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Experts Question Putin Offer on Missiles NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- Russia's new proposal for a missile defense system in Europe is far afield from what the United States has in mind and unlikely to garner much support, defense analysts said Thursday. "It's a Russian attempt to appear not to be intransigent over this issue," said David Wright of the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists. "But I think it's not going to satisfy people in the United States who want a defense system." An advocate of the missile shield said the proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin is at least a start. "I think it's a win for us," said Riki Ellison, president of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. "We're not going to take the deal, but it is a counteroffer - Putin has moved from threats to making a counteroffer." Putin had threatened to aim his missile at Europe if the U.S. went through with a plan to base the system in two former Warsaw Pact nations - that is, put the radar to track missiles in the Czech Republic and interceptor rockets in Poland to shoot missiles down. Putin, who has been bitterly opposed to a U.S. system in Europe, surprised President Bush with a counterproposal Thursday that would substitute a Soviet-era radar system in Azerbaijan for the new defenses that the U.S. envisions in Poland and the Czech Republic. Under the proposal he offered in Germany, Putin would share with the United States data gathered from an aging radar installation in northern Azerbaijan. Story Continues Below
Analysts agreed the central Asian country bordering the Caspian Sea is well-positioned for the radar, but they questioned the quality of the system. It's an early warning system, said Rick Lehner of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, and is less precise than the powerful radar the United States is using, called X-band. "It's a great location," Ellison said of Azerbaijan, but the United States would have to look into using its own radar there. "Having the ability to put one of our radars there would be phenomenal." The Russian proposal on interceptors was seen as the most unpalatable. Putin took the position that the deployment of interceptors was premature since the weapons they would be designed to destroy have not emerged, said Steve Hadley, Bush's national security adviser. If and when such missiles are developed, Putin suggested, missiles on U.S. Aegis cruisers at sea could be used to shoot them down, Hadley said. "His view is, radar cooperation is fine; the decision about deploying interceptors is premature," Hadley said. "And once these capabilities emerge in Iran or any other state, there will be time to develop and deploy interceptors." Although Bush and officials traveling with him in Germany avoided criticizing the proposal, Hadley expressed some skepticism. "Our concern, of course, is that in order to have defensive systems in place, it takes time," Hadley. "These are long lead-time items, and it would take time to get them deployed." Further, he said "we've been surprised many times" that countries have built long-range missiles faster than the U.S. intelligence community expected. Bush said Putin's proposal was interesting and promised to consider it. Washington has repeatedly insisted that an anti-missile system in Europe would be aimed at protecting Europe and the United States, would not threaten the viability of Russia's vast offensive nuclear missile arsenal and would offer it some protection from a potential Iranian attack. The Russians not only question the seriousness of the threat from long-range missiles but also the feasibility of U.S. anti-missile technology as a response to any such threat. Wright, who also questions the effectiveness of the technology, said Thursday's move by Putin was interesting. "By putting forward an alternative ... it really throws the ball back in the U.S. court," Wright said. "If you were cynical you would say (the proposal) might just be a rhetorical joust" or an offer that is less than completely serious. © 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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