
12.08.07. FT - ICH. The war of words between Moscow and the west over missile defence intensified over the weekend as Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, declared a new radar station near St Petersburg to be "the first step in a large-scale programme".

US attorney general in Baghdad
12.08.07. presstv.ir. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has visited Baghdad for talks with US and Iraqi officials on his third visit to Iraq. He was met by US General David Petraeus, the multinational force commander in Iraq, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement.

ENTER CHINA
US military sees looming China threat to satellites
14.08.07. breitbart.com. China may be just three years away from being able to disrupt US military satellites in a regional conflict, a senior US military leader said Tuesday, citing a recent anti-satellite test and other advances. /The warning came amid calls at a conference in Alabama for intensified efforts to ensure US "space superiority" in the wake of China's shoot down January 11 of one of its own satellites with a ballistic missile.

IRAN leader denounces U.S. missile shield plan
16.08.07. IHT.

Russian radar site doesn't fir U.S. missile shield needs: general
16.08.07. spacewar.com. A Russian radar site in Azerbaijan is too close to Iran to serve as a replacement for a planned US missile defense site in eastern Europe, the chief of the US missile defense agency said Thursday. ( closer than Israel?

US $30bn "Aid" to Israel
19.08.07. S. Meyer, Index Research. Did anyone notice a interesting series of events between the US and Israel recently? Is this a coincidence? Is there a relationship between these stories?


Russia: US missile shield a 'big mistake'
21.08.07. S Peck, Telegraph. Russia: US missile shield a 'big mistake' . Russia's military chief told a Czech delegation it would be making a "big mistake" by hosting a US missile defence shield on its soil.

The Warfare State is Part of Us
22.08.07. Norman Solomon, Counterpunch –ICH. How to Survive at the Pentagon on $2 Billion a Day. We actually live in concentric spheres, and "politics" suffuses households as well as what Martin Luther King Jr. called "The World House." Under that heading, he wrote in 1967: "When scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men. When we foolishly minimize the internal of our lives and maximize the external, we sign the warrant for our own day of doom. Our hope for creative living in this world house that we have inherited lies in our ability to re-establish the moral ends of our lives in personal character and social justice. Without this spiritual and moral reawakening we shall destroy ourselves in the misuse of our own instruments." … What we've tolerated has become part of us. What we accept, however reluctantly, seeps inward. In the long run, passivity can easily ratify even what we may condemn. And meanwhile, in the words of Thomas Merton, "It is the sane ones, the well-adapted ones, who can without qualms and without nausea aim the missiles and press the buttons that will initiate the great festival of destruction that they, the sane ones, have prepared."

Russia Talks Tough on Missile Defense
23.08.07. AP-usadaily. President Vladimir Putin's offer of cooperation with the United States on missile defense is good only if Washington drops a plan to deploy elements of the system in central Europe, a Russian official emphasized Thursday.

NATO to give Georgia access to radar data – representative
23.08.07. globalsecurity.org

Austrian Minister: US Missile Shield Is Provocation
23.08.07. Reuters / Truthout.

Poll: Poles still oppose U.S. missile base
24.08.07. thestate.com. 56 percent of those questioned oppose putting the base on Polish territory - a level of resistance that has remained fairly steady over the past months. The poll said that 28 percent favor the plan.

The new 'NATO of the East' takes shape
M K Bhadrakumar, Asia Times. ‘It is certainly a measure of the SCO's success that the United States and Japan are knocking at its door, anxious to gain "observer" status. … the massive shift in the templates of great-power politics in recent years also has provided impetus for the SCO's growing clout. … Where does the SCO fit in the "new cold war?" The question can take different forms. A variant would be, "Is the SCO turning into a NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]-like military alliance? … What stands to reason from the above is that the two (China, Russia) leaderships may have for the first time discussed the common challenge facing the two countries, emanating out of the US plans to deploy the missile-defense systems in Central Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. … Lavrov added, "We and China are analyzing the US global missile-defense plans targeting Europe and the East."

US missile defence shield a threat: Russia
27.08.07. peninsularqater.com

Ten Reasons Why Russia Can’t Trust Uncle Sam
26.08.07. Robert Bridge, Globalresearch.ca. The West says that it is perplexed by Russia's "aggressive" behavior of late, and suggests that Moscow is desirous to regain its past superpower status, and even a little empire. But if cashing in on oil is imperialism, how do we explain the following U.S. moves

GUE/NGL Delegation to Greenland 27.08.2007 - 31.08.2007
27.08.07. europeanagenda. Greenland plays an essential role in the United States’ missile shield system due to the location of a strategic American military base near Thule in the north of Greenland

Barak: Israel needs missile shield
28.08.07. AP - Guardian. Israel won't be able to carry out a major West Bank pullback for 2 years because it first needs a missile defense system in place to protect it against Palestinian rocket fire, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told a parliamentary committee Monday.

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SEPTEMBER 2007

Hot Air Department
Palestinians whine about Israel’s missile shield
02.09.07. themidnightsun. "Israel has decided to erect a missile shield. It’s about time and who would blame her for defending herself?" ( Are not nuclear weapons enough to 'defend' Israel, not to speak of all the 'aid' Israel gets from the US government? )

Warsaw to host talks on U.S. missile shield Sep. 6-7
04.09.07. rian.ru. The U.S. has plans to deploy interceptor missiles in north Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic to fend off what Washington sees as an impending missile threat from "rogue states," such as Iran and North Korea. Russia has consistently rejected this reasoning, and views the plans as a threat to its own national security. [ the US is the “rogue state” ]

Boeing Warns of U.S. Missile Defense Laser Delay
05.09.07. Nti.org. U.S. President George W. Bush requested $549 million in fiscal 2008 for the Airborne Laser, which would be fired from a Boeing 747 aircraft to destroy enemy missiles during their boost phase of flight, the Associated Press reported. The Senate and House Armed Services committees both recommended reducing the project’s funding, and the House Appropriations Committee agreed in July to enact a $51 million cut.

Talks on US-Poland missile shield could be completed by year-end
06.09.07. monstersandcritics.

No Missile Deal for Putin: Bush
07.09.07. News.com. US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin showed no sign of progress after talks in Sydney today to defuse tensions over US missile defence plans that have angered Moscow.

Schroeder calls U.S. missile plan "dangerous"
08.09.07. Reuters – Washington Post.

US military team set to inspect Azerbaijan radar station
08.09.07. ft.com. … to inspect a radar station that Russia has proposed as an alternative to missile defence facilities in central Europe.

Rice to visit Israel, Palestine next week
13.09.07. earthtimes. [whenever Rice travels, one can look for what is tinkling in back pocket?]

Senate to call Boeing's 2009 raygun nuke-zap bluff?
14.09.07. theregister.co.uk. It seems that the ground-based mid-course defence layer of the proposed American missile shield will not get the money requested by the Bush administration. In particular, the draft Senate bill will cut appropriations for planned interceptor and radar sites in Eastern Europe. … What hasn't yet been shown is the feasibility of making a missile explode by lighting it up with a raygun, let alone a raygun that has to fit in a plane. But Boeing, leaders of the Airborne Laser (ABL) programme, have their modified jumbo jet all ready to go. They also claim successful ground tests of the necessary laser machinery. The firm recently swore blind that if they got the full budget request, they'd blast a missile using ABL in 2009. (They said 2005 last time, in 2002.)

U.S. lawmaker sees missile defense system as part of NATO
15.09.07. englishpeople. The missile defense system must be fully incorporated in NATO and it must protect not only the United States but also the whole of Europe, U.S. Democrat Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher told a press conference in Prague on Friday. [ Tsk. Tauscher should know better! ]

Left party leaders rap US plan for missile shield
15.09.07. pehninsulaqatar. ‘Left-wing’ leaders [ie socialists] from six central European countries condemned US moves to site a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland in a joint declaration adopted yesterday. "We are concerned about the decision to deploy the system and are at one with the large majority of our populations in rejecting it," said the statement, signed by Social Democratic party leaders from the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Poland says no decision on U.S. anti-missile shield
24.09.07. tehrantimes.

Spying claim row on US missile shield
26.09.07. theherald.co.uk. Russia's Foreign Minister said yesterday that the true reason the US wants an anti-missile system in Eastern Europe is not to defend Europe from Iranian missiles but to spy on Russia.

Russia promises retaliation if weapons deployed in space :
27.09.07. rian.ru / ICH. "Should any country deploy weapons in space, then the laws of armed warfare are such that retaliatory weapons are certain to appear," Col. Gen. Vladimir Popovkin said.
U.S. Missile Defenses in Europe Could Undermine Russian Nuclear Deterrent, Physicists Say
27.09.07. NTI.

Physicists Question US on Missile Plan
27.09.07. sfgate. A number of top U.S-based physicists have concluded the United States used inaccurate claims to reassure NATO allies about U.S. missile defense plans in Eastern Europe. They say the planned Polish-based interceptors and a radar system in the Czech Republic could target and catch Russian missiles, thus threatening Russia's nuclear deterrent. That view supports Russia's criticism of the system.

Congressional Budget Cuts no Barrier to European Missile Defense Plans, U.S. General Says
28.09.07. Nti. The head of the U.S. missile defense agency said fiscal 2008 budget cuts proposed in Congress could slow but not stop the Bush administration’s efforts to deploy missile defense elements in Europe, Inside Missile Defense reported Wednesday

U.S. carries out successful missile defense test
28.09.07. Reuters. A U.S. interceptor missile on Friday shot down a dummy warhead replicating an incoming North Korean missile in the 7th successful test of Boeing Co’s long rang missile shield, the Pentagon said.

Russia wants global pact to outlaw weapons deployment in space
30.09.07. economictimes.

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OCTOBER 2007

Missile Defense System Is Up and Running, Military Says
02.10.07. T. Shanker, NY Times. After a successful test last week, the tracking radars and interceptor rockets of a new American missile defense system can be turned on at any time to respond to an emerging crisis in Asia, senior military officers said Tuesday.

Bahrain sets up missile shield
04.10.07. presstv. Bahrain has set up a new radar system as part of a missile shield to protect the Persian Gulf littoral state against possible attacks.

Bahrain has set up a new radar system as part of a missile shield to protect the Persian Gulf littoral state against possible attacks.

US offers joint missile shield
06.10.07 presstv.ir. The US offers Russia to set up a joint missile defense system to allay Moscow's concerns about US plans to deploy the shield in Europe. [ Really? ]

Czech FM: U.S. has final say on launch of interceptor missiles
08.10.07. Xinhuanet. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said on Sunday the United States would have the final say on launching interceptor missiles from eastern Europe to protect against attacks on Europe or the United States.

Missile defence to reduce number of nuclear weapons -- Wolfowitz
08.10.07. ceskenoviny.cz. Missile defence, including the possible U.S. radar base near Prague, should help reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world, Paul Wolfowitz,former World Bank head and formerU.S. deputy secretary of defense, told CTK during the Forum 2000 conference in Prague today. [1. For what organisation / for whom, officially, is Wolfowitz speaking? 2. Nuclear weapons are illegal and should have already been dismanted, according to the non-proliferation treaty.

INTERVIEW-Lockheed sees missile-shield sales
09.10.07. reuters. ISRAEL (sic) and a number of other countries are in talks with the United States about buying a new Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) missile defense system even though flight testing is still in its early stages, company executives told Reuters on Tuesday.

Is Menwith Hill and the UK to be possible site for missiles and X-band radars?
09.10.07. According to the Mail on Sunday the government is in secret talks to allow George W Bush's controversial "son-of-Star Wars" Missile Defense system to be based in Britain (06 October 2007). 'The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Government has opened talks to allow the US to put both the missiles and the radar station on British soil'.

Stark Differences on Arms Threaten U.S.-Russia Talks
10.10.07. NY Times. Growing disagreements over how to carry forward arms control treaties threaten to bog down meetings in Moscow this week between top-level Americans and their Russian counterparts that are intended to seek a compromise on missile defense.

Broad Principles Separate U.S., Russian Officials as They Prepare Missile Defense Talks
10.10.07. NTI. U.S.-Russian disagreements over the merits of negotiated arms control agreements are endangering prospects for constructive results at this week’s meeting of senior officials in Moscow, the New York Times reported today. .. discussion could be waylaid by Russia’s announced intention to suspend participation in a multilateral conventional arms pact and by the U.S. refusal to extend a strategic nuclear arms agreement

US rejects Russian security concern
12.10.07. al jazeera. The US has rejected Russian calls to freeze a planned missile defence system in central Europe, despite a warning from Moscow that it would move to "neutralise" the threat.

Putin threatens withdrawal from cold war nuclear treaty
12.10.07. Guardian.
President Vladimir Putin warned today that Russia was considering withdrawal from a major cold war arms treaty restricting intermediate range nuclear missiles unless it is expanded to include other states. Mr Putin said that Moscow is planning to dump the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty (INF) - signed in a landmark deal between the US and Soviet Union in 1987 - unless countries like China are included in its provisions. His comments came just before talks in Moscow today between the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, with Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the defence minister, Anatoly Serdyukov. His comments came just before talks in Moscow today between the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, with Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the defence minister, Anatoly Serdyukov. Mr Putin also repeated his opposition to the Bush administrations plans to site elements of its missile defence shield in central Europe. The project threatened the US and Russia's strategic relationship, he suggested. [ looks like US has come up against a wall it can’t manipulate. ]

Rice: Missile Defense Plans to Proceed
12.10.07. Guardian. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says plans to expand the U.S. missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic will proceed, but she wants to seek Russian suggestions for cooperation to address Moscow's opposition to the program. Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Rice and Gates face arms control and diplomatic disputes that are testing the strength of U.S.-Russian relations, such as Iran's nuclear program, Russia's commitment to democracy and the U.S. missile shield in eastern Europe.


Vladimir Putin. Photograph: Viktor Korotayev/AP

Condoleezza Rice. Photo AP

Putin Criticizes U.S. Officials on Missile Defense
12.10.07. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sharply upbraided the visiting American secretaries of state and defense on Friday as highly anticipated negotiations produced no specific accords to resolve growing disagreements over missile defense and other security issues.

Analysis: Vladimir Putin raises the stakes over missile defence
12.10.07. timesonline. [Excuse me, but US-NATO first "raised the stakes" by announcing it was going to build the missile shield and then tried to rope in eastern European countries. timesonline playing the US repeat- tape; not done homework!]

Merkel, Putin to talk about missile shield
12.10.07. expatica.com. [the talks] are expected to focus on US plans for an anti-missile shield in eastern Europe and the future status of Kosovo. [isn’t Merkel another Bliar-style US puppet? ]

Putin warns U.S. to back off on missile talks
13.10.07. AP. President Bush's top two Cabinet officials, expecting a polite photo op, were ambushed by a Russian leader who fears Eastern Europe may be turned into a U.S. staging point for a new Cold War.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): Index Timeline
16.10.07. S. Meyer, Index Research. Research on "NATO OF THE EAST"

[ US SPIN ]
US sees progress in missile defense talks with Russia
17.10.07. AP / IHT. Senior American officials insisted Wednesday they were making headway in talks to narrow differences with Russia over U.S. proposals for anti-missile bases in eastern Europe, despite Moscow's concerns. [ the real story lies embedded in AP report ]. Despite Russian objections, they [US officials ] said the United States would press ahead with its plans to place a sophisticated tracking unit in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles. … In an effort to allay Russian concerns, the U.S. last week proposed developing a "joint architecture" for cooperative missile defense, as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met President Vladimir Putin and other top officials in Moscow. After those talks, Russian officials repeated their opposition to the plan, and Russia has sent mixed signals since then.
......
Ooops

U.S. Mistakenly Fires Patriot Missile in Qatar
17.10.07. NTI. The U.S. Army accidentally fired a Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile during a training exercise at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, the Washington Post reported today. The Qatari military reported that the PAC-3 missile landed on local farmland about four miles north of the base, causing no damage. One PAC-3 missile costs more than $4 million, according to the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org.
......

