US Scraps Missile Plan USA

U.S. President Barack Obama has dealt a major diplomatic card toward the realization of "a world without nuclear weapons."

He has decided to abandon the deployment of a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. This represents a rejection of the Bush-era plan for a missile defense system in Europe.

Russia had been critical of the antimissile plan in Eastern Europe, saying that it would neutralize Russia's nuclear capabilities. By canceling the plan, Obama has sought to erase those concerns, urging Russia to move forward in negotiations for a new treaty that will succeed the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I, which is due to expire by the end of the year.

Obama intends to reach agreement on the successor pact around the same time.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Obama's decision, calling the move "a responsible approach." The Russian leader also expressed his willingness to jointly devise missile nonproliferation measures. Britain and France also welcomed Obama's decision.

Obama has drawn a distinct line between his administration and his predecessor's strategy, which sought to fight nuclear proliferation by combining missile defense with pre-emptive strikes. We hope the Obama administration will use this latest decision as a springboard from which to launch a new vision for nuclear disarmament, starting off with the creation of a successor treaty after the expiration of START I.

The first stage for such efforts will be U.S.-Russia summit meeting scheduled to be held Wednesday in New York, as well as the U.N. Security Council members' summit meeting, which Obama will host.

The original aim of deploying a missile defense system in Eastern Europe was to protect the region from Iranian nuclear and missile attacks. However, the Bush administration attempted to use this as a means to expand NATO eastward. Both Poland and the Czech Republic accepted the defense system plan on their soil despite domestic protests because both governments wanted to hold Russia in check.

In a tit-for-tat move, then Russian President Vladimir Putin came out with blatant threats, saying in effect that any country that allowed installation of a missile defense system on its soil would become a target of Russia's nuclear weapons.

Russia had also shown readiness to sell an advanced air defense missile system to Iran. Now that the United States has shown a conciliatory attitude, Russia should suspend those sales.

Instead of the missile defense deployment program, the Obama administration plans to take a series of steps to deploy a system with SM-3 interceptors, at first based on Navy Aegis destroyers, as its centerpiece. Washington emphasizes "flexibility" in the new system, and no doubt it intends to ascertain how Iran is going to respond.

On Oct. 1, talks will be held between Iran and the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany over Iran's nuclear program. This will be a crucial meeting for the Obama administration, which has consistently urged dialogue with Iran.

If Russia responds to the U.S. initiative by moving toward cooperation with the United States, it would have a major influence on not only the area of nuclear disarmament, but also on the area of nonproliferation of nuclear arms and missiles.

We hope for positive and tangible results, which will also be effective in restraining North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles.

USA SCRAPS MISSILE PLAN

source-The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 19(IHT/Asahi: September 21,2009)