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Russia To Help NATO Build Anti-Missile Network

Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that Russia has agreed to cooperate with NATO on erecting a US-planned anti-missile network in Europe protecting the continent against possible ballistic missile attacks from Iran or elsewhere. The anti-missile coverage would be anchored by a US land- and sea-based deployment, reconfigured by Obama from earlier plans devised under the Bush administration. The new idea would be to link individual national missile defenses into the US network and place them all under a NATO command and control center with authority to respond to an attack. 'We see Russia as a partner, not an adversary,' says President Obama, hailing the NATO-Russian accord. President Dmitri Medvedev warned that Russia's cooperation must be 'a full-fledged strategic partnership between Russia and NATO' and not just a nod in Moscow's direction to spare Russian feelings while Europe tends to its own defenses in tandem with the United States."

19 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. Re:We can help you, comrades by flyingkillerrobots · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Don't question this. Very strong arguments can be made that this might actually be the first thing the current administration has done that can even remotely qualify as a foreign policy achievement.

    --
    "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations..." -Winston Churchill
  2. Re:We can help you, comrades by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Nobel Peace Prize is a pretty big achievement, you know.

  3. Cyber Attacks? by iinventstuff · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, all the individual nations' missile defense systems will now be linked into a single network? Have these leaders read the news about 'cyber' warfare and how it's starting to pick up? It would seem that creating an electronic pathway from other nations should raise concern for the security of one's own defenses. Prior to a physical attack, it would be convenient to knock out the missile defenses of your adversary and this network now provides that conduit...

  4. Re:Against who? by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    missing money can be printed

          I prefer the term Quantitative Easing, thank you.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  5. Re:We can help you, comrades by rtb61 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The only global cooperation here is the willingness for the global military industrial complex to bleed the taxpayer dry. The 'ballistic' missile shield is completely useless against cruise missiles. Now you have stealth cruise missiles, supersonic cruise missiles, long range cruise missiles, their now planning long range hypersonic cruise missles, so really who is kidding who here.

    Russia is only willing to play the game for the opportunity to start selling it's technology into Europe, likely that is part of the behind the scenes bargain struck with the western military industrial complex.

    Why spend billions on a 'ballistic' missles shield that is completely useless against ground hugging cruise missiles, especially when every country is in the process of shifting technology that way. What is this, some kind of lying bullshit way to squeeze profits out of what is rapidly becoming pointless technology, can't afford social welfare but can afford a broken multi billion dollar missile shield.

    --
    Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  6. Re:Against who? by TCPhotography · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You do realize that the agreement that was just signed simply ties the current and future European systems (Dutch, German, and Spanish SM-3; German-US-Italian MEADS; French SAMP/T; and US SM-3s in Eastern Europe) to the current and future US sensor network? And you realize that the current network already ties in mobile THAAD batteries, SM-3 equipped AEGIS Cruisers and Destroyers (US and Japanese), and the GBI bases in Alaska and California?

    And that the whole thing is in it's simplest form a giant systems integration problem, one similar to what the US has already done?

  7. Re:We can help you, comrades by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or for not being George Bush.

  8. Re:Russian Game: Assistance but Not Participation by sadler121 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because everybody knows it is really Vladmir Putin who runs Russia, and is Prime Minister to get around the consecutive term limits, and will run again for the Presidency, and win after Medvedev's term is up...

  9. Re:We can help you, comrades by the_Bionic_lemming · · Score: 3, Informative

    I fail to see how it's a foreign policy achievement. I see it more as a "He was against it before he was for it!" .

    http://security.nationaljournal.com/2009/09/obamas-missile-defense-plan-sm.php

    A little over a year after telling Poland "No", and it seems like that people forgot it ever happened. Googling "Obama stops missile shield" on the news search came up with no articles at all.

    --
    _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
  10. Re:Against who? by couchslug · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "actual enemy" is the potential "Caliphate" opposite the proposed arc of missile defense.

    Mentioning it exists is Trollish thoughtcrime, but strategic planners have a duty beyond PC emotionalism.

    There is clearly a need to bring Russia into the NATO sphere of influence in a "good way" useful to Russians. We face a mutual Jihadist enemy and wars that may take a century.

    We need Russia, China, and India on the same page to contain Pakistan (especially after it falls to its own Taliban and the tiny minority of officials living on US money are lynched) and Iran.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  11. Re:We can help you, comrades by arivanov · · Score: 5, Informative

    Russia has a missile shield you dolt.

    Always had one.

    The missile interceptors around and inside Moscow have been since the 70-es. The first missile defence treaty specified that existing systems are to stay. While USA have barely managed to get theirs working for a couple of months in 1975, the Russians have managed to deploy, improve and maintain theirs ever since.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-135_anti-ballistic_missile_system

    --
    Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
    http://www.sigsegv.cx/
  12. What a load by koan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There are no missile threats from Iran or any where else, this is military contractors making deals and the rest of the humans being to stupid to care or notice.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  13. Re:Earth to Obama by nycguy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Obama is an appeaser in the Neville Chamberlain mold.

    There's an important distinction: Chamberlain loved his country. Obama loves the world.

  14. Re:Earth to Obama by rubycodez · · Score: 3, Funny

    Earth to you, it the U.S. that is the biggest occupier and war-monger-for profit on the planet. It is the U.S. who occupies Japan and many other nations we use as bases to project power globally (which neither Russia nor China do)

  15. Re:Earth to Obama by orphiuchus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Earth back to you. The U.S. is losing money from fighting these wars, not making it. And we inject a massive amount of money into the local economies wherever we have a base, and happily restrict the military members stationed on the base from leaving their barracks the second the locals want us to. (Source for that last point: I wasn't allowed off base in Spain because some moron fought a local months before I got there.)

  16. Re:Are you kidding? by someone1234 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I believe, China won't try to start a war.
    1. they are not fundamentalists
    2. they already built their economy to work with the western economies.

    They cannot afford a war and they know it. Only "small" fundamentalist states not integrated into the world would try to start something. North Korea, Iran and possibly Pakistan if taken over by the Taliban.

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  17. Re:Earth to Obama by rubycodez · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We the people of the U.S. are losing money, yes. However, the banking cartel and military-industrial complex, with our lawmakers in their pockets, are not losing money.

  18. Re:We can help you, comrades by arivanov · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, it uses fairly low yield warheads and at 20km+ intercept altitude. While not elegant it is a typical russian engineering solution: "Do not force it, use a LARGER hammer".
    Do not forget - it was designed for WW3. At a moment when EMP has broken all lose from USA and USSR nuking each other into a glass lake who cares about a couple of extra sub-10K nukes.
    Also, the newer interceptors are not nuclear armed and they are also supplemented by S300 at a lower altitude which can also intercept warheads (or at least is rumoured to) at least on par with Aegis and Patriot if not even better.
    All in all, compared to what US has got it is probably by up to 10 years ahead.

    --
    Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
    http://www.sigsegv.cx/
  19. Re:Against who? by WindBourne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    wow; How the f**k did you get modded up?
    The korean war was started when North Korea invaded South Korea.
    Vietnam war was North Vietnam invading South Vietnam.
    Iraq war (desert storm I) was caused because Iraq invaded kuwait.
    And afghanistan taliban absolutely were supporting and hiding OBL and AQ when we went in there.

    Now, W DID invade Iraq and yes, I agree that we should not have (and I believe that W/Cheney should have charges brought against them for Iraq). BUT, all of the ones that you mention shows me that about the only bigot here is you. Calling this Christian is a joke. America is composed of many religions. OTH, AQ/Taliban/etc are composed of exactly one religion.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.