U.S., ISRAEL Consider Layered Missile Defenses
17.10.07. NTI. Top U.S. and Israeli defense officials have pledged to study the potential for a layered missile defense system to protect Israel from Iranian and Syrian ballistic missiles as well as smaller rockets launched from Lebanon and the Gaza strip, Reuters reported today. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak agreed to establish a joint committee to examine how Tel Aviv might receive support from Washington might in deploying such a system, said Defense Department spokesman. The two senior officials also discussed improvements to the Arrow 2 Israeli air-defense system, which the United States is already a partner in maintaining, according to an Israeli security source. The system is in place to destroy incoming missiles launched by nations such as Iran and Syria.

Consultations on missile defence at NATO HQ
17.10.07. NATO.int. The North Atlantic Council and the NATO-Russia Council respectively, discussed on 17 October missile defence issues. The sessions were a continuation of consultation meetings held at NATO HQ last year, as well as in February and April 2007.National delegations included high-ranking officials and experts from capitals. For example, the US team was headed by Under Secretary of Defence Eric Edelman, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried and Director of the Missile Defense Agency General Henry Obering, while the Russian delegation was led by Ambassador Anatoliy Antonov from the Foreign Ministry and General Alexander Yakushin of Russian Space Forces.

Bush warns Putin over 'World War Three'
18.10.07. Telegraph. President George W Bush today warned that world leaders risk helping bring about "World War Three" unless they do more to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons."We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Mr Bush told a White House press conference.

nuclear hypocrisy evident in following story
Nuclear Deal With India May Be Near Collapse
16.10.07. Washington Post. Premier Cites Internal Opposition To Agreement Pushed by Bush. A controversial nuclear deal between the United States and India appears close to collapse after the Indian prime minister told President Bush yesterday that "certain difficulties" will prevent India from moving forward on the pact for the foreseeable future. … Neither government appeared eager to announce the setback to what had been billed as one of the Bush administration's biggest foreign policy ‘achievements.’ [ ‘achievement ‘ ? How can something be an 'achievement in India when it is a reason for war in Iran?] tThe reluctance to admit that the deal is faltering contrasts with the fanfare when it was announced in 2005. … The agreement lays [laid] out a framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation that would eventually allow trade in nuclear reactors, technology and fuel between the two nations. It permits [permitted] India to reprocess nuclear fuel and opens the way for the United States to become a "reliable" supplier for India's energy program.

Putin attacks US, announces new nuclear weapon
18.10.07. timesofindia. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday chastised the United States over its policy in Iraq and Iran, and announced "grandiose" military plans, including development of a new nuclear weapon. In a nationally broadcast [3 hour] link-up with ordinary Russians across the country, Putin called the US intervention in Iraq a "dead end" and called on Washington to set a deadline for the withdrawal of troops. In a nationally broadcast link-up with ordinary Russians across the country, Putin called the US intervention in Iraq a "dead end" and called on Washington to set a deadline for the withdrawal of troops. In a video link-up with servicemen at the Plesetsk nuclear missile base, Putin said that Russia would build another nuclear submarine next year and was also planning a "completely new" atomic weapon. ... Later Thursday Putin was to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Moscow for talks expected to focus on Iran's Russian-backed nuclear programme.

U.S. Offers Missile Defense Concessions to Russia
22.10.07. NTI.

ISRAEL Developing New Missile Interceptor
22.10.07. NTI.

U.S. Deploys Third Missile Interceptor at Vandenberg
22.10.07. NTI.

European Missile Defense Deals COULD be Delayed
23.10.07. NTI. The Bush administration hoped to sign deals before the end of 2007. That would allow lawmakers in Prague and Warsaw to consider the deal in spring 2008, paving the way for construction to begin and for the sites to have initial operational status by 2011. However, the recent Polish parliamentary election throws a potential wrench into the works. The victorious Civic Platform party is likely to seek additional concessions from the United States for supporting installation of 10 missile interceptors in Poland.

Russia Warns Over U.S. Missile Defense, Says Iran is Not a Threat
23.10.07. Fox / ICH. Russia is concerned that U.S.-led missile defense initiatives in Europe and Asia are based on an erroneous assessment of the threat posed by Iran, Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.

Bush says Iranian missiles could reach US, all Europe by 2015
23.10.07. iii.co.uk / ICH. "Our intelligence community assess that, with continued foreign assistance, Iran could develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States and all of Europe before 2015," he said.

U.S. offers to keep missile shield on stand-by
23.10.07. Gates said the possible delay was one of the proposals he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put forward in talks with Russian officials to try to ease Moscow's concern and win its cooperation over the defence system. … "We have not fully developed this proposal, but the idea was we would go forward with the negotiations, we would complete the negotiations, we would develop the sites, build the sites but PERHAPS we would delay activating them until there was concrete proof of the threat from Iran," he told reporters in Prague.

US-Japan missile shield worries Russia
23.10.07. Radio Australia. Russia's foreign minister has told Japanese leaders the Kremlin is concerned about a missile shield Tokyo is building with Washington. They began working on the project in 1998 after North Korea shot a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.

Czech-US missile shield talks to spill over to 2008: official
23.10.07. Raw Story. "I do not think we will be able to conclude an agreement ... by the end of the year," he told journalists on the margins of a visit by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Prague.
=
Gates to throw support behind missile shield in Prague – Summary
18.10.07. earthtimes. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates will be holding talks in Prague next week on US plans for its missile shield on Czech soil, Czech Defence Ministry spokesman Jan Pejsek said Thursday.

Following this visit, the following headline appears: Czech parliament votes against referendum on U.S. missile shield - 1 (27.10.07)

Poland's new plans on Iraq, US shield
22.10.07. presstv.ir. He (Tusk) said Poland should drive a tough bargain in return for hosting the US missile defense base. {where is Cheney / Condi / Gates with shekels in pockets? ]

CHINA says U.S. missile shield threatens global stability
24.10.07. rian.ru. The placement of U.S. missile defenses in Europe will not ease global security concerns but will undermine the global strategic balance, the Chinese foreign minister said Wednesday.

Putin: US Plan Evokes '62 Cuban Crisis
26.10.07. AP. President Vladimir Putin on Friday evoked one of the most dangerous confrontations of the Cold War to highlight Russian opposition to a proposed U.S. missile defense system in Europe, comparing it to the Cuban missile crisis of 45 years ago. The comments — made at the end of a summit between Russia and European Union that failed to resolve several festering disputes — were the latest in a series of belligerent statements from the assertive Putin. [ Hang on a minute, AP. The US govn.has been making BELLIGERENT statements about missile defense systems for YEARS ]

Czechs to benefit from U.S. missile shield
30.10.07. arcmax.com. Villagers near the Czech Brdy military complex south of Prague are seeking millions of dollars in compensation for placing a U.S. radar base in the region. A Czech government commission allocated $67 million for development projects in the Brdy municipalities, while local authorities in villages and towns had asked for a sum about four times as large, Prague Radio reported Tuesday.

UPDATE 1-US lawmakers refuse funds for Europe missile shield
31.10.07. Reuters. [However, whatever US lawmakers decide, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference to Bush govn.] See To Implement Policy, Bush to Turn to Administrative Orders (Washington Post 31 October).

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NOVEMBER 2007

Russia Claims U.S. Accelerating Missile Defense Plan
01.11.07. NTI. Talks with Poland and the Czech Republic “have not only not been suspended, but additional measures are being taken to speed them up,” said ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin in a prepared statement. “There is the impression that the United States is trying to make the realization of its plans irreversible.”


Lawmakers Cut Missile Defense Funds
06.11.07. sfgate. Lawmakers on Tuesday reduced money requested by President Bush to build a European missile defense system, eliminating funds slated for building an interceptor site in Poland.

Negotiators from the House and the Senate left the funding out of a $460 billion bill to finance U.S. defense operations covering the budget year that began Oct. 1, according to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.

Funding Cut for Poland Interceptor Site
07.11.07. NTI. .S. House and Senate lawmakers yesterday cut fiscal 2008 funding for installation of 10 missile interceptors in Poland, the Associated Press reported.

US okays $155m arms package for Israel
YNETNEWS. The US Congress on Wednesday approved a $155 million arms package for Israel, aimed at the development of the Hetz and David mid-range defensive missile systems and for the development long-range defensive missile systems. The arms package is still pending the approval of the US House of Representatives and President George W Bush. The Israeli defense establishment was pleased with Congress' decision, which effectively increases Israel's missile development budget by 30%.

Bush Threat of World War III: Cuban Missile Crisis Redux
08.11.07. Professor Francis Boyle, globalresearch.ca. "During the course of an October 17, 2007 press conference, President Bush Jr. terrorized the entire world with the threat of World War III if he could not work his illegal will upon Iran . Then Russian President Vladimir Putin responded in kind by likewise terrorizing the entire world with the prospect of yet another Cuban Missile Crisis if he did not get his way on the provocative anti-ballistic missile (A.B.M.) systems that the Bush Jr. administration plans to locate in Poland and the Czech Republic.

House Approves $8.7B for Missile Defense
09.11.07. NTI. The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved a fiscal 2008 defense spending bill that includes $8.7 billion for missile defense programs, the Associated Press reported. The amount is roughly 2 percent below the funding level sought by the Bush administration. .. U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday also allocated $155 million for development of an Israeli advanced missile interceptor, Agence France-Presse reported

Russia piles pressure on EU over missile shield
Adrian Blomfield, Telegraph. Russia threatened to site short-range nuclear missiles in a second location on the European Union's border yesterday if the United States refuses to abandon plans to erect a missile defence shield.

Russia abandons key Cold War arms treaty
16.11.07. Yahoo. President Vladimir Putin ordered the moratorium on July 13 amid [after?]a row over US plans to install an anti-missile shield in eastern Europe.

Bogdan Klich, new Polish defense chief, signals a shift on U.S. missile shield
19.11.07. AP/ IHT. The new defense minister of Poland said his country should reconsider whether allowing the United States to base part of a missile defense system in the country serves Polish interests. The comments by Bogdan Klich, published Monday, underlined the shift in thinking under the new government that took office Friday. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to take a firmer stand in relations with the United States.

Putin says Russia will not tolerate NATO military build up - 2
20.11.07. rian.ru.

Russia slams U.S. written proposals on missile shield, CFE
23.11.07. rian.ru. The United States has gone back on previous initiatives concerning its missile shield in Europe in a written proposal earlier received by Russia, a source in Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday.

+

DECEMBER 2007

Gov't questions nature and need of US anti-missile shield

Opposition to U.S. Missile Shield Grows in Poland
03.12.07. angus reid. 61 per cent of respondents are opposed their country’s participation in the project, up five points since August.
03.12.07. wbj.pl. According to Rzeczpospolita, the new government does not really feel committed to talks with the Americans regarding the anti-missile shield, as Warsaw has doubts on whether the US is revealing all details concerning the shield.

Gates calls for anti-Iran missile shield
07.12.07. ABC.

India to launch ICBM, develops missile defence shield
12.12.07. Earthtimes. India is to launch a 5,000-km nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) next year, even as it has developed a credible missile shield that is superior to the American Patriot anti-missile system, defence scientists said Thursday. Both are homegrown systems and make India one of the very few countries in the world possessing the technology to manufacture them.

Belarus to play its role in US missile shield row: president
14.12.07. Raw Story.

Russian general says Pentagon is seeking direct confrontation with Moscow
15.12.07. IHT.

Russia may dump weakening US dollar in its energy deals
15.12.07. dailytimes.com.pk. It seems that the rejection of the US dollar has become a fashion trend in modern-day business relations. Several major oil and gas exporters have recently announced their plans to use a different currency in their deals with other countries. The heads of Iran, Venezuela and Ecuador expressed such an opinion at the OPEC summit in November. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad particularly stated that Iran needs to replace the dollar because of its ongoing setback. His Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, expanded on the idea and put forward a suggestion to change the dollar for the basket of currencies (apart from the dollar it includes the euro, the British pound, the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan and the Venezuelan bolivar) to recalculated world prices on oil. Ahmadinejad continued with an idea to set up the OPEC Oil Exchange and the OPEC Bank.

Spooky Math for "Flying Lightsaber"
19.12.07. Wired. 'Yes, only the US Congress could develop a scenario where everyone acknowledges that: (a) we're spending too much money on a troubled program that is pushing immature technology; (b) we could be buying real warfighter capability with other systems; (c) no one is willing to pull the trigger. So we have this case where $300 million plus $350 million divided by two equals $514 million. That's real good math, boys.'

Putin Agonistes: Missile Defense will not be Deployed
19.12.07. Mike Whitney, ICH. The American people have no idea of the reckless policy that is being carried out in their name. The gravity of the proposed Missile Defense system has been virtually ignored by the media and Russia's protests have been dismissed as trivial.

Israel okays short-range missile defence shield
23.12.07. AFP. The security cabinet allocated 811 million shekels (207 million dollars, 144 million euros) towards the development and manufacture of the system over the coming five years, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the system -- dubbed "The Iron Dome" -- would be operational within 30 months.

Iran to get missile system from Russia
26.12.07. Reuters. Russia has agreed to sell an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Iran, Iran's defence minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday, a report likely to irritate the United States.

+

JANUARY 2008

Joint Japanese and US Missile Shield Test a Success
02.01.08. Daily Tech. Japanese destroyer shoots down incoming ballistic missile. Since the Reagan era, the United States has wanted to develop a system that could defeat ballistic missiles in the air before they were able to impact their targets. This concept was part of what was dubbed the “Star Wars” program during Reagan’s tenure.

S. Korea Opposes Joining US Missile Defense System
03.01.08. koreatimes.

Polish PM to visit Prague on U.S. anti-missile shield
05.01.08. Xihuanet.

INCURSION OF MILITARY INTO CIVIILIAN FIELD: THIS IDEA SHOULD BE SQUASHED IMMEDIATELY.
Airline to Test Anti-Missile System
06.01.08. David Koenig, AP, Truth Out. Up to three American Airlines jets will be outfitted this spring with laser technology being developed to protect planes from missiles fired by terrorists. ... About a year ago, BAE invited reporters to American's maintenance base in Fort Worth to see a jet outfitted with the laser-jamming device called Jeteye. ... BAE expects to test the device through 7,000 hours of flying in 2008 and early 2009, he said.

Poland signals a shift on U.S. missile shield
06.01.08. Judy Dempsey, IHT. Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says the new Warsaw government is not prepared to accept U.S. plans to deploy part of the shield in Poland until all costs and risks are considered.

150K Czechs sign petition opposing plans for American missile shield
08.01.07. usa today.

+

FEBRUARY 2008


Poland Says It Has Agreed to US Shield
01.02.08. APF / Forbes. Poland said Friday it has reached an agreement in principle with the United States on plans to install a missile defense system on Polish territory. [NB: how much bribery money in this one?]


Report: Russian envoy to NATO warns Poland against accepting U.S. missile defense
03.02.08. IHT. "The Polish colleagues must be reminded of their recent history, which indicates that attempts to place Poland 'on the confrontation line' have always led to tragedies. That way Poland lost nearly one third of its citizens during World War II," envoy Dmitry Rogozin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.


