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UK lawmakers criticise US missile shield plan
Sunday, 14 June 2009 12:13
British politicians have criticised a planned US missile shield saying it may not strengthen Europe's security and could hurt NATO's interests if deployed in the face of Russian opposition.
The US says the anti-missile system is designed to prevent potential attacks from countries such as Iran, but the plan has outraged Moscow which sees it as a threat.
Russia has urged Washington to drop its plan to put 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. Both former Soviet satellites are now NATO members.
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The UK's Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, made up of legislators from the main political parties, voiced reservations about the US plan in a report on weapons proliferation.
'We are not convinced that, as they are currently envisaged and under current circumstances, the US' planned ballistic missile defence (BMD) deployments in the Czech Republic and Poland represent a net gain for European security,' it said.
'We conclude that if the deployments are carried out in the face of opposition from Russia, this could be highly detrimental to NATO's overall security interests,' the report said.
It did not elaborate but Moscow has threatened to respond to the shield by placing short-range Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad enclave, between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
If a ballistic missile defence system in Europe were to be developed at all, it should be as a joint system between the US, NATO and Russia, the committee said.
The British government's early agreement to allow two Royal Air Force bases in the UK to be used as part of the US missile defence system was 'regrettable, given that the US' development of its system involved its abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty', the committee said.
The US withdrew from the treaty in 2002.
The British government supports the missile shield being developed by its closest ally. It has allowed the US to use two RAF bases in northern England, Menwith Hill and Fylingdales, to receive satellite and radar data for the system.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to press on with the plan as long as Iran poses a threat with its nuclear programme.
The committee warned there was a risk that next year's conference to review the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will fail unless there was decisive movement by the five recognised nuclear weapons states -- the US, Russia, China, France and Britain -- on nuclear disarmament.
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Story from RTÉ News:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0614/nuclear.html
UK lawmakers criticise US missile shield plan
Sunday, 14 June 2009 12:13
British politicians have criticised a planned US missile shield saying it may not strengthen Europe's security and could hurt NATO's interests if deployed in the face of Russian opposition.
The US says the anti-missile system is designed to prevent potential attacks from countries such as Iran, but the plan has outraged Moscow which sees it as a threat.
Russia has urged Washington to drop its plan to put 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. Both former Soviet satellites are now NATO members.
Advertisement
The UK's Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, made up of legislators from the main political parties, voiced reservations about the US plan in a report on weapons proliferation.
'We are not convinced that, as they are currently envisaged and under current circumstances, the US' planned ballistic missile defence (BMD) deployments in the Czech Republic and Poland represent a net gain for European security,' it said.
'We conclude that if the deployments are carried out in the face of opposition from Russia, this could be highly detrimental to NATO's overall security interests,' the report said.
It did not elaborate but Moscow has threatened to respond to the shield by placing short-range Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad enclave, between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
If a ballistic missile defence system in Europe were to be developed at all, it should be as a joint system between the US, NATO and Russia, the committee said.
The British government's early agreement to allow two Royal Air Force bases in the UK to be used as part of the US missile defence system was 'regrettable, given that the US' development of its system involved its abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty', the committee said.
The US withdrew from the treaty in 2002.
The British government supports the missile shield being developed by its closest ally. It has allowed the US to use two RAF bases in northern England, Menwith Hill and Fylingdales, to receive satellite and radar data for the system.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to press on with the plan as long as Iran poses a threat with its nuclear programme.
The committee warned there was a risk that next year's conference to review the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will fail unless there was decisive movement by the five recognised nuclear weapons states -- the US, Russia, China, France and Britain -- on nuclear disarmament.
Print this page
printable version
Share this
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Story from RTÉ News:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0614/nuclear.html