Text Fwd: White House Fact Sheet on US Missile Defense Policy

* Below is informed through the former blog. It is the MDAA blog on Sept. 17, 2009

White House Fact Sheet on US Missile Defense Policy

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 17, 2009

Fact Sheet on U.S. Missile Defense Policy
A “Phased, Adaptive Approach” for Missile Defense in Europe

President Obama has approved the recommendation of Secretary of Defense Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a phased, adaptive approach for missile defense in Europe. This approach is based on an assessment of the Iranian missile threat, and a commitment to deploy technology that is proven, cost-effective, and adaptable to an evolving security environment.

Starting around 2011, this missile defense architecture will feature deployments of increasingly-capable sea- and land-based missile interceptors, primarily upgraded versions of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), and a range of sensors in Europe to defend against the growing ballistic missile threat from Iran. This phased approach develops the capability to augment our current protection of the U.S. homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats, and to offer more effective defenses against more near-term ballistic missile threats. The plan provides for the defense of U.S. deployed forces, their families, and our Allies in Europe sooner and more comprehensively than the previous program, and involves more flexible and survivable systems.

The Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended to the President that he revise the previous Administration’s 2007 plan for missile defense in Europe as part of an ongoing comprehensive review of our missile defenses mandated by Congress. Two major developments led to this unanimous recommended change:

• New Threat Assessment: The intelligence community now assesses that the threat from Iran’s short- and medium-range ballistic missiles is developing more rapidly than previously projected, while the threat of potential Iranian intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capabilities has been slower to develop than previously estimated. In the near-term, the greatest missile threats from Iran will be to U.S. Allies and partners, as well as to U.S. deployed personnel – military and civilian –and their accompanying families in the Middle East and in Europe.

• Advances in Capabilities and Technologies: Over the past several years, U.S. missile defense capabilities and technologies have advanced significantly. We expect this trend to continue. Improved interceptor capabilities, such as advanced versions of the SM-3, offer a more flexible, capable, and cost-effective architecture. Improved sensor technologies offer a variety of options to detect and track enemy missiles.

These changes in the threat as well as our capabilities and technologies underscore the need for an adaptable architecture. This architecture is responsive to the current threat, but could also incorporate relevant technologies quickly and cost-effectively to respond to evolving threats. Accordingly, the Department of Defense has developed a four-phased, adaptive approach for missile defense in Europe. While further advances of technology or future changes in the threat could modify the details or timing of later phases, current plans call for the following:

• Phase One (in the 2011 timeframe) – Deploy current and proven missile defense systems available in the next two years, including the sea-based Aegis Weapon System, the SM-3 interceptor (Block IA), and sensors such as the forward-based Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance system (AN/TPY-2), to address regional ballistic missile threats to Europe and our deployed personnel and their families;
• Phase Two (in the 2015 timeframe) – After appropriate testing, deploy a more capable version of the SM-3 interceptor (Block IB) in both sea- and land-based configurations, and more advanced sensors, to expand the defended area against short- and medium-range missile threats;
• Phase Three (in the 2018 timeframe) – After development and testing are complete, deploy the more advanced SM-3 Block IIA variant currently under development, to counter short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missile threats; and
• Phase Four (in the 2020 timeframe) – After development and testing are complete, deploy the SM-3 Block IIB to help better cope with medium- and intermediate-range missiles and the potential future ICBM threat to the United States.

Throughout all four phases, the United States also will be testing and updating a range of approaches for improving our sensors for missile defense. The new distributed interceptor and sensor architecture also does not require a single, large, fixed European radar that was to be located in the Czech Republic; this approach also uses different interceptor technology than the previous program, removing the need for a single field of 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland. Therefore, the Secretary of Defense recommended that the United States no longer plan to move forward with that architecture.

The Czech Republic and Poland, as close, strategic and steadfast Allies of the United States, will be central to our continued consultations with NATO Allies on our defense against the growing ballistic missile threat.

The phased, adaptive approach for missile defense in Europe:

• Sustains U.S. homeland defense against long-range ballistic missile threats. The deployment of an advanced version of the SM-3 interceptor in Phase Four of the approach would augment existing ground-based interceptors located in Alaska and California, which provide for the defense of the homeland against a potential ICBM threat.
• Speeds protection of U.S. deployed forces, civilian personnel, and their accompanying families against the near-term missile threat from Iran. We would deploy current and proven technology by roughly 2011 – about six or seven years earlier than the previous plan – to help defend the regions in Europe most vulnerable to the Iranian short- and medium-range ballistic missile threat.
• Ensures and enhances the protection of the territory and populations of all NATO Allies, in concert with their missile defense capabilities, against the current and growing ballistic missile threat. Starting in 2011, the phased, adaptive approach would systematically increase the defended area as the threat is expected to grow. In the 2018 timeframe, all of Europe could be protected by our collective missile defense architecture.
• Deploys proven capabilities and technologies to meet current threats. SM-3 (Block 1A) interceptors are deployed on Aegis ships today, and more advanced versions are in various stages of development. Over the past four years, we have conducted a number of tests of the SM-3 IA, and it was the interceptor used in the successful engagement of a decaying satellite in February 2008. Testing in 2008 showed that sensors we plan to field bring significant capabilities to the architecture, and additional, planned research and development over the next few years offers the potential for more diverse and more capable sensors.
• Provides flexibility to upgrade and adjust the architecture, and to do so in a cost-effective manner, as the threat evolves. Because of the lower per-interceptor costs and mobility of key elements of the architecture, we will be better postured to adapt this set of defenses to any changes in threat.