Pentagon Seeks $10.5 Billion for Missile Defense
05.02.08. nti.

India Might Consider U.S. Missile Defense Purchase
07.02.08. nti.


U.S. Trying to Surround Russia, Lavrov Says
08.02.08. nti. "You would have to be very naive to assume that the American missile defense base in Europe is aimed against anything but Russia. It’s difficult to interpret it as anything other than a manifestation of imperial thinking." —Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Russia to Deploy Longer-Range Missile Defenses
08.02.08. nti.

U.S. says will seek 3rd missile-defense site in Europe
12.02.08. J. Wolf, Reuters. The previously unannounced third leg in Europe involves a highly mobile X-band radar station, built by Raytheon Co. It would be placed closer to Iran, which is speeding efforts to build ballistic missiles capable of delivering deadly weapons beyond the Middle East, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency. The powerful, "forward based" radar system would go in southeastern Europe, possibly in Turkey, the Caucasus or the Caspian Sea region, Obering told a defense-technology conference sponsored by Aviation Week magazine.... Major U.S. missile-defense contractors include Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp and Northrop Grumman, in addition to Raytheon.

Russia, China propose draft treaty on use of weapons in space
12.02.08. The Jurist.

NATO opens missile defenses facility
15.02.08. UPI. A NATO missile defense system testing facility in the Netherlands is expected to open Thursday, in a project to protect forces against ballistic missiles. Officials say the facility's opening of the integration test bed marks a major milestone for the multiyear NATO project aimed at protecting forces from missile attacks while deployed on operations, NATO reported. The facility, run by NATO's Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense Program Office, will test the designs for NATO systems that will allow European and U.S. missile defense technologies to work together to protect forces against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

Russia: US Satellite Shot a Weapons Test
16.02.08. breitbart / ICH. Russia said Saturday that U.S. military plans to shoot down a damaged spy satellite may be a veiled test of America's missile defense system.

British, US Team Propose Moon Mission
15.02.08. AP / Guardian. British and U.S. scientists said Friday they were exploring plans for a joint lunar mission that would use an orbiter to fire missile-like penetrators into the moon's surface.... The mission would also provide an opportunity to test the space communications network needed for future robotic or human explorers.

Northrop Grumman To Provide System for NATO Air Defense
18.02.08. moneycnn. Defense and technology company Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) Monday said one of its units will provide navigation systems for a NATO air and missile defense system program. Northrop Grumman said in a statement its Italian subsidiary will provide the navigation and localization systems for the Medium Extended Air Defense System program, a project jointly financed by the U.S., Germany and Italy.

U.S. Missile Defense Prospects Could Ride on Antisatellite Attempt This Week, Experts Say
19.02.08. nti. A pending U.S. effort to destroy a failed spy satellite in orbit could have strong repercussions for the nation’s missile defense program, the New York Times reported Saturday. A successful attempt using a sea-based Standard Missile 3 missile interceptor could bolster the Bush administration’s efforts to deploy interceptors in Alaska and California, as well as on U.S. ships and in Eastern Europe, according to the Times. Alternatively, a failure could strengthen the hand of missile defense foes who have criticized the decision to deploy interceptors without testing them in real-world scenarios

US missile blasts rogue 17,000mph satellite
21.02.08. Independent. In the first mission of its kind, the US Navy struck the satellite with its first attempt but it is not yet known whether its hazardous fuel tank was destroyed.

Missile shield talks with Poland, Czech on track-US
21.02.08. AP/wiredispatch. The United States has made good progress in talks with Poland and the Czech Republic over the possible siting of the U.S. missile defence shield and all major issues have been resolved, a U.S. official said.

Pushing Missile Defense in Europe
22.02.08. J. Landy, Thomas Harrison, FPIF. With the occupation of Iraq soon to enter its sixth year and the looming possibility of war against Iran, it’s easy for Americans not to notice the Bush administration’s attempt to expand the U.S. military presence in Europe. A new Cold War between the United States and Russia threatens. And the U.S. media is paying little attention. Even many in the peace movement don’t know that Washington has proposed to install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar military base in the Czech Republic. The missiles and radar taken together constitute an anti-missile system purportedly meant to defend against Iran and other “rogue” states. In fact, they represent a new expansion of U.S. global military power and an escalation of the arms race with Russia.

Poland Cancels Missile Defense Talks
22.02.08. nti. U.S. efforts to deploy missile interceptors in Poland have hit a major snag, with Polish officials cancelling a meeting scheduled today with U.S. representatives, a Polish newspaper reported

Pushing Missile Defense in Europe
23.02.08. J. Landy, T. Harrison, anti-war.com. With the occupation of Iraq soon to enter its sixth year and the looming possibility of war against Iran, it's easy for Americans not to notice the Bush administration's attempt to expand the U.S. military presence in Europe. A new Cold War between the United States and Russia threatens. And the U.S. media is paying little attention. [the US anti-missile system represents] a new expansion of U.S. global military power and an escalation of the arms race with Russia.

Poland: no missile shield without aid
23.02.08. AP / wiredispatch. Poland Says It Won't Agreement to Missile Defense Base Unless US Helps Upgrade Military

Czech Greens to hold party referendum on radar after NATO summit
25.02.08. ceskenoviny.

U.S. Agrees to Polish Military Aid as Part of Missile Defense Deal, Foreign Minister Says
27.02.08. nti

U.S., Israel Plan Joint Missile Defense Tests
28.02.08. nti. The United States and Israel plan over the next two years to test their combined ballistic missile defenses, Reuters reported yesterday

+

MARCH 2008

NATO allies split on missile shield add-on
12.03.08. M. John, Reuters / Wiredispatch. NATO will delay a decision on whether to commission a missile shield to protect those parts of Europe not covered by a planned U.S. system because of internal disagreements, an alliance official said on Wednesday. NATO allies Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey will not be fully covered by a proposed U.S. shield in east Europe to counter missile threats from what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea. [is the U.S. the "rogue state"?]

Top U.S. Officials, Putin to Discuss Missile Defense
13.03.08. nti. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are scheduled to travel to Russia next week for talks with President Vladimir Putin on the Bush administration’s missile shield plan for Europe, the Los Angeles Times reported

Report Finds Overspending on U.S. Missile Defense
18.03.08. nti. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has spent at least $1 billion more than anticipated over the last two years as it deployed elements of a shield to protect the United States from enemy missile threats, the Government Accountability Office said yesterday. The GAO http://www.gao.gov report noted that the agency had exceeded costs for some specific programs, which include deploying missile interceptors on land and at sea and improving defense systems on ships, the Associated Press reported.

Russia, U.S. fail to agree on missile shield
18.03.08. Reuters. The U.S. plan has plunged relations between the two countries to a post-Cold War low and negotiations on the proposals have already been running for almost six months.

U.S. Delivers Written Proposal to Ease Russian Concerns Over European Missile Defense Plans
20. 03.08. nti. In an effort to protect against a potential Iranian long-range missile threat, the United States is seeking to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar tracking and guidance site in the Czech Republic. Russian officials have repeatedly and vociferously objected to the plans, saying the interceptors could threaten Russian strategic missile forces. ... The written proposal has added importance to Russian officials because they said their U.S. counterparts had pulled back on earlier oral offers, the Associated Press reported. The latest proposal would allow Russian personnel some access to monitor the construction and operation of the facilities, but Russia has demanded a permanent presence, according to AP

U.S. Delivers Written Proposal to Ease Russian Concerns Over European Missile Defense Plans
20. 03.08. nti. In an effort to protect against a potential Iranian long-range missile threat, the United States is seeking to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar tracking and guidance site in the Czech Republic. Russian officials have repeatedly and vociferously objected to the plans, saying the interceptors could threaten Russian strategic missile forces. ... The written proposal has added importance to Russian officials because they said their U.S. counterparts had pulled back on earlier oral offers, the Associated Press reported. The latest proposal would allow Russian personnel some access to monitor the construction and operation of the facilities, but Russia has demanded a permanent presence, according to AP.

Israeli Defense to get Missile Defense Systems
21.03.08. AP. Israel will within weeks begin outfitting its airliners with defense systems designed to thwart missile attacks, Israeli military officials said.

U.S., Czech Republic Could Soon Sign Radar Deal
25.03.08. nti. The United States and the Czech Republic by early May could sign a deal to place a U.S. missile defense radar in the European nation, RIA Novosti reported. ... The signing could occur April 28 during a visit to Washington by Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. Another possible date is May 5, which corresponds to a NATO conference on missile defense and the anniversary of anti-Nazi actions in Prague at the end of World War II. In return, the Czech government is looking for access to no less than five U.S. military research efforts and a visa waiver deal with Washington. (and some money?)... Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev yesterday dismissed U.S. statements that the European missile defense sites would be established to provide a defense against Iran, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 24). “That’s complete nonsense,” he told Czech public television. “Iran poses no threat. It is possible to deal with Iran with different means, if necessary. “The entire system is directed against Russia and China, that’s how we understand it,” Gorbachev added.

Democrats Scrutinize Missile Defense Agency
25.03.08. nti. As the majority party in Congress, Democrats are moving to increase oversight of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Congressional Quarterly reported Sunday. In the minority prior to the 2006 election, Democrats had little power to address their concerns about the lack of supervision over the agency that leads deployment of various systems intended to protect the nation against missile threats. They also questioned its role in promoting deployment of missile defense elements in other nations.

Time Limited for Missile Defense Talks, Poland Says
26.03.08. nti. Poland hopes to ink a missile defense deal with the United States on hosting 10 missile interceptors before the next U.S. president is elected in November, the Associated Press reported

Future Unclear for Missile Defense
26.03.08. nti. The Bush administration has spent tens of billions of dollars on U.S. missile defense efforts, but the future of the program is cloudy as the country prepares for a new president, the Associated Press reported today.

European Missile Defense: the America-Russia-Iran Knot
31.03.08. Tom Sauer and David Webb*, open democracy / global policy forum. The installation of United States military systems in Poland and the Czech Republic will provoke a dangerous new arms race. / At the Nato summit of heads of state in Bucharest on 2-4 April 2008, the issue of missile defence will figure high on the agenda. The odds are that, without any meaningful parliamentary debate within or between European states, Europe will quietly go along with the United States proposal to instal missile-defence interceptors in Poland and a powerful radar system in the Czech Republic. Moreover, but it appears that further steps will then be taken to integrate this strategic US "national missile defence" system with "theatre missile defence", currently being developed by Nato countries at an annual cost of €1 billion euro ($1.58 bn). / So, what's the problem with protecting European territory from the threat of attack from nuclear missiles? Well, to start with, it is a solution that technically does not work being applied to a problem that actually does not exist.

+

APRIL 2008

Gates Hopeful on US-Russia Deal
01.04.08. AP. Gates suggested at a news conference in the Danish capital that overcoming Russia's objections to U.S. plans for missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic could have the added benefit of easing concerns among U.S. allies in Europe about Russia's public threats to retaliate if the bases are installed. Missile defense is among topics on the agenda of a NATO summit this week in Bucharest, Romania.

A fitting venue for Bush? Former Dictator Ceausescu’s home Parliament Palace, Bucharest..

The NATO SUMMIT, BUCHAREST

VIDEO. Goerge Bush press conference prior to NATO summit.

Missle Defense to Top Bush, Putin Meeting Agenda
02.04.08. VOA. When President Bush meets with Russian President Putin on Sunday the two leaders are expected to discuss a number of thorny issues, chief among them the Bush administration's plan to build a missile shield in Europe. ... Bolton says President Bush [read Cheney] is anxious to secure the future of the missile defense program before stepping down next January. ... Russia is strongly opposed to U.S. plans to put interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. Moscow says the plan threatens Russia's security, while Washington insists the defense shield is intended to protect Europe from a potential threat from Iran.

Bush Says He Sees NATO Endorsing Missile Defense Plan (Update1)
02.04.08. Roger Runningen, Bloomberg. Bush said an endorsement would ``be a very important statement, because NATO could assure its members and the people within NATO that there would be defenses available'' to prevent a rogue nation from launching a strike on Europe. The U.S. wants to start construction next year of a missile site in Poland for 10 interceptors and a fixed radar site in the Czech Republic to counter a potential long-range missile threat from Iran. The plan is opposed by Russia. The U.S. Congress wants to see signs of NATO support before approving construction funds.

US Pushes Pie-in-the-Sky Missile Defense in Europe
YALE Global on Line.

Russia's problems nudge Afghanistan off the map
02.04.08. globe and mail. Putin's grievances in Eastern Europe and Balkans will make it hard for Harper to get world leaders' attention at NATO summit

Ukrainians split over push to join NATO
02.04.08. wiredispatch. Ukrainian Leaders Push for Membership in NATO, but Citizens Are Divided Over Joining Alliance

NATO to admit Croatia, Albania, delays Macedonia
02.04.08. REUTERS/wiredispatch.

Japan completes missile defense system deployment--reports
03.04.08. newsinfo.inquirer. Japan completed deploying a ballistic missile defense system in the Tokyo area on Saturday, a day after North Korea reportedly fired short-range missiles off its west coast, news reports said.

EU allies unite against Bush over Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine
03.04.08. Independent. Gordon Brown has sided with more cautious EU allies against President George Bush over US support for the admission of the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine being admitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The rift threatens to dominate the Nato summit in Romania and the US pressure risks provoking a crisis later in the week with the outgoing Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who has made it clear he will oppose Nato membership for the two states on Russia's borders. ... Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's incoming president, warned this week that granting Nato membership to the two former Soviet republics could threaten European security.

Bush Wins NATO Nod on Missile Defense
03.04.08. AP. President Bush won NATO's endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a "breakthrough agreement" for the military alliance.

+

UPDATES FROM 03.04.08.

Putin scores big win in Bucharest
03.04.08. wiredispatch. Putin Scores Diplomatic Victory by Blocking NATO's Expansion Plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin scored a major diplomatic coup by scuttling the NATO membership bids of Ukraine and Georgia even before he reached the NATO summit. NATO's plan to expand further into former Soviet turf collapsed Thursday when leaders — anxious to avoid angering Moscow — opted not to put the strategically important nations on track for membership. ... In the waning days of his eight years as president, Putin demonstrated his strength — successfully driving a wedge through the NATO alliance.

NATO nixes Georgia, Ukraine membership
03.04.08./. wiredispatch. Under Russian Pressure, NATO Summit Delays Membership Track for Ukraine, Georgia. Senior American officials also said that NATO leaders agreed to fully endorse U.S. missile defense plans for Europe and urge Russia to drop its objections to the system.

Bush bolts last NATO meeting
03.04.08. wiredispatch. It had been a long day at the NATO summit. And it wasn't over, with a cultural performance and a gala dinner ahead. So, needing a break, President Bush bolted. He left Thursday's last NATO session early — and so quickly that he left a portion of his motorcade, including some aides, in the dust.

Macedonia walks out of Nato talks
03.04.08. Guardian. Officials from the former Yugoslav republic decided to leave the conference – taking place in Bucharest, Romania - when Nato declined to invite it to join the 26-member bloc.

Bush Wins NATO Backing on Missile Shield
03.04.08. AP. NATO allies gave President Bush strong support Thursday for a missile defense system in Europe and urged Moscow to drop its angry opposition to the program. The unanimous decision strengthened Bush's hand for weekend talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bush loses out in Bucharest
03.04.08. Marwan Bishara, al jazeera. As the Nato conference in Bucharest comes to a close, it is clear George Bush did not get much of what he bargained for./
.. Bush's adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq have hurt Washington's standing within the alliance, even if it remains its only prospective leader.../It's remarkable how the greatest military alliance in history is incapable of defeating the Afghan fighters.

