Sea Based
Missile System
Poland Gambles Missile Defense System On US Elections
Warsaw, Poland - 30 May, 2008 The offer to put missisles on Polish soil that Poland is getting from the Bush administration is not good enough. So the Polish government has decided to wait for a new administration with the hope that they will get a better deal. The decision is a gamble since there are mixed signals as to whether the US will even continue building missle defense systems.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sikorsky has said that it is payback time. He and other members of the Polish Government, most notably Minister of Defense Bogdan Klich, expect that the United States dole out the same amount of money to Poland that it is to other countries like Egypt. They want rewards for having been a traditional US ally and supporting the US in Iraq. Polish defence minister expects "similar" US military aid to Egypt http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/05/26/poland_expects_same_us_arms_aid_as_other_allies/
But whether the US government under a new administration will be willing to dole out more money is a question yet to be answered.
The current US administration is of the opinion that the Polish demands are inflated and say that they could take the offer off the table and put the missiles elsewhere. U.S. could look beyond Poland for a missile-shield base http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/07/europe/shield.php
If the US decides, during the tenure of the current administration, on an alternate location in Europe,as senior NATO officials indicate is a possibility, or decides to locate the missiles on a seaborne system , that process may be well on its way to fruition by the time that a new administration comes in to power. So the Polish position is a gamble on the current administration dropping all efforts to locate the missiles somewhere in or near Europe should Poland reject the current US offer.
As to future administrations, the signals from the U.S. Congress and presidential candidates are mixed.
The possible next president of the United States, Barak Hussein Obama, has said,
"Americans want to succeed, but we are going to have to make some investments and ensure that the dynamism and innovation of the American people is released.It's very hard for us to do that when we're spending close to $200 billion a year in other countries, rebuilding those countries instead of focusing on making ourselves strong." World wants to see U.S. lead http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/08/obama/index.html
Obama also said that he would slow down existing programs to build new weapons systems, cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending and scrap missile defense completely. He would set up an independent defense priority review board to make sure that the US is not wasting money building unnecessary weapons systems. See Video http://www.masterpage.com.pl/polishnewsroundup/foreign-relations/52-seconds-of-obama-unilaterally-disarming-america/
Another perspective comes from Senator William Turner who feels that the US military should be completely withdrawn from foreign soil.
"If we slashed our military budget in half we would have funding for fuel cell plants, homeland defense, and universal healthcare. Germany, Japan, South Korea -- 3 of the wealthiest nations on earth. Why is our military defending them?" Tired Superpower http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13279
On the other hand, Democrat Congressman Bud Cramer is of the opinion that if a Democrat becomes the next US president, nothing would change in the US missile defense plans. US Democrats won't thwart missile shield http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/329/czech_national_news/22312/
Throughout the negotiations the NATO Secretary General has been somewhat quiet. But as the negotiations between the US, Poland and Czech become more difficult, he has spoken out quite forcefully.
He called the threat of missile attacks against the NATO alliance a real one.
"We have seen nations testing these missiles. Let's not beat around the bush here. It is not something virtual. This is not a computer game. This is real."
He called the missile shield a key part of safeguarding NATO states in the future.
"We discussed the very important subject of missile defense, a very important topic, I would say, for the security of all of the systems. Let's start this discussion now on the angle of the citizens, of our people in all the NATO allies." Alliance Chief Calls Missile Defense A Key Element For Security http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/67b2f4d2-e589-4d69-a869-5d2d4efbf3de.html
But Poland does not seem to think that the missile shield is necessary for Poland's safety. Prime Minister Tusk said that Poland would agree to the shield, "only if we have certainty that it will improve our safety." PM says Poland expects U.S. shield declarations in July http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/24/content_8239922.htm
Poland has said it is not worried about attacks from rogue states so much as a deterioration of relations with Moscow.
Minister of Defense Bogdan Klich said that Poland is in no rush to clinch a deal with Washington.
Meanwhile the Israelis estimate that Iran will have nuclear weapons in 2009. Iran could have nukes by ‘09 http://www.masterpage.com.pl/enr/middle-east/israel-iran-could-have-nukes-by-09/
Regardless, the Polish Government is betting everything on getting more.
