ProgressiveDem: US Decides To Ratchet Up Tension With Russia

ProgressiveDem

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. " Eleanor Roosevelt

May 2012

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
Quick Search

Search only in titles: Keyword:

Search in:

Date Range:

Advanced Search

Basic Search
Blogs, Etc.
Organizations
Visit VirginiaDem.org
- Virginia Politics and Analysis
Democratic Party Links
Subscribe

Blog Post
Category Archives
Feed List
Recent Posts
1. Memorial Day, May 28, 2012
  Monday, May 28, 2012
2. FYII, Friday, May 25, 2012
  Friday, May 25, 2012
3. GOP and DINO Motto: Don't Threaten Corporate Power or Profits
  Friday, May 25, 2012
4. FYII, Thursday, May 24, 2012
  Thursday, May 24, 2012
5. Washington's Repugnant Revolving Door
  Thursday, May 24, 2012
6. FYII, Wednesday, May 23, 2012
  Wednesday, May 23, 2012
7. Are You What You Eat If You Don't Know What You're Actually Eating?
  Wednesday, May 23, 2012
8. FYII, Tuesday, May 22, 2012
  Tuesday, May 22, 2012
9. Quit With the Fabricated Deficit Crap
  Tuesday, May 22, 2012
10. FYII, Monday, May 21, 2012
  Monday, May 21, 2012
Comment Showcase
- What people are saying
Monthly Archives
Lefty Blogs
Custom Text
Back to Main Page
Blogroll
- None

US Decides To Ratchet Up Tension With Russia

The Bush regime is insane and delusionally daft McSame want to continue warmongering with a third Bush term.

With the tense cease fire signed by Georgia and Russia, what disastrous timing for the Bush authoritarian administration to sign an agreement with Poland for a missilie defense system, even one that doesn't work.

As I wrote in a prior blog: "But, two years ago, the LA Times reported:"The Bush administration has spent nearly $43 billion over the last five years on missile-defense systems, but with North Korea testing its most advanced missile yet, U.S. government assessments and investigative reports indicate little confidence in the centerpiece portion of the program.

"Eleven ground-based interceptors in Alaska and at Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California, the cornerstone of the administration's new system, have not undergone a successful test in nearly four years and have been plagued by glitches that investigators blame, at least in part, on President Bush's order in 2002 to make the program operational even before it had been fully tested.

In all, the interceptors hit dummy missiles in five out of 10 tests, but these were under controlled conditions that critics said did not reflect the challenges of an actual missile launch.

"The problems in the ground-based system, as well as the ongoing expense of the war in Iraq, have not dampened the administration's enthusiasm for the program.

The NYTimes reports: "The United States and Poland reached a long-stalled deal on Thursday to place an American missile defense base on Polish territory, in the strongest reaction so far to Russia's military operation in Georgia.

"Russia reacted angrily, saying that the move would worsen relations with the United States that have already been strained severely in the week since Russian troops entered separatist enclaves in Georgia, a close American ally. At a news conference on Friday, a senior Russian defense official, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, suggested that Poland was making itself a target by agreeing to host the anti-missile system. Such an action "cannot go unpunished," he said.

"The deal reflected growing alarm in a range of countries that had been part of the Soviet sphere about a newly rich and powerful Russia's intentions in its former cold war sphere of power. In fact, negotiations dragged on for 18 months” but were completed only as old memories and new fears surfaced in recent days.

"Those fears were codified to some degree in what Polish and American officials characterized as unusual aspects of the final deal: that at least temporarily American soldiers would staff air defense sites in Poland oriented toward Russia, and that the United States would be obliged to defend Poland in case of an attack with greater speed than required under NATO, of which Poland is a member.

"The missile defense deal was announced by Polish officials and confirmed by the White House. Under it, Poland would host an American base with 10 interceptors designed to shoot down a limited number of ballistic missiles, in theory launched by a future adversary such as Iran. A tracking radar system would be based in the Czech Republic. The system is expected to be in place by 2012.

"In exchange for providing the base, Poland would get what the two sides called "enhanced security cooperation," notably a top-of-the-line Patriot air defense system that can shoot down shorter-range missiles or attacking fighters or bombers.

"A senior Pentagon official described an unusual part of this quid pro quo: an American Patriot battery would be moved from Germany to Poland, where it would be operated by a crew of about 100 American military personnel members. The expenses would be shared by both nations. American troops would join the Polish military, at least temporarily, at the front lines” facing east toward Russia.

"Russia has long opposed the deal, saying the United States was violating post-cold-war agreements not to base its troops in former Soviet bloc states and devising a Trojan Horse system designed to counter Russia's nuclear arsenal, not an attack by Iran or another adversary."

And about those Patriot missiles, this was also included in my posting: "From CorpWatch in 2003: 'The Pentagon has known for a decaded that the Patriot cannot distinguish its targets from our own aircraft' says Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project on Government Oversight, a Pentagon watchdog group. "It is an outrage that they have not fixed this fundamental flaw, yet continue to buy it and sell it to our allies, and have the gall to promot this weapon in both Gulf Wars as a star when they've known it is a dud.' "