The Missile Defense Obsession
04.04.08. Dan Froomkin, Washington Post. Historical overview of missile defense; blinkered ideas about 'terrorism.'

Rice expected to travel to Prague in May to sign missile defense deal
07.04.08. IHT.

U.S., Czech Republic Agree on Missile Defense Radar
07.04.08. nti. Senior U.S. and Czech officials reached agreement Thursday on the terms of a U.S. plan to deploy a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic, the International Herald Tribune reported Friday . / U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schewarzenberg sealed the deal Thursday, but have not yet signed it. /... U.S. and Russian presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin met Saturday in Russia to discuss the issue, but Putin still expressed concern over the project.


The Black Sea Summit

Warm words from Putin suggest deal on missile defence shield
05.04.08. Colin Brown, Independent. A compromise over US missile defence may emerge from a summit of the Russian and American presidents this weekend at President Putin's holiday villa in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. .. / It is understood that the outgoing Russian President is demanding guarantees that radar to be based in the Czech Republic is directed south at Iran and not at Russian territory. He also wants assurances that no missiles will be sited in silos in Poland until there is evidence that Iran possesses the capability to fire missiles at the US or the West./ Mr Putin is also seeking access to US sites to verify the guarantees. .. / Gordon Brown left the Nato conference claiming it had been a success. He supports the US plan to deploy missile defence in eastern Europe, although it has proved highly controversial within his own party.

Bush-Putin Breakthrough on Missile-Defense Unlikely, Aide Says
05.04.08. Bloomberg.

Bush Supports Expansion of NATO Across Europe
06.04.08. NY Times. As President Bush arrived c[in Russia] after a week of NATO meetings, the White House said Saturday that it was unlikely that he would reach an accommodation in meetings here with President Vladimir V. Putin on basing parts of an American missile defense system in Europe. / The White House press secretary, Dana M. Perino, said that negotiations were “headed in the right direction” but that more time was needed to hammer out highly technical arrangements regarding access to the American missile-defense sites and a Russian proposal to incorporate a Soviet-era radar in Azerbaijan.

Bush in Russia

Bush fails to win over Putin on missile shield
06.04.08. MSNBC. New 'strategic framework' on future relations agreed at farewell meeting.

Israel / US / Iran Israel Seeks to Ease Concerns Over WMD Drill 07.04.08. nti. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday attempted to assuage Syrian and Lebanese concerns that Israel could use a nationwide WMD attack exercise it is conducting this week as a cover for a plot against the neighboring states, Agence France-Presse reported. .. / "There is nothing else hidden behind it", said Mr. Olmert. Iran proposes missile shield against U.S., Israel 07.04.08. rian.ru. Iran's defense minister said on Monday the world needs a missile shield to protect against threats from Israel and the United States. / Tehran has joined Russia in opposing U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Central Europe to counter possible strikes from "rogue states," specifically Iran. If Iran attacks, Israel will destroy it : Ben-Eliezer: If Iran attacks Israel, we will destroy it 08.04.08. Haaretz. "The Iranians won't rush to attack Israel, because they understand the significance such action would have and are well aware of our strength," added Ben-Eliezer. "However, Iran continues to aggravate the situation by supplying arms to Syria and Hezbollah, and we must deal with this." Exclusive: Israel’s five-day missile defense exercise exposes unready home front 08.04.08. debka. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the 19 o’clock warning siren Tuesday, April 3 – day three of the nationwide missile defense exercise – was not heard in many parts of Israel, including the Knesset – as criticism of the exercise spread. / Most people did not know where to find public shelters – none were marked - and were given no answers about protection against chemical or biological missile warfare. While the drill aimed at improving the warning system to gain time for reaching shelters, most Israeli homes and workplaces do not have shelters.

The Taliban's shadow hangs over NATO
08.04.08. M K Bhadrakumar, asia times. Mostly a discussion of NATO summit. Included: On the face of it, the European anti-ballistic missile system has turned from an American project into a NATO project. [NB: the missile system has ALWAYS - as evidenced in this blog, been a "NATO project ] This, in turn, will undermine Russia's ability to oppose it, because it may now have to deal with the Western community in the form of NATO. ... / An unnamed Kremlin source admitted at Sochi that Putin and Bush failed to overcome differences over the missile defense system. Putin himself acknowledged at the joint press conference with Bush at Sochi on Sunday: "I won't hide the fact that one of the most difficult issues was and remains the American missile defense system in Europe ... I want to be understood correctly: there has been no change in our fundamental attitude to the American plans." Significantly, Bush's response contained no promises of a rethink, no assurances of an accommodation.

Russia Demands Access to US Missile Shield Sites
09.04.08. Der Spiegel.

Northrop Grumman Team Submits Bid for Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System Competition
11.04.08. Prime newswire. Due to be awarded in August 2008, the contract is considered the first step towards an integrated air and missile defense capability for the Army, and a joint capability for the nation.

Long-range missile sites found in Iran
11.04.08. hot air. [and that is just what this is!]

Japan against joining U.S. global missile shield - Baluyevsky
11.04.08. rian.ru.

Russia to test new missile defense system
13.04.08. UPI. The Russian military will test a new missile defense system in August before putting it into combat duty, a military official says.

Contract

Missile Defense Agency Awards AMPAC-ISP Contract for Innovative Kill Vehicle Propulsion Technology
14.04.08. CNN money.

CIS member states to conduct command and staff training of anti-missile defense system
14.04.08. pan american net. Some 110 jets and helicopters will be enabled. Over 20 various exercises in air borders defense will be practiced. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will take part in the training,” said colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky, assistant to commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces.

Attitudes Toward U.S. Worsen in Arab World
14.04.08. IPS / ICH. Nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of more than 4,000 respondents in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said they held a "very unfavourable" attitude of the United States, up from 57 percent in late 2006. ... / Asked to name two countries that, in their view, posed the "biggest threat" to them, a whopping 95 percent and 88 percent of respondents named Israel and the U.S., respectively. That compared to 85 percent and 72 percent, respectively, in late 2006.

Israel

Israel test-fires 'Iran' missile
15.04.08. al jazeera / ICH. Israel has conducted a test of a ballistic missile aimed at simulating an Iranian attack on Israel.

US incentive to make Israel agree on a Palestinian state
17.04.08. The United States is playing behind-the-scene role in convincing Israel to establish a Palestinian state by the end of 2008. In this regard, it is learnt from sources that the Bush administration has offered to integrate Israel into its ballistic missile early-warning system to ensure that it would not be attacked by Iran, Hezbollah or any other Arab country in the future or in case of eruption of hostilities in the Middle East.

Czechs

Czechs denies seeking US military aid in anti-missile radar deal
15.04.08. spacewar / antiwar. The Czech defence ministry denied [sic] on Tuesday that it was seeking help from the United States to modernise its armed forces in return for it hosting an anti-missile radar. / Public broadcaster Czech Television reported Monday, citing a deputy defence minister, that Prague was seeking Washington's help to acquire two mid-range tactical transport planes and improve its air defences, possibly with Patriot missiles. / "We have asked the US for cooperation in the acquisition of two mid-range tactical transport planes and that should be raised in the framework of anti-missile defence negotiations," deputy defence minister Martin Bartak said on TV.

Contract

$400M Contract for US ABM Radar in Europe
16.04.08. defense industry. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems of Woburn, MA received a maximum $400 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to support the design, development, and activation of a European-based mid-course radar for ballistic missile defense.

Doubts

Outside View: ABMs for Europe -- Part 2
16.04.08. UPI. There are some political and economic obstacles on the road to creating an effective ballistic-missile defense system for Europe. NATO members cannot agree what companies should supply the hardware -- radars for reconnaissance, detection and tracking, and for guidance of air-defense systems. / Those in charge of the NATO BMD project cannot decide what air-defense systems they should buy for a European missile defense shield, but they insist they should be American rather than Russian. / Not everyone in NATO agrees with this approach. ... / NATO's much-publicized idea of combining the U.S. strategic missile-defense system with the European theater missile defense is rather questionable.

Ex-Pentagon arms tester belittles missile defense
16.04.08. Reuters. The former top U.S. weapons tester told Congress on Wednesday the Pentagon was wasting what may add up to hundreds of billions of dollars to build what he described as a largely useless anti-ballistic missile shield. "Missile defense is the most difficult development the Pentagon has ever attempted," said Philip Coyle, who served from 1994 to 2001 as an assistant secretary of defense and the head of Pentagon arms testing.

Doubts voiced about US anti-missile plan
17.04.08. DESMOND BUTLER, AP. A group of prominent scientists who have been critical of missile defense plans told lawmakers Wednesday that a system being built by the United States cannot protect the country. / They also questioned whether the Defense Department has misled the public and European allies about the system's capabilities. / "The program offers no prospect of defending the United States from a real-world missile attack and undermines efforts to eliminate the real nuclear threats to the United States," Lisbeth Gronlund, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told lawmakers at a House oversight hearing on the missile defense program, according to prepared testimony. Gronlund's group has long expressed skepticism about missile defense.

UPDATE 1-Pentagon eyes doubling its missile interceptors
17.04.08. Reuters. The chief U.S. weapons buyer told Congress on Thursday he was aiming to ramp up deployment of anti-missile systems beyond those projected in President George W. Bush's latest budget request.

Turkey won’t join U.S. in setting up Europe missile defense shield
17.04.08. panarmenian.

Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract to Support Army, Navy and Air Force Research Programs
17.04.08. ... The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity Theoretical Studies and Engineering Services (TSER) [5 year] contract has an option for five additional years. The program has a ceiling of $100 million over a 10-year period... / Through its NSROC and TSER contracts, Northrop Grumman will continue its use of sounding rockets to support NASA's strategic objectives for space exploration; provide the U.S. military with cost-efficient vehicles for target and interceptor missile defense operations ...

Intergovernmental agreement to be signed on establishment of US missile defense system in Czechia
22.04.08. apa.az. Intergovernmental agreement will be signed on establishment of US missile defense system in Czechia in Prague on May 5, APA reports. / Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State will leave for Prague to participate in the ceremony.

Media Conference Call on Missile Defense
22.04.08. the bulletin. A new analysis by George N. Lewis and Theodore A. Postol in the May/June 2008 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reveals that the configuration of the proposed U.S. missile defense system in Europe will not adequately protect the continental United States or Europe against the postulated threat--an Iranian ballistic missile equipped with a nuclear warhead. Specific findings include:

* The system's centerpiece radar, slated for the Czech Republic, is substantially underpowered, rendering it ineffective unless upgraded or replaced
* To compensate for this shortcoming, the controversial U.S. radar in Vardo, Norway will likely be a part of the system.
* Despite U.S. claims to the contrary, defense installations in the Czech Republic and Poland are ideally suited to counter Russian missiles.

Czech-bound U.S. missile radar is folly, critics say
23.04.08. Reuters. A pair of physicists who are missile-defense critics have dismissed as all but useless a Raytheon Co radar system proposed for the Czech Republic as part of a U.S. shield against feared missiles from Iran.

Boeing and Turkey's HAVELSAN Renew Missile Defense Partnership
no dare, newswire.

The Hidden Architecture of U.S. Militarism
24.04.08. Jacqueline Cabassoscoop, nz

==
REPORT
Chronic Failures in the War on Terror - From Afghanistan to Somalia
ARPIL 2008. SENLIS COUNCIL. Click for full report (pdf).

===
ISRAEL

Israel Tests Arrow Missile Defenses
21.04.08. nti. The Israeli military successfully destroyed a mock Iranian missile on Saturday in a test of its Arrow 2 ballistic missile defense system, the Qatar News Agency reported

Barf Alert:
U.S. looks set to offer Israel powerful new radar
10.05.08. Reuters. The Bush administration appears set to offer Israel a powerful radar system that could greatly boost Israeli defenses against enemy ballistic missiles while tying them directly into a growing U.S. missile shield.

===

Russia Could Abandon Air-Defense Project With NATO
21.04.o8. nti. Russia indicated Friday that it could drop out of a planned program to cooperate on a theater missile defense system with NATO if that effort becomes tied to U.S. missile defense plans in Eastern Europe, Interfax reported

Raytheon Profit Gains 23% as Defense Sales Rise (Update3)
24.04.08. bloomberg.

U.S., Czech Radar Deal Needs More Time
25.04.08. nti. Three days of U.S.-Czech negotiations this week failed to finalize a treaty that would complement a pact to place a missile defense radar in the European nation, the Associated Press reported

Greenpeace occupies Czech site where U.S. radar base is to stand
28.04.08. ceskenovny.cz.

U.S.-Czech Missile Defense Agreement Delayed
29.04.08. nti. The United States and the Czech Republic are now looking to sign a missile defense radar deal in June rather than May as previously anticipated, the Associated Press reported

Turkey Considers First Missile Defense System
29.04.08. nti.

MAY 2008

Vondra: Czechs, US to sign radar deal in July
05.05.08. prague daily monitor. Vondra (Civic Democrats, ODS) said the exact date of the signature is not yet known and that June or July are being considered.

==
Poland

Polish Leader Reaffirms Demands on Missile Defense
07.05.08. NTI. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday that the United States must meet demands for support if it wants to place 10 missile interceptors in the country, Agence France-Presse reported / Tusk’s government has proved a tougher sell. It has demanded U.S. support for military modernization and access to air-defense technology, along with security assurances from Washington.

Poland warns US over missile shield
07.05.08. presstv.ir. Warsaw has warned that it would block a planned US missile shield unless Washington met its demands and upgraded Poland's military.

U.S. could look beyond Poland for a missile-shield base
07.05.08. IHT. In what is becoming a game of brinkmanship between the United States and one of its closest European allies, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday that Washington was prepared to seek a different location for part of its planned antiballistic missile shield if the Polish government could not agree on the terms. / This was the first public acknowledgment by the U.S. State Department that talks with Poland had become difficult to the point of rupture because of tough conditions set by the Polish government over the location of up to 10 interceptors for the antimissile system.

Poland Wants More From Missile Defense Deal
14.05.08. nti. The United States has not yet offered sufficient incentives to persuade Poland to host 10 missile interceptors, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday.
==

U.S. House Panel Holds Back Missile Defense Money
15.05.08. nti. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee yesterday cut more than $370 million from the Bush administration’s fiscal 2009 budget request for development of missile defense installations in Europe, Reuters reported. / The Defense Department had sought more than $710 million to begin deployment of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and an early warning radar in the Czech Republic.

Israel in talks to join U.S. warning system
11.05.08. jta. The Bush administration may link Israel to a U.S. missile-defense system. / Ahead of President Bush's three-day visit to Israel this week, Jerusalem sources said intensive talks are under way about a proposal to station a U.S.-made ground radar in Israel that would significantly expand its early-warning capabilities in any future missile war with Iran or Syria.

===
Pot Calling Kettle Black dept.

U.S. Expresses Concern Over Chinese Missiles
19.05.08. nti. A high-level U.S. State Department official on Thursday expressed concern about missiles China has deployed on the coastline across from Taiwan, the Taipei Times reported
===
Czech Cabinet approves deployment of U.S. missile shield
21.05.08. rian.ru. The basic document still needs to be ratified by the country's parliament and signed by President Vaclav Klaus.

Russian, Chinese Leaders Denounce US Missile Defense Plans
23.05.08. Agence France-Presse/truthout. Russia and China on Friday denounced US plans for a global missile defence shield and signed a billion-dollar nuclear contract as Russia's new President Dmitry Medvedev made his diplomatic debut.


JUNE 2008

===
US War 'Games'

US military planning missile defense test
04.06.08. AP. The U.S. military on Thursday plans to intercept a ballistic missile in its first sea-based missile defense test since the USS Lake Erie shot down an errant satellite in a real-world mission earlier this year. / The test, off Kauai, is the latest test of the military's sea-based missile defenses, called the Aegis ballistic missile defense program.
===
Testing could delay missile defense plans
23.06.08. AP. U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe could be delayed well beyond the 2013 target because Defense Department experts say the interceptors have not been adequately tested. / Administration officials had initially disregarded the findings and reassured lawmakers the system to shoot incoming missiles out of the sky would work. But with Congress now poised to require additional tests, the department has reversed itself and is planning three trial interceptor launches — a process that could take years.

South Korea to Acquire Missile Defense Radar
27.06.08. nti. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration declined to estimate when the new radar could be deployed, but said the system would boost the nation’s ability to defend itself against a North Korean missile strike.


July 2008

Lithuania Could Serve U.S. Needs for Missile Interceptor Installation, Pentagon Says
02.07.08. nti. Lithuania is a “good alternative” for the planned U.S. missile interceptor site in Europe, but Washington still hopes to seal a deal with Poland, the Defense Department said yesterday

Medvedev warning on missile shield
08.05.08. al jazeera. After meeting with George Bush, Medvedev's aide said that the US president had failed to ease Moscow's concerns about US plans for a European-based missile shield. / On Friday, Poland said that a US offer to boost its air defences in return for basing anti-missile interceptors on its soil was insufficient. / Sergei Prikhodko, Medvedev's aide, said that the Russian president had warned Bush that a possible deployment of the system in Lithuania instead of Poland "would be absolutely unacceptable for the Russian federation".

US, Czech Republic Sign Missile Defense Deal
08.07.08. Agence France / Truthout. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a missile defence deal with the Czech Republic on Tuesday, describing it as a step forward for global security despite staunch Russian opposition.
sec cos afghanistan

U.S. Tests Aegis Communications in Middle East
08.07.08. nti. The United States tested communication links between two Aegis missile defense-equipped destroyers over five days beginning last month, United Press International reported yesterday

Technical Glitch Hinders U.S. Missile Defense Test
16.07.08. nti.

U.S. government corporate cuddle with BAE?

American Airlines Testing Anti-Missile Technology
16.07.08. WBZTV. Developed in New Hampshire by defense contractor, BAE Systems, the cross country passenger jets are now equipped with a laser deterrent system mounted on the plane's belly. It can identify and misdirect an incoming missile. It's being tested for Homeland Security. / Experts [who, exactly?} say as many as 27 different 'terrorists' organizations have the shoulder missile weapons. They sell for as little [sic] as {U.S. taxpayer's] $10,000.

Navy Eyes New Weapon for Global Strike, Missile Defense
17.07.08. nti. The U.S. Navy is floating the idea of developing a new ballistic missile for global attack operations that could also be used as an interceptor in the nation’s evolving strategic missile defense system. /
Speaking yesterday at a Capitol Hill breakfast on condition of not being named, the Navy official described a “Submarine-Launched Global Strike Missile” that could be built for the Defense Department’s emerging “prompt global strike” mission (see GSN, Sept. 18, 2007). / Under the broad concept, the United States could attack targets anywhere around the world within one hour of a launch order. / The Navy official yesterday took pains to emphasize that his service was not formally proposing to build the new design as a prompt global strike weapon, but rather was simply describing what the service could offer. He referred to the concept as offering an “opportunity” [see Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine] to develop an intermediate-range missile.

U.S. Starts Fuel Tests of Missile Defense Laser
29.07.08. nti.

AUGUST 2008

...
and Israel

U.S. to Back Israeli Missile Defense Project
07.08.08. nti.

Israeli Has $1 Billion Invested in Georgia missile defense
10.08.08. israel national news. The Israeli-Georgia connection is estimated to be worth $1 billion, according to a former Georgian ambassador to Israel. The Jewish state and private investors have provided military assistance and advisors to Georgia, where pipelines pump oil destined for Israel. A new pipeline is being built to bypass Russian territory.

...

Turkey to Pay $1B for Missile Defenses
12.08.08. nti.

Top Polish Missile Defense Negotiator Fired
12.08.08. nti. Hmm ....

ahh ... US "progress" now?

Poland, U.S. Could Reach Interceptor Deal This Week
13.08.08. nti.

U.S., Poland Reach Agreement on Missile Defense
14.08.08. bloomberg. The U.S. and Poland signed a preliminary accord today that will allow for 10 U.S. interceptor missiles to be based in the eastern European country, completing a defense system that Russia opposes. / The U.S. has agreed to Polish requests including modernization of its armed forces in exchange for the location of the missiles, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in an interview with private broadcaster TVN24 this evening.

Missile Defense: Washington and Poland just moved the World closer to War
15.08.08. F. William Engdahl, global research. The signing on August 14 of an agreement between the governments of the United States and Poland to deploy on Polish soil US ‘interceptor missiles’ 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.

Moscow warns it could strike Poland over US missile shield
16.08.08. I. Traynor, L. Harding, H, Womack, Guardian. The risk of a new era of east-west confrontation triggered by Russia's invasion of Georgia heightened yesterday when Moscow reserved the right to launch a nuclear attack on Poland because it agreed to host US rockets as part of the Pentagon's missile shield.

Ukraine to join in US-led missile shield in Europe
16.08.08. radio netherlands. Ukraine has agreed to take part in a missile defence system designed by the United States to protect Western countries. The government in Kiev defended its decision for military co-operation with the West, saying Russia cancelled a bilateral treaty with Ukraine earlier this year.

U.S. to Deploy X-Band Radar in Israel
18.08.08. nti.

Missile defense: Washington and Poland just moved the world closer to war
18.08.08. F. William Engdahl, Online Journal Contributing Writer/uruknet.
The signing on August 14 of an agreement between the governments of the United States and Poland to deploy on Polish soil US 'interceptor missiles’ is the most dangerous move towards nuclear war the world has seen since the 1962 Cuba Missile crisis.

The Magic Pudding
19.08.08. G. Monbiot, Guardian / monbiot.com. Why is the US government still pouring billions into missile defence? / .. The system has been in development since 1946, and so far it has achieved a grand total of nothing. You wouldn’t know it if you read the press releases published by the Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency: the word “success” features more often than any other noun .. / All the trials run so far – successful or otherwise – have been rigged. .. / The US has spent between $120bn and $150bn on the programme since Ronald Reagan relaunched it in 1983(6). Under Bush the costs have accelerated. The Pentagon has requested $62bn for the next five year tranche, which means that the total cost between 2003 and 2013 will be $110bn. Yet there are no clear criteria for success. As a recent paper in the journal Defense and Security Analysis shows, the Pentagon invented a new funding system in order to allow the missile defence programme to evade the government’s usual accounting standards. It’s called spiral development .. because it ensures that the costs spiral out of control. / There are no fixed dates, no fixed costs for any component of the programme, no penalties for slippage or failure, no standards of any kind against which the system can be judged. And this monstrous scheme is still incapable of achieving what a few hundred dollars’ worth of diplomacy could do in an afternoon.

So why commit endless billions to a programme that is bound to fail

US and Poland sign missile shield agreement
20.08.08. radio netherlands. The United States and Poland have signed an agreement on the construction of components for a controversial missile shield in Poland. The US missile defence system is intended to protect the West against attacks from so-called 'rogue states' such as Iran and North Korea. Russia is fiercely opposed to the missile shield.

Israel's US missile shield
21-27.08.08. ahram.org. While Israel appears the beneficiary of US interests in the Middle East region, its place is ultimately as one pillar under a US strategic umbrella. .. / The Pentagon hopes to complete deployment of this system in various parts of the world by the end of the year. The costs from research and development to full deployment will exceed $23 billion over a 20-year period. ... /By linking Israel and Arab countries to this system, the US is seeking to forge a defence bloc for the so-called "New Middle East" that the Bush administration had envisioned following its invasion and occupation of Iraq. ... / we must not overlook the significance of Israel's moves to join in NATO tasks after NATO approved raising the level of relations and joint military exercises with Israel. Israel's aim is clearly to develop closer military cooperation with NATO so that, by working together with NATO and other allied forces, it will be able to benefit from joint manoeuvres and assessment activities.

Oil shoots to US$122 on missile shield row
22.08.08. standard.com.hk. Oil rose by US$6 a barrel to more than US$122 last night, climbing for a third day as Washington's missile shield deal with Poland angered Russia. / The spat adds to political factors that have supported oil prices in recent months, such as the dispute over Iran's nuclear work. A weaker dollar also boosted the appeal of commodities as an inflation hedge.
...
Vatican newspaper: U.S. missile shield could threaten disarmament
22.08.08. catholic news.

Missile Defense: Understanding the Issues
23.08.08. R Mark, anti-war.com. .. enhancing strategic missile defense is more than just an endless barrel of pork. It is also a profoundly destabilizing policy that is essentially strategically aggressive. To understand how enhancing a "defense" capability can be an aggressive strategy, it is necessary to comprehend the Cold War issue of mutually assured destruction that most people under the age of 30 have probably had little cause to consider.


SEPTEMBER 2008

Russia Calls NATO’s Bluff
02.08.08. W. Pfaff, Truthdig. NATO has now been broken because it was used by the United States and the European NATO members as a tool for expanding Western power into the Russian “near abroad,” and after that, to make an inexplicably rash and dangerous effort to break into and split off portions of the Russian empire as it existed in the 19th century—long before the Soviet Union existed.

GOP Platform Backs Missile Defense
05.09.08. nti.

U.S. plans $7 billion missile-defense sale to UAE
08.09.08. Reuters. The Bush regime is planning to sell the United Arab Emirates an advanced U.S. missile defense system valued at up to $7 billion that could be used to defend against Iran, people who have attended briefings on the matter said on Monday. The Pentagon is set to notify the U.S. Congress of the proposed sale, which would be the first of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, several people familiar with the matter said. THAAD is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. Raytheon Co supplies the system's radar.

Russia threatens to aim at U.S. missile shield in Europe
10.09.08. Xinhuanet. The missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic and other similar facilities in the future could "be designated as targets for our ICBMs," said Solovtsov.

Israel Purchases Patriot Upgrades
10.09.08. nti. The United States yesterday announced it has finalized a deal to sell Israel three Patriot missile defense system upgrade kits, an agreement worth as much as $164 million, Reuters reported.

U.S. Fires Missile Defense Laser From Aircraft
10.09.08. nti. A U.S. defense contractor on Sunday conducted the first test-firing of a missile defense laser while it was installed in the aircraft that would carry it, the Associated Press reported. The aircraft remained on the ground as Boeing fired the Airborne Laser, which is designed to destroy any type of ballistic missile flying in its boost phase. A modified 747-400F jumbo jet is used to hold the laser.

Czechs Approve Second Missile Defense Deal
10.09.08. nti. The Czech Republic today signed off on a second agreement needed to clear the way for deploying a U.S. missile defense radar in the European nation, the Associated Press reported

Patriot Systems Deployed in South Korea
16.09.08. nti

Senate Backs Funds for Non-Missile Defense Lasers
22.09.08. nti.

Second Czech-U.S. Missile Defense Deal Signed
22.09.08. nti.

U.S. Launches Rocket for Missile Defense Analysis
24.09.08. nti.

Finance crisis could delay U.S. missile shield: Czechs
26.09.08. Reuters. The current financial crisis could delay a U.S. missile shield due to be built in the Czech Republic and Poland but both U.S. presidential candidates are committed to it, the Czech foreign minister said on Friday.

Russia to build missile defence shield and renew nuclear deterrence
27.09.08. timesonline.

Israel Receives X-Band Radar From U.S.
29.09.08. nti. The United States last week transported a sophisticated missile defense radar to Israel, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The Forward Based X-band Tactical radar, which is set to be staffed by 120 U.S. troops, has been placed at Israel’s Nevatim air base ahead of its deployment within a few months to a final site, according to Israeli defense officials.


More Missile Shield Test Targets Failing, GAO Says
30.09.08. nti. The United States has increasingly failed in attempts to launch mock enemy missiles for its test interceptors to destroy, congressional investigators said in a report released Friday . / The rate of failed target launches rose from 7 percent from 2002 to 2005 to 16 percent from 2006 to 2007, the report states, pointing to the flagging reliably of aging rockets as a likely cause, Time magazine reported. / n addition, a $1 billion effort to develop more effective, reliable test targets has produced a new generation of mock warheads vastly more expensive than older counterparts, auditors said in the report. Target launches slated to take place over the next two years are each expected to cost $48.5 million on average, while targets fired between 2002 and 2006 carried an average price tag of $6.5 million.


OCTOBER 2008

China report urges missile shield
01.10.08. Bill Gertz, Washington Times. The United States needs new weapon systems, including missile defenses and other advanced military capabilities, to deter and counter China's steady buildup of nuclear and conventional arms, according to a draft internal report by a State Department advisory board. Gertz' story has a link to the report.

VIDEO: US anti-missile system in Israel (01.10.08. Inside Story, aljazeera)

Obama Adviser Backs Missile Defenses in Europe
02.10.08. Elaine M. Grossman, nti. A senior adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (Ill.) today expressed support for Bush administration plans to build a missile defense system in Europe, despite Moscow’s protests that the deployments would threaten Russia

U.S. to Sell PAC-3 Defenses to Taiwan
06.10.08. nti. The department said in a statement that the sales would be "a significant and tangible demonstration of the commitment of this administration to provide Taiwan the defensive arms its needs to be strong," the Associated Press reported.

North Korea Reportedly Launches Short-Range Missiles
08.10.08. nti.

Israel building missile shield to guard cities
08.10.08. David Blair, the age. The timing of the shield's deployment will influence any Israeli decision to attack Iran's nuclear facilities: Iran could retaliate by using Hezbollah, its key ally, to fire missiles into Israel. With Iran's help, Hezbollah is believed to have amassed about 30,000 rockets in southern Lebanon, including the Zelzal missile which could reach Tel Aviv.

Lavrov says U.S. missile shield targets Russia
09.10.08. hurriyet. A U.S. missile shield planned for Poland and the Czech Republic targets Russia, rather than any potential threat from Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an article published Thursday.

U.S. to Deploy Military Personnel to Poland in 2009
09.10.08. nti. The United States is likely to send military personnel to Poland next year to begin preparing to install a missile interceptor site, Interfax reported yesterday. / Polish and U.S. officials in August signed the deal for deployment of 10 missile interceptors.

FOCUS | Insider's Projects Drained Missile-Defense Millions
10.10.08. Eric Lipton, NYT / truthout. : "They huddled in a quiet corner at the US Airways lounge at Ronald Reagan National Airport, sipping bottomless cups of coffee as they plotted to turn America's missile defense program into a personal cash machine. Michael Cantrell, an engineer at the Army Space and Missile Defense Command headquarters in Huntsville, Ala., along with his deputy, Doug Ennis, had lined up millions of dollars from Congress for defense companies. Now, Mr. Cantrell decided, it was time to take a cut."

Insider’s Projects Drained Missile-Defense Millions
11.10.08. E. Lipton, NY Times/ anti-war. Michael Cantrell, an engineer at the Army Space and Missile Defense Command headquarters in Huntsville, Ala., along with his deputy, Doug Ennis, had lined up millions of dollars from Congress for defense companies. Now, Mr. Cantrell decided, it was time to take a cut. / “The contractors are making a killing,” Mr. Cantrell recalled thinking at the meeting, in 2000. “The lobbyists are getting their fees, and the contractors and lobbyists are writing out campaign checks to the politicians. Everybody is making money here — except us.”

Russia Tests Intercontinental Missiles
12.10.08. VOA. Russia fired two missiles Sunday from submarines in the Pacific Ocean and the Barents Sea, and one from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

US presence worries Bulgarians
15.10.08. thenews.pk. Novo Selo in the southeast is, with the Bezmer air base near the border with Turkey and the Graf Ignatievo airfield, one of the three bases for the US troops on rotation of about six months for 10 years.

Corruption Case Highlights Wasteful Spending in U.S. Missile Defense Effort, Officials Say
14.10.08. nti. Poor oversight of a complex Defense Department procurement system has slowed U.S. efforts to develop effective missile defenses, the New York Times reported Sunday

Russia weary of NATO’s eastward expansion
15.10.08. mensnewsdaily.

Russia, Kazakhstan Plan Joint Missile Defense Tests
16.10.08. nti.

Sergey Lavrov insists on constant presence of Russian reps in Missile shield points in Czech Republic
20.10.08. focus-fen.

Russia: No point in new US shield talks
21.10.08. presstv.ir.

U.S. and Russian military chiefs meet in Helsinki
21.10.08. swissinfo.ch. The U.S. embassy in Helsinki said Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met Russian General Nikolai Makarov, head of the Russian general staff.

U.S. Missile Defense Likely to See Budget Cuts to Unproven Technologies, Senate Staffer Says
21.10.08. nti.

Russia lines up new anti-missile system to counter U.S. missile shield plans
22.10.08. china view.

European Missile Defense
22.10.008. Reuel Marc Gerecht, aei. The saga of missile defense is a window into the frustrating but still essential transatlantic alliance.

Czech Lawmakers Debate U.S. Missile Defense Base
28.10.08. nti. Lawmakers in the Czech Republic are considering whether to sign off on a plan to have their nation become home to a U.S. missile defense radar base, the Associated Press reported

differences between Obama / McCain
30.10.08. nti. Senator John McCain (Ariz.), the Republican candidate, has expressed his support for deployment of an early warning radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland, according to the EU Observer. His opponent, Democratic Senator Barack Obama (Ill.), however, has pledged to “shift federal resources away from an unproven missile defense system to proven technology.”

Czech govt wants vote on missile shield after US election
30.10.08. AFP.

U.S., Czech Republic Sign Missile Framework Deal
31.10.08. nti.

Planned US Missile Defense in Eastern Europe Beset by Delays
31.10.08. anti-war.


VIDEO

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.". George Bush

Russia, America and the 2nd cold war (31.10.08. al jazeera)
Part I:
PART II

NOVEMBER 2008

US has plan B if Czechs refuse missile defense
01.11.08. AP / IHT.

Czech opposition demands top court examine U.S. missile deal
03.11.08. en rian ru.

Congress Chides U.S. Missile Defense Management
03.11.08. nti. U.S. lawmakers scolded the Missile Defense Agency for a number of management problems and trimmed its budget in a recently enacted fiscal 2009 appropriations bill

Medvedev Confronts U.S. on Missiles After Obama Win
05.11.08. bloomberg. Medvedev said he would place a short-range Iskander missile system in Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, wedged between Poland and Lithuania, to ``neutralize'' a planned U.S. missile-defense system ``if necessary,'' Medvedev said. A radio-jamming installation in Kaliningrad will also be aimed at elements of the U.S. system in Poland and the Czech Republic, he said.

U.S., Bahrain Hold Joint Missile Defense Exercise
05.11.08. nti.

Japan Might Consider Missile Warning Satellite
05.11.08. nti.

U.S., Others React to Russian Missile Threat
06.11.08. nti.

Obama Aides, Polish President Differ on Missile Defense Pledge
08.11.08. anti-war. According to President Kaczynski’s office, Obama vowed to ‘honor’ the agreement, an odd choice of words considering Poland’s own parliament has yet to ratify the deal. Even more odd however is that comments from Obama aides regarding the conversation insist that the President-elect made absolutely no commitments about the missile plan, but rather said he would support it only if the technology is proven workable.

Pentagon Board Says Cuts Essential
10.11.08. B. Bender, Boston Globe / truthout. A senior Pentagon advisory group, in a series of bluntly worded briefings, is warning President-elect Barack Obama that the Defense Department's current budget is "not sustainable," and he must scale back or eliminate some of the military's most prized weapons programs. / The briefings were prepared by the Defense Business Board, an internal management oversight body. It contends that the nation's recent financial crisis makes it imperative that the Pentagon and Congress slash some of the nation's most costly and troubled weapons to ensure they can finance the military's most pressing priorities./ The briefings do not specify which programs should be cut, but defense analysts say that prime targets would probably include the new F-35 fight er jet, a series of Navy ship programs, and a massive Army project to build a new generation of ground combat vehicles, all of which have been skyrocketing in cost and suffering long development delays. ... / Raytheon, Massachusetts' largest employer, is involved in numerous weapons programs from ships to missile defenses and satellites. / Pentagon insiders and defense budget specialists say the Pentagon has been on a largely unchecked spending spree since 2001 that will prove politically difficult to curtail but nevertheless must be reined in.

Russia Not To Deploy Missiles Near Poland If U.S. Abandons Missile Shield
11.11.08. rtt.

For 12 November 2008, see Index Research: US – Israel Missile Defense Cooperation Construction of Negev missile defense base run by U.S. troops completed 12.11.08. Haaretz. Pictures of an American anti-missile radar installed in southern Israel were released earlier this week, depicting a recently completed military base, which will house the first permanent U.S. force to be deployed on Israeli soil. Construction of the base was completed in the last few days at Mount Keren near the Ketziot prison in the Negev.

Obama's Chance to End the Fantasy That Is Star Wars
13.11.08. Johann Hari, Independent / Common Dreams. This is the tale of how a man with Alzheimer's Disease came up with a physically impossible fantasy based on a B-movie he once starred in – and how the US spent $160bn trying to make it come true. These billions succeeded only in making some defence companies very rich, and making Russia point its nukes at Poland and the UK once more. And if Obama doesn't decide to close this long-running farce now, it will make one more contribution to world history: the number of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the world will dramatically increase.

A World of Advice for Obama on Foreign Policy
13.11.08. NY Times. The Russians want him to hold off on the installation of a missile defense shield in Poland. The Europeans want him to renounce the idea of “regime change” when it comes to Iran, while the Israelis want to be sure he does not give Iran a pass when it comes to nuclear weapons. Oh, and let’s not forget the Taliban, which issued a statement this week urging him to “put an end to all the policies being followed by his Opposition Party, the Republicans, and pull out U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Which country was "provocative" first?

US rejects Kremlin's call to scrap missile shield
14.11.08. T. Parfit, I Traynor, Guardian. Antagonism between the Kremlin and the Bush administration over the deployment of missile systems in Europe deepened yesterday after the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, accused President Dmitry Medvedev of "provocative, unnecessary and misguided" plans to station short-range ballistic missiles in Russia's Baltic exclave, Kaliningrad.
==
Sarkozy: US missile shield won't help security
14.11.08. wired. French President Nicolas Sarkozy undercut the American rationale for a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe on Friday by saying that the system would do nothing to improve European security. / Sarkozy's comments were the strongest to date by an American ally against the missile-defense plans, which have infuriated Russia despite the Bush administration's insistence that they are aimed at protecting Europe from Iran./ "Deployment of a missile defense system would bring nothing to security in Europe ... it would complicate things, and would make them move backward," Sarkozy said after a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Sarkozy backs down from missile defense criticism (15.11.08. AP / Salon)

Russia says ready to talk missile defense with U.S.
15.11.08. Reuters.

Germany, Israel Build Missile Sensor, Report Says
17.11.,08. nti. A German defense source has verified the existence of the detection unit, dubbed "Project Bluebird," which has already been tested on a passenger aircraft, Defense News reported. / Israel has requested U.S. assistance in placing the sensor on an unmanned aerial vehicle for deployment as a component of the Arrow missile defense system, according to a U.S. Defense Department official. The official added that the sensor was intended to counter "the escalating Iranian nuclear threat and the possibility that Tehran will one day equip ballistic missiles with decoys and maneuvering warheads." Now. take note of following please? Nuclear failure: five reports into the fire at Germany's Kruemmel plant, June 2007 (18.11.08. Wikileaks)

U.S. Tests Missile Interceptor Motor
17.11.,08. nti. Personnel at an Alliant Techsystems site in Utah completed the fourth of five planned rocket motor tests for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, examining the device's ballistics and thrust systems as well as subcomponents used for maneuvering the weapon.

Russia to Expand Short-Range Missile Deployment
18.11.08. nti. "By 2015, the Iskander system will be put in service with five missile brigades, primarily near Russia's western border and in the Kaliningrad Region," a Defense Ministry source told the news agency.

Czech Lawmakers to Wait for Obama Before Deciding on Missile Defense
19.11.08. nti.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ...

The Coming Middle East Missile War
19.11.08. Weekly Standard. Russia's plan for the new Iskander theater ballistic missile doesn't stop with their proposed Kaliningrad deployment. Aviation Week reports that once domestic requirements are met, Russia may export the weapon to Syria, India, and the UAE -- to start. Algeria, Belarus, Kuwait, and Vietnam have also expressed interest in the SCUD replacement, though Russia claims to be working on an "Echo" variant of the rocket for export that reduces the Iskander's range from 400km to appx. 280km. / What is interesting is the potential for another East v. West technological showdown in the Israeli-Syria theater. Israel is currently deploying a robust rocket and missile shield that is designed to knock out everything from short range Hezbollah rocket attacks all the way up to an Iranian Shahab-III ballistic missile laydown. That shield will include top-of-the-line American missile defense systems such as the Patriot PAC-3, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and a highly-sensitive new x-band radar, as well as Israeli weapon systems like David's Sling and Iron Dome. ... / If nothing else, Ivan's callous proliferation of these heavy shooters should be enough to cast doubt on any existing plan to cut missile defense from the budget. [WHO, pray, STARTED the "callous proliferation?"
==
Japan-U.S. missile defense test fails off Hawaii
20.11.08. Reuters / anti-war. A Japanese warship failed to shoot down a ballistic missile target in a joint test with U.S. forces Wednesday because of a glitch in the final stage of an interceptor made by Raytheon Co, a U.S. military official said. The kinetic warhead's infrared "seeker" lost track in the last few seconds of the $55 million test, about 100 miles above Hawaiian waters, said U.S. Rear Admiral Brad Hicks, program director of the Aegis sea-based leg of an emerging U.S. anti-missile shield.

Russia Plans to Sell Missile System to Iran
21.11.08. epoch times. MI6 has warned that Russia is poised to sell its own sophisticated S-300 missile defence system to Iran if the European Union and Washington push for Georgia and Ukraine to have NATO membership.

U.S. Missile Defense Radar in Israel to Become Operational Next Month
24.11.08. nti.

US Ambassador to NATO Talks about Missile Defense Plans and Missile Threat to Europe
26.11.08. The European Media Center . US Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker talks about missile defense and the growing missile threat to Europe. Available video includes soundbites of Kurt Volker and NATO headquarters shots.

Czech upper house approves missile shield
27.11.08. wired. The upper house of the Czech parliament backed a plan on Thursday to build a U.S. missile defence shield base in the central European country, but it faces tough scrutiny in the lower chamber.

Russia seeks new missiles due to U.S. shield plans
28.11.08. Reuters.

The Tenth RUSI Missile Defence Conference
rusi.org. Programme of events: 09:00, 28 - 29 May 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET

DECEMBER 2008

Missile Defense Agency to launch target drone from Kodiak
01.12.08. KTUU. The Coast Guard is setting up four safety zones downrange from the complex, including Narrow Cape, where the launch pad is located and Ugak Island where the first stage of the ballistic missile is expected to splash down. / The other two areas are off the coast of the Lower 48. / The safety zones will be in effect every day from Friday until Dec. 8, or until cancelled because of a launch or scrub.

NATO backs US missile shield over Russian protest
03.12.08. ... AP. All 26 NATO allies signed the statement backing the deployment of interceptor missiles in Poland and an advanced radar station in the Czech Republic.

U.S. says latest missile defense test a success
05.12.08. Reuters. The target missile for the test over the Pacific was launched from Kodiak, Alaska and an interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, officials said. The intercept took place at 3:29 p.m. EST .
Boeing Corp.
is prime contractor for the system, called the ground-based midcourse defense.

Financial Crisis Might Delay U.S. Radar, Czech Foreign Minister Says
09.12.08. nti.

India

United States helps India build a Missile Shield
Foreign Policy, 10 top stories you missed. On Feb. 27, 2008, after two days of meetings in New Delhi, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates quietly announced negotiations between the United States and India to develop a missile defense program on Indian soil. Although still in its early stages, a missile shield on the subcontinent could have long-term implications for U.S.-China relations and regional stability.

Rafael to supply SPYDER SAM systems to Indian Air Force
13.12.08. india defence. The Indian ministry of defence has confirmed that it has signed a contract with M/s Rafael, Israel for the supply of the SPYDER (Surface-to-air Python and Derby) low level quick reaction missile system (LLQRM) for the Indian Air Force.

==

Minot AFB officer to face court-martial
10.12.08. grand forks herald / legitgov. A Minot Air Force Base officer accused of stealing a missile launch control device will face a court-martial, the military said. Capt. Paul Borowiecki, who was a missile combat crew member assigned to the base’s 91st Missile Wing, is accused of taking the launch control device in July 2005, rather than destroying it as required when it was no longer in use. The Air Force also said Borowiecki told officials that another officer had lied in saying he destroyed a launch component. That device remains missing. That other officer, whose name has not been released, has not been charged.

Russian, Chinese defense ministers to meet in Beijing
10.12.08. rian.ru. The source also said that Anatoly Serdyukov and Liang Guanglie would also discuss a project by the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Taiwan to establish a regional missile defense system. China is against the project, which is seen as largely aimed against North Korea.

Russia to Spend $2 Billion More on Missile Shield Countermeasures, Other Defenses
11.12.08. your defence news.

Boeing Pursues New Uses for Missile Defense Laser
12.12.08. nti. Concerned that the incoming Obama administration could seek cuts to unproven missile defense programs (see GSN, Oct. 21), the firm is dipping into its own funds to find alternative uses for the Airborne Laser technology.

U.S. Promotes Middle Eastern Missile Shield
15.12.08. nti. The United States is encouraging Middle Eastern nations to plan, buy and deploy an integrated system that would protect the region from missile strikes, The missile shield, which would stretch from Kuwait in the north to Oman in the south, would primarily be intended to discourage Iran from firing nuclear or conventional missiles, high-level U.S. officials said at a meeting in Bahrain attended by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command (see related GSN story, today). Petraeus added that Arab states needed to bolster their current missile defenses.

ISRAEL to Caution Russia Against Iranian Air-Defense Sale
16.12.08. NTI. Israeli Defense Ministry official Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, during a two-day trip to Moscow, would caution Russia's intelligence chief, chief of staff and other senior officials against selling the defenses to Tehran, Haaretz reported. / ... "This is a system that scares every Western air force," Goure said, noting that it "could be a catalyst for Israeli air attacks before it's operational."

Japan Approves Deployment of Ship-Based Missile Defense Despite Failed Test (17.12.08. nti.)

UAE

United Arab Emirates Buys Patriot Missile Defenses
18.12.08. nti. The United Arab Emirates has given U.S. defense contractor Raytheon Co. an order worth up to $3.3 billion for delivery of Patriot missile defense batteries, along with associated training and technical support, the Boston Globe reported today (see GSN, Sept. 9).

United Arab Emirates to Buy PAC-3 System
24.12.08. nti. U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin has made its first sale to a Middle Eastern nation of the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile defense system, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 18). Sales to the United Arab Emirates are included in a $774 million contract with the U.S. Defense Department and are to be completed by July 2011. Lockheed has agreed to produce 172 PAC-3 interceptors, 42 launcher modification packs and additional material, some of which will go to the U.S. Army, the company said. The lifetime value of the deal with Abu Dhabi could exceed $1.8 billion, Lockheed said

==
Russia

Russia to Cut Arms if US Drops Missile Defense
19.12.08. anti-war. As American and Russian diplomats continue to fruitlessly debate the basic terms of a new arms treaty, the Commander of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces Colonel-General Nikolay Solovtsov offered something of an olive branch, suggesting his nation was willing to abandon weapons programs if President-elect Obama agrees to abandon their missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia to Raise Nuclear Missile Output Fourfold
24.12.08. Tom Parfitt, Julian Borger, Guardian/Truthout. "Russia has thrown down a new gauntlet to Barack Obama with an announcement that it will sharply increase production of strategic nuclear missiles. In the latest of a series of combative moves by the Kremlin, a senior government official in Moscow said the Russian military would commission 70 strategic missiles over the next three years, as part of a massive rearmament program which will also include short-range missiles, 300 tanks, 14 warships and 50 planes."

Russia deploys 2nd S-400 missile system
26.12.08. presstv / ICH. Russia deploys missiles fitted with S-400 Triumf air defense system, which can hit target at a distance twice the range of the US Patriot.

Russia selling surface-to-air missiles to Libya, Syria: report (26.12.08. AFP)

==
Poland

Don’t expect speedy conclusion to anti-missile shield
22.12.08. polskieradio. With American politics in limbo, the issue of the anti-missile shield will drag on for some while.
--

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY CONTRACT AWARD
30.12.08. Global Security. The Boeing Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Huntsville, Alabama, is being awarded $397,900,000 (not-to-exceed ceiling) for a cost plus award fee, cost plus fixed fee contract to continue development of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program; including Block 3 development and fielding activities for six months until a long-term, Core Completion contract for development can be awarded. The principal place of performance will be at the contractor’s facility in Huntsville, Alabama. The contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year.

VIDEO: Missile Defense Shield commercial

Jan / Feb. 2009

JANUARY 2009

U.S. Delivers $397 Million Missile Defense Contract
05.01.09. nti. The U.S. Defense Department announced Tuesday that it has given Boeing a $397 million contract to continue developing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, the Associated Press reported

U.S. to Place Aegis Missile Defenses on Several Warships
08.01.09. nti. Outfitting a single vessel with the defenses costs between $10 million and $12 million, a price that includes later software updates and hardware tweaks. Three U.S. cruisers and 15 U.S. destroyers have received the technology to date; the ships are based at Norfolk, Va., San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Yokosuka, Japan.

India

New Delhi weighs up US missile shield
08.01.09. ft.com. The US is in preliminary talks with India over the sale of missile shield systems to help New Delhi guard against nuclear threats. / Officials at the US embassy in New Delhi told the Financial Times that talks had taken place, mainly at the technical level. They said US defence officials had conducted computer simulations with their Indian counterparts to demonstrate the capabilities of such technology.

U.S. Denies Pursuing Indian Missile Defense Sales
09.01.09. nti. The Financial Timess reported Wednesday that the two nations have been discussing missile shield sales to help protect India from its nuclear-armed neighbors, but officials later denied the assertion.

India and the US talk missile defense
15.01.09. Siddharth Srivastava, Asia Times. Concerned about the threats emerging from Pakistan in the wake of the November terror attack in Mumbai and the predominant position of China, official sources told Asia Times Online that there had been considerable acceleration in India-US efforts to jointly build a ballistic missile defense (BMD) system.

U.S. to review Europe missile shield under Obama
16.01.09. reuters. President-elect Barack Obama's administration will review plans to deploy elements of a U.S. missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, Obama's nominee for a top Pentagon post said on Thursday.

FEBRUARY 2009

Boeing Nets $250 Million Missile Defense Deal
03.02.09. nti.

Obama willing to delay European missile shield
04.02.09. inthenews. Barack Obama is willing to delay the deployment of missile and radar systems in eastern Europe in order to encourage Russia to cut its stockpile of nuclear warheads.

and/or

Obama will not reject European missile shield plans - expert
06.02.09. rian.ru. The director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Andrew Kuchins, said at a press conference in Moscow that he "doubted Obama's administration would reject the project."

Czech Lawmakers Delay Missile Defense Vote
05.02.09. nti. and Czech Foreign Min To Visit US For Talks On Missile Shield (06.02.09)

confusing 'mood music' from White House

Joe Biden tells Munich conference: 'US will talk to Iran and ally with Russia against terror'
07.02.09. Telegraph. {Biden] indicated that the US would press ahead with plans for a missile defence project based in Poland and the Czech Republic, while adding riders about the cost and effectiveness of the programme. [NB: not one paper printed the same message from this speech ... each paper took a part of the speech and used that as a headline; this is confusing for Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, and those in the US who want to see "change" but instead are getting policy confusion]

Ship of Fools
09.02.09. Paul Craig Roberts, ICH. The Russians, overflowing with energy and mineral resources, and not in debt, have learned that the US government is not to be trusted. Russia has watched Reagan's successors attempt to turn former constituent parts of the Soviet Union into US puppet states with US military bases. / ... The unreality in which he US government operates is beyond belief. A bankrupt government that cannot pay its bills without printing money is rushing headlong into wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. According to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis, the cost to the US taxpayers of sending a single soldier to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq is $775,000 per year!

Raytheon Wins Patriot Contract for United Arab Emirates
10.02.09. nti. U.S. defense contractor Raytheon announced yesterday it had received a five-year, $246 million contract to supply the United Arab Emirates with extra components and technical services for its Patriot missile defenses

Clinton says missile shield hinges in part on Iran
10.02.09. Reuters. - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday a final decision on deployment of a missile shield in eastern and central Europe hinged in part on Iran's willingness to curb its nuclear ambitions. / "This is one of those issues that really will rest with the decisions made by the Iranian government," Clinton said of plans to install radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor rockets in Poland to shield against ballistic missiles fired by "rogue" countries like Iran. [ What about nuclear ambitions of Israel?]

No Change?

NATO keen on missile shield in Europe
12.02.09. presstv./ir. NATO has dismissed fears that Russia might pose threats to the EU, but says that Europe will develop a missile defense shield regardless.
= = =

U.S. links Moscow help on Iran to missile shield
14.02.09. Reuters. - The United States signaled a willingness on Friday to slow plans for a missile defense shield in eastern Europe if Russia agreed to help stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Obama administration takes softer stance on missile defense system in Czech Republic
15.02.09. dailyme. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to meet her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva, Switzerland next month, paving the way for the first meeting between President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Group of Eight economic summit in London in early April.

Lockheed Martin Awarded $78.6 Million Contract To Produce Upgrades For Aegis Weapon System
15.02.09. armorred.com. “This production contract represents an orchestrated plan to deliver new capability to the fleet on an aggressive schedule, while maintaining the operational quality that defines Aegis today,” said Kevin Kenney, Manager, Systems Acquisition Division, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems 1.0. “This work will field improved ballistic missile defense capability and set the stage for full combat system modernization on all of the Navy’s Aegis destroyers.”

North / South Korea
Missile shield by 2012
15.02.09. straits times. SOUTH Korea plans to complete its own missile defence system against North Korea in three years, officials said on Sunday.
The unit, to cost a total of 300 billion won (S$322 million), will complete an air and missile defence project which has been pushed for since 2006, they said.

Clinton warns North Korea against missile launch
18.02.09. Irish Times.

VIDEO: US priorities on the Korean peninsula - 19 Feb 09
= =
U.S. backtracks [sic] on missile shield
19.02.09. washington times. A Turkish general once said: "The problem with having the Americans as your allies is you never know when they´ll turn around and stab themselves in the back." / On the issue of ballistic missile defense, the Obama administration may be on the verge of knifing not only ourselves, but two loyal European allies as well.

Poland, Czech Republic Worried by Obama's Intentions on Missile Defense
19.02.09. nti. Officials in Poland and the Czech Republic are worried that U.S. President Barack Obama might turn away from the Bush administration's plan to deploy missile defense bases in the two European nations, the Associated Press reported yesterday. / Warsaw and Prague increased tensions with Russia by agreeing to host the missile shield systems, which Moscow sees as a threat to its strategic security. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last year went so far as to threaten to deploy short-range missiles near the Polish border if the U.S. plan moved ahead.

Obama team urges Polish patience on shield
19.02.09. spacewar. The United States urged Poland Thursday to be patient over a missile defence deal it inked with Washington while President Barack Obama's team reviews the controversial multi-billion dollar shield.

More Time Needed for European Missile Defense Decision, Gates Says
20.02.09. nti.

Albania ready to accept US missile shield
23.02.09. sofia echo. [for how much US money?]

Sarkozy: US missile shield won’t help security
24.02.09. AP.

U.S. missile defense to complete test review by May
27.02.09. euronews24. After years of criticism that it was spending billions on an anti-missile defense system without adequate testing, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency on Wednesday said it had launched a comprehensive review of its testing plans and would complete it by May 2009.

and India

Missile defense in India
27.02.09. the bulletin. Recently, Indian officials approached the United States about purchasing a missile defense shield.; New Delhi's once casual interest in missile defense has intensified as its regional threats have increased. / The United States believes that a strong New Delhi can help protect U.S. assets in South Asia and counterbalance China..

March 2009

Navy Destroyer's Missile Defense System Damaged in Reef Accident
04.03.09. nti. The Navy has been equipping 18 destroyers and cruisers with technology designed to track and destroy enemy ballistic missiles in flight.

North Korea

U.S. Can Shoot Down North Korean Missile, Admiral Says
04.03.09. nti.

North Korea threatens 'war'
09.03.09. al jazeera.

India

India Tests Missile Interceptor
06.03.09. nti.
= =

Iran
Iran test-fires new long-range missile
09.03.09. gulf daily news. the semi-official Fars News Agency said it was an air-to-surface missile with a range of 110km designed for use by military aircraft against naval targets.

Poland

Poland leader demands that the US fulfil its missile shield obligations
09.03.09. Telegraph.

Poland Seeks U.S. Commitment on Missile Shield (23.03.09. NTI)

Clinton Promises U.S. Support for Poland While Skirting Missile Defense Plans
25.03.09. NTI. While avoiding any promise to deploy U.S. missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought yesterday to reassure Warsaw that the United States would meet its defense obligations to its NATO ally, Agence France-Presse reported.

Czech Republic

Czech Officials Delay Missile Defense Vote (18.03.09. nti)

Czech PM defers ratification of US missile shield
18.03.09. Focus-fen. "The government has decided to withdraw the two pacts with the United States on setting up a radar station on Czech soil," he said in a brief statement on state television.

Czech Missile Defense Opponents Cheers Prime Minister's Resignation (27.03.09, NTI)

Czech Opposition to Missile Shield Grows
31.03.09. Angus Reid. 70 per cent of respondents disagree with the plan, and 72 per cent want the government to call a referendum on the issue.

Obama missile Defense Problems Gates spanner? Iran "not close" to nuclear weapon: Gates 01.03.09. Reuters. "They're not close to a stockpile, they're not close to a weapon at this point, and so there is some time," Gates said on NBC television's "Meet The Press." / Gates' comments followed a televised interview with Adm. Mike Mullen, head of the U.S. military Joint Chiefs of Staff, who told CNN's "State of the Union" that he believed Iran has enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb. Obama Offers Missile Defense Restraint to Russia for Help With Iran 03.03.09. nti. Russian support for efforts to curb Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear weapon activities could lead the United States to move away from plans to deploy missile defenses in Eastern Europe, according to a letter sent last month by U.S. President Barack Obama to his counterpart in Moscow vs Clinton? Clinton Expresses Doubts on Dialogue With Iran 03.03.09. nti. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday questioned whether dialogue between Iran and the United States could resolve long-standing disputes between the two nations, the Washington Post reported. Clinton says missile shield to protect from Iran 03.03.09. Reuters. "What we have said specifically in regard to missile defence in Europe is that it has always been intended to deter any missiles that might come from Iran," Clinton said. "It remains our position. We have explained that to the Russians before." / The comments were a response to a proposal by Barack Obama, US president, saying the US would back off from plans for the missile shield in exchange for Russian help in ensuring that Iran did not acquire long-range weapons. The proposal was hand-delivered in a letter to Mr Medvedev three weeks ago, and reported yesterday in the New York Times . Analysis: Clinton's hard bargain on missile shield 08.03.09. AP. If the Obama administration intends to give up missile defense in Europe as part of a security deal with Russia, as its behind-the-scenes maneuvering seems to suggest, then [AIPAC's] Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is driving a hard bargain. / Clinton made it clear that the U.S. wants more than just a helping hand from Russia. The U.S. wants to see any such assistance pay concrete and dividends in the form of verifiable action by Tehran to halt its nuclear program [what about halting Israel's nuclear programme first?] and scale back missile development. Until those results are achieved, or at least within sight, the administration is likely to keep missile defense as an option. US Continues Military Encirclement Of Russia - Recent Words Aside 08.03.09. Rick Rozoff, global research. [US-NATO military exercises belie the recent "diplomacy" efforts by AIPAC's Clinton] Clinton Hints at Tough Demands for Halting Missile Shield Plan, Report Says 09.03.09. nti. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could demand decisive Russian assistance in countering Iran and other U.S. antagonists in exchange for canceling a plan to deploy missile defenses in Europe, "Barack Obama, Meet Team B" 12.03.09. Scott Ritter, truthdig. The president must be getting bad advice. Why else would he offer not to build a missile defense system he doesn’t want in exchange for Russia’s help with an Iranian nuclear weapons program that doesn’t exist? Boeing and US Army Collaborate on Space and Missile Defense Research (12.03.09. aviation news) Value of European Missile Defense Questioned 16.03.09. nti. It would cost between $9 billion and $13 billion to field a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland, the Congressional Budget Office found, adding that the European system would not protect the entire continent against Iranian missiles. The United States in the last 24 years has spent $144 billion on programs to defend the country against missile threats, according to the agency. Costs US Missile Shield in Europe Would Cost Billions, Probably Wouldn’t Work 16.03.09. anti-war. Despite the growing harm being done to US-Russian relations by the proposed US missile defense system in Poland, Obama Administration officials maintain that it is vital to defend against the Iranian “threat.” / But in addition to having cost over $144 billion since 1985, a growing number of reports put into doubt whether the system would even work. Technical analysis has pointed to the systems being fooled by decoys, even balloons, and former Pentagon testing chief Philip Coyle says the successful tests were “scripted for success.” see also: U.S. Missile Defense Costs Skyrocket 18.03.09. nti. The U.S. Government Accountability Office said Monday that missile defense program costs could exceed expectations by $2 billion to $3 billion. .. The Missile Defense Agency's costs for weapon development and deployment since 2002 have nearly reached $56 billion, and another $50 billion is likely to be necessary in the next half-decade, according to the GAO report. Pentagon in "intense review" of Europe missile shield (18.02.09. Reuters) Arms Race in Space 19.03.09. Bruce K. Gagnon, FPIF. The new arms race in space is shaping up to be the largest industrial project in Earth's history. To pay for this project, the aerospace industry has been lobbying Washington for a dedicated funding source. Budget allocations for missile defense — Star Wars — are only part of the huge sums of money redirected toward preparations for war in space. Lawmakers, officials see cuts to U.S. missile defense 23.03.09. wired. U.S. lawmakers and top military officers on Monday predicted cuts in missile defense spending, now running at nearly $10 billion a year, and said the focus would shift increasingly to cooperative efforts with other nations and networking current weapons. Congress Continues Criticism of US Missile Defense System in Europe (23.03.09. VOA) NATO General, Senators Discuss Missile Deal 24.03.09. aviation week. SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and strategic forces subcommittee chair Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) queried Army Gen. Bantz Craddock - head of U.S. European Command and, by tradition, NATO's supreme allied commander - over whether a U.S.-Russian partnership could provide enough deterrence to Iran to pursuing a nuclear weapon, especially an intercontinental ballistic missile. Levin called the idea, including one scenario coupling Russian radar with U.S. and NATO theater-based interceptors and command-and-control (C2) systems, as a "game-changer" in dissuading Iran. / Craddock did not overtly disagree, but he stressed that the transatlantic alliance has found missile defense to be strategically important [sic], thus protection is necessary across the membership. He also said that the proposed Third Site serves as a "catalyst" for missile defense in NATO, and that not building it out could leave the alliance without a "first shot" against the perceived Iranian ICBM threat, expected around the middle of next decade. Contractors Push for Missile Defense Funding 25.03.09. NTI. Missile defense spending rose to about $10 billion per year during the Bush administration, but President Barack Obama has suggested cutting that figure by $2 billion in the fiscal 2010 budget, according to industry officials. / .. Officials from Boeing and Northrop Grumman, however, held briefings yesterday to defend their projects. … Raytheon Awarded $29.3 Million Phase 3 Contract for Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Development Program 25.03.09. fox business. This 38-month phase of the program is a collaboration between DARPA and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA: undefined, undefined, undefined%). Its objective is to rapidly mature and demonstrate the capabilities of gallium nitride (GaN) to improve the performance of missile defense radars. To accelerate the technology development, it will combine the results of Raytheon's DARPA-funded WBGS Phase 2 and the MDA-funded Next Generation Transmit Receive Integrated Microwave Module programs. U.S. Review Slows NATO Missile Defense Planning 31.03.09. nti. NATO missile defense advocates had hoped that a summit this week would generate progress toward developing a continental shield, but a U.S. review of its own plans has effectively scuttled action by the alliance for now, Aviation Week reported

Russia

Obama Offers Missile Defense Restraint to Russia for Help With Iran
03.03.09. nti. Russian support for efforts to curb Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear weapon activities could lead the United States to move away from plans to deploy missile defenses in Eastern Europe, according to a letter sent last month by U.S. President Barack Obama to his counterpart in Moscow.

Medvedev rejects missile shield deal
04.03.09. Financial Times. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, yesterday rejected any suggestion that Moscow would "trade or exchange" on policies to dissuade the US from installing an anti-ballistic missile system near its borders in eastern Europe.

Russia to re-arm military as Nato expands
17.03.09. Independent / legitgov. Russia has described plans by the previous US administration to grant Nato membership to ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia, and to deploy elements of a US missile shield in Eastern Europe, as a direct threat to its national security.

ooops . Russia Confirms S-300 Contract With Iran
18.03.09. anti-war. A top Russian defense official today confirmed that a contract has existed for two years to supply the high-end S-300 surface to air defensive missile system to Iran, something which has long been rumored to be the case. Russian spokesmen would not discuss the revelation but were quick to point out that the missiles had yet to be delivered.

Israel

see Index Research: US – Israel Missile Defense Cooperation (13.11.08)

Israel tests anti-rocket missile
27.03.09. herald sun/ anti-war. ISRAEL has carried out several successful test launches over the past two days of missiles to stop short- and medium-range rockets, it was reported today./ The missile system, named Iron Dome, was the target this month of a scathing report by Israel's state comptroller, who accused the defence establishment of wasting time and money on the proposed rocket protection shield.

"We operate everywhere we can hit terrorist infrastructure - in nearby places, in places further away, anywhere we can strike them in a way that increases [sic] deterrence" Olmert after Sudan strike.

AIPAC head testifies on Israel aid
27.03.09. JTA. Howard Kohr, executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, told the House Appropriations Foreign Operations subcommittee that "American assistance to Israel serves vital U.S. national security interests and advances critical U.S. foriegn policy goals." / He requested that Israel receive $2.775 billion in military aid in fiscal year 2010, as called for in the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel that allocates $30 billion in aid for the Jewish state over 10 years.

Japan

Japan OKs deployment of missile defense system 27.03.09. Honolulu advertiser.

NB:
Plunging sales leave Japan on the brink of deflation
27.03.09. Guardian. The consumer price index remained unchanged for a second month, but economists reckon it must fall soon. The weak state of the Japanese economy was underlined by separate data showing that retail sales fell by 5.8% last month, the sharpest monthly decline in seven years. Retail sales in Japan have now fallen for the last six months.



APRIL 2009

“As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defense system that is cost-effective and proven. Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran’s neighbors and our allies. / The governments of the Czech Republic and Poland, he added, are ‘courageous’ for ‘agreeing to host a defense against these missiles.’" Barack Obama

Change... What change?

Obama vows to build missile shield in stand-off with Iran
06.04.09. Independent/ie. /ICH. The United States will continue to develop a missile defence shield until Iran abandons its nuclear ambitions, President Barack Obama said yesterday.

U.S. Plans Missile Defense Training Improvements
29.04.09. NTI. The Pentagon plans to start the program, dubbed "All Things Missile," within the next two years, said Patrick McVay, joint exercises and training director for the U.S. Strategic Command.


Raytheon Awarded $27 Million Option for Patriot Engineering Services (20.04.09. revista aerea)
= = =
Pimping for contracts?

Maintain Missile Defense Efforts, U.S. Contractor Says
01.04.09. Nti. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman yesterday urged the Obama administration to sustain costly missile defense activities, an effort in which the firm is a major player, Reuters reported .

VIDEO: Protecting America (Heritage Foundation)

WRAPUP 3-US defense plan kills programs, trims missile shield (07.04.09. Reuters)

Finding a new country to demonize?

Missile Defense Ships Would Protect Against China, Gates Says
09.04.09. NTI. "We're converting more ships to have ballistic missile defense that would help against China," (Gates) told a PBS interviewer in regard to his budget plan for fiscal 2010.

= = =
Lawmakers Oppose U.S. Missile Defense Budget Cuts (14.04.09. NTI)


Czech Republic

Czechs Bracing For Anti-Missile Protests Ahead of Obama Visit (03.04.09. VOA)

Barack Obama delivers missile shield warning to Russia
05.04.09. Guardian. Barack Obama went to the heart of Europe today to deliver a pointed, if carefully calibrated message to Russia - that the Pentagon would press ahead, if need be, with its contentious missile shield project in the Czech Republic and Poland. Plans for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station south of Prague are adamantly opposed by Moscow, which refuses to accept the US argument that the project is aimed not at Russia, but at a potential ballistic missile attack from Iran.

Poland

Polish PM: No pressure on U.S. over missile shield (03.04.09. Xinhuanet)

Polish pianist stops show with anti-US tirade
28.04.09. Guardian. • 'Get your hands off my country' audience told
• Polish player protests over missile defence shield

Israel

Israel''s missile shield will operate in 2010
10.04.09. unnindia. The Israeli missile shield set up to intercept missiles fired from Gaza, its called Iron Dome, is to start operation in the summer of 2010 and cover the parameters of Gaza Strip, Israeli defence sources informed today.

U.S. troops take part in ISRAEL X-Band radar test
13.04.09. Stars and Stripes. U.S. troops took part in a missile defense exercise in Israel last week that for the first time incorporated a U.S.-owned radar system deployed to the country in October. About 100 Europe-based troops continue to operate the X-Band radar, which is intended to give Israel early warning in the event of a missile launch from Iran.

Israel, US to hold largest-ever joint missile defense drill
14.04.09. Jerusalem Post. In the face of Iran's continued pursuit of nuclear capability, Israel and the United States will hold an unprecedented and massive exercise later this year to jointly test three different ballistic missile defense systems, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The exercise, called Juniper Cobra, will be held in Israel and will include the newly developed Arrow 2, as well as America's THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and the ship-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Israel wants to buy US rocket intercept system
21.04.09. spacewar. Israel wants to buy a rocket intercept system from the United States to protect against militant fire from the Gaza Strip, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Iran

Iran: S-300 missile deal on track
15.04.09. presstv.ir. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari says the contract to buy Russia's S-300 advance missile system is still on track. "There are no problems with this [S-300] contract," RIA Novosti quoted Safari as saying at the end of his visit to Moscow on Wednesday.

Japan {find some reason to keep the money flowing?)

Japan Might Need Missile Warning Satellite, Defense Chief Says (09.04.09. NTI)

Russia

Russia test-fires intercontinental missile
10.04.09. Reuters. It is designed to pierce anti-missile defense systems such as those that the United States has said it wants to build in Eastern Europe.

Russia Waiting for Concrete U.S. Missile Defense Proposal
16.04.09. NTI. "Overall, the measures of 'transparency and trust' offered to us were mostly symbolic and could not contribute to mitigating Russian concerns," Lavrov stated in the state-operated Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper.

Turkey

Turkey Considers Russian Missile Defenses, Official Says (28.04.09. NTI).

MAY 2009

General

Minot Air Force Base Simulates Nuclear Missile Launch
05.05.09. KFYRTV. Minot Air Force Base came within seconds of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile this morning. But it wasn't an emergency - it was a test of the 91st Missile Wing's ability to respond to an order from the President to launch a nuclear-tipped missile. A Minuteman Three missile from Minot's arsenal will be shipped to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California next month for an actual launch to test the equipment and people from the local base.

Navy Opens Missile Defense Command (04.05.09. NTI)


US missile data found on eBay hard drive (07.05.09. Independent)

Did anyone expect anything else from our “change” President?

CHANGE BEFORE JANUARY 2009
VIDEO:
Obama on Missile Defense

NO CHANGE AFTER: JANUARY 2009

Obama Admits Missile Defense is PROVEN
07.05.09. closing velocity. While it is unfortunate that his administration is terminating and reducing several missile defense projects, Obama's announced budget cuts today are rather historic --- missile defense has officially been deemed PROVEN by the President.

Obama flip-flops on missile defense (07.05.09. bluegrass pundit)

VIDEO: Obama admits “we need missile defense”


Australia
Australia Breaks with U.S. on Missile Defense
06.05.09. NTI. The Australian government on Saturday expressed its categorical opposition to national ballistic missile shields, the Sydney Morning Herald reported (see GSN, Feb. 25, 2008). / The position -- buried in a 140-page defense white paper -- represents a break from the United States and put Australia in the same camp as China and Russia on the question of missile defense.

Iran

'US missile shield has nothing to do with Iran'
07.05.09. presstv.ir. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the US of using the Iran issue as a pretext to set up its missile shield in Russia's backyard. / "The way it [the US anti-ballistic missile shield] is designed has nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program. It is aimed at Russian strategic forces, deployed in the European part of the Russian Federation," the top Russian diplomat said in an interview with Euronews on Wednesday.

AUGUST 2009

Showdown with Russia and China: U.S. Advances First Strike Global Missile Shield System
23.08.09. Nick Rozoff, Global Research. On August 13th the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Chicago-based Boeing International announced a test of their joint Airborne Laser (ABL) missile defense system, which "successfully tracked and hit the mark earlier this month during its first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile." [1]

Employing a modified Boeing 747-400F prototype airplane, on August 10 the Missile Defense Agency had the adapted commercial airliner use infrared sensors against a missile launched from San Nicolas Island, California and "found, tracked, engaged and simulated an intercept with a missile seconds after liftoff. It was the first time the Agency used an 'instrumented' missile to confirm the laser works as expected. Next up this fall will be the first live attempt to bring down a ballistic missile...." [2]

A newspaper from Alabama, the state where the MDA headquarters is based, mentioned that "The news came today [August 13], just a few days before the 12th annual Space and Missile Defense Conference opens next week in Huntsville." [3]

The Wall Street Journal waxed enthusiastic about the advanced missile interceptor test

SEPTEMBER 09

U.S. Expands Global Missile Shield Into Middle East, Balkans
11.O9.09. Rick Rozoff, global research. Toward the latter half of last month, the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, "citing officials and lobbyists in Washington," revealed that the Pentagon would reevaluate planned interceptor missile deployments in Poland and a complementary missile radar site in the Czech Republic and instead shift global missile shield plans to Israel, Turkey and the Balkans

U.S. Missile Shield Plans: Retreat Or Advance?
18.09.09. Rick Rozoff, global research. Much of the world, then, was relieved to read the news that the U.S. was reversing course and renouncing designs to base missile shield facilities in Eastern Europe. What Washington has stated, though, is not so straightforward. / President Obama's statement began with "President Bush was right that Iran's ballistic missile program poses a significant threat. And that's why I'm committed to deploying strong missile defense systems which are adaptable to the threats of the 21st century." / The second sentence confirms the position on so-called missile defense that his administration has repeatedly and unswervingly voiced since coming to power in January: A global interceptor missile system will be deployed when and exactly where it is proven to be most capable of achieving its purpose and in the most cost-effective manner. In American vernacular, the White House and the Pentagon want more bang for the buck./ Obama also said, "I have approved the unanimous recommendations of my Secretary of Defense and my Joint Chiefs of Staff to strengthen America's defenses against ballistic missile attack. This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems, and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defense program."

There is nothing equivocal about that pledge. Obama is promising a missile shield system not only more effective but more ambitious than the one he has rejected. / The shift in policy is one of emphasis and not essence and portends the expansion and not the constriction of missile deployment plans in Europe. / "We are bound by the solemn commitment of NATO's Article V that an attack on one is an attack on all." To invoke NATO's Article 5 is to speak of war.

Poland, Oct.'09

Poland to Accept U.S. Offer on Shield
20.10.09. NY Times. Poland, smarting after President Obama announced last month that he would scrap Bush-era plans to deploy an antiballistic missile system in Eastern Europe, will accept an offer to host parts of a new, more mobile, missile defense system, Polish officials said Tuesday.

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Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK
The url to US-NATO 'Missile Shield' Programme: Index Timeline Part II is : http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-nato-missile-shield-programme-index.html
shorter url: http://tinyurl.com/29zgzx

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Other Index articles on NATO

NATO: The Bathtub of Unreadiness (Updated 12/01/07)

Afghanistan : NATO is now US-ATO

NATO: FOR THE LOVE OF EMPIRE, the preface to Index on Afghanistan: May 2007: Part II - NATO; Human Rights. (05.06.07).

US-NATO 'Missile Shield' Programme (Part I)

INDEX ON AFGHANISTAN, NATO FAILURE: A WINTER’S TALE, PART II

Alsi see all other Index on Afghanistan articles, each which contain two large sections on NATO. These can be found in the sidebar of the blog.

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Tags : Index Research, NATO, Missile Shield, U.S., Russia, Putin, Germany, Czech Republic, Israel, Japan, Poland,