We will work with our Allies to integrate this architecture with NATO members’ missile defense capabilities, as well as with the emerging NATO command and control network that is under development. One benefit of the phased, adaptive approach is that there is a high degree of flexibility – in addition to sea-based assets, there are many potential locations for the architecture’s land-based elements, some of which will be re-locatable. We plan to deploy elements in northern and southern Europe and will be consulting closely at NATO with Allies on the specific deployment options.

We also welcome Russian cooperation to bring its missile defense capabilities into a broader defense of our common strategic interests. We have repeatedly made clear to Russia that missile defense in Europe poses no threat to its strategic deterrent. Rather, the purpose is to strengthen defenses against the growing Iranian missile threat. There is no substitute for Iran complying with its international obligations regarding its nuclear program. But ballistic missile defenses will address the threat from Iran’s ballistic missile programs, and diminish the coercive influence that Iran hopes to gain by continuing to develop these destabilizing capabilities.

Through the ongoing Department of Defense ballistic missile defense review, the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will continue to provide recommendations to the President that address other aspects of our ballistic missile defense capabilities and posture around the world.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Many Still Expect Obama To Surrender Missile Defense
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* Related blog

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/09/nousbases-mdaa-breaking-videos.html
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Text/ Video Fwd: [nousbases] [MDAA] Breaking Videos - President Obama, Secretary Gates and General Cartwright

Text Fwd: [europeforpeace_org] victory in the Czech Republic!

*Image Source

1. Czech News Agency
2. Russia Today

* Text Fwd from Anna Polo on Sept 17, 2009

"Hello friends,

as you probably know, Barack Obama has suspended the plan to install the Missile Defense system in Centra Europe. This is a big victory for all of us who have been fighting against this terrible project!

Attached is our press release in english as well as a longer statement on this issue. Feel free to circulate it around.

big hugs and big thanks from Prague!

Jan (Tami)"

Statement of Jan Tamas on the suspension of
the Missile Defense project in Central Europe

Today is a big day that represents a new era in international relations; relations that were during the recent years poisoned with continuous armament and conflicts, with unilateral actions and disrespect for the will of ordinary people.

The 70% of Czechs are celebrating; it feels like a liberation day here in Prague. Today is a big victory for nonviolence.

At the same time we are very cautiously watching the reaction of powerful people, who for a long time have been proponents of the project and who probably have personal interest in the establishment of these new military bases in Central Europe.

We understand that the real threat today comes not from national states, but rather from economic and military-industry power groups that operate outside of any state control and could escalate international tensions any time.

We express our full support for president Obama in all his disarmament efforts, especially in the area of nuclear disarmament.

The struggle has been a very intense one and was carried forward by humanists and many other organizations around the world. We thank you all for all your support.

We hope that this victory will be a positive example for all the movements in Europe and around the world that are opposing the military bases and the militarist agenda in general.

This success is a good-luck wish to The World March for Peace and Non-violence that will begin in just a few days, on October 2 and that will unite people from around the world in the struggle for a better tomorrow.

See you all during the March!

Jan Tamas

President of the Humanist Party

Leader of non-violent movement against US base in the Czech Republic

Prague, September 17, 2009

Press release of the Humanist Movement in the Czech Republic

Czech humanists welcome Obama's plan to cancel missile defense enlargement
Prague, September 17, 2009

Members of the Humanist movement welcome the decision of US president Barack Obama to cancel the missile defense enlargement previously planned for the Czech Republic and Poland.

“We have been active more than three years in the struggle to prevent this plan from materializing. We are very happy that finally the position of the US administration is in line with the will of majority of Czechs”, said Jan Tamas, spokesman of the Nonviolence movement referring to the two thirds of Czech citizens who disagreed with the project. “We will continue to support Barack Obama in his plan for nuclear disarmament, because clearly nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction that exist today.”

In the past three years members of the movement have held talks with members of the Czech Parliament, European Parliament, national parliaments of other European countries as well as the US Congress. They have also organized many demonstrations in different European cities as well as several international conferences debating this issue in Europe and the United States. Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar went on a 21 day hunger strike against the plan last June.

Overall, the anti-base movement is considered to be one of the biggest civic movements of Czech recent history.

There will be a big celebration of all the groups involved in the struggle today at 6:30 pm in Prague, Tyrsova 1. Members of the groups will have a champagne toast and give short statements for the media.

The Humanist movement is a worldwide movement of volunteers working together for a nonviolent change towards a more just world. It originated in the late 1960s in Argentina and since that time has spread across the world. Its Czech members have for the past three years nonviolently opposed the US missile defense base planned to be installed there. They gained wider recognition with the hunger strike of two of its members Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar in May 2008, the following sequential hunger strike with 300 participants, as well as several international conferences about the topics of US Missile Defense and disarmament.

Contact information:

Tyršova 1, Prague. Open to public every day from 9am to 5pm

www.nonviolence.cz

Jan Tamáš, Ph.D., tel. 776 785 839, email: jan.tamas@humanisti.cz

Jan Bednář, tel. 608 731 162, email: jan.bednar@nenasili.cz


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* Related blog

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Text Fwd: Obama scrapping missile shield for Czech, Poland

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HISTORY, MILITARY SCIENCE, AND VICTORIES OF SORTS

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Text Fwd: U.S. Plans Coordinated Global Counterintelligence Operations

Text Fwd: Obama scrapping missile shield for Czech, Poland

Text informed by Bruce Gagnon on Sept. 17, 2009

Washington Post
Obama scrapping missile shield for Czech, Poland
By KAREL JANICEK and WILLIAM J. KOLE
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 17, 2009 7:30 AM

PRAGUE -- President Barack Obama has decided to scrap plans for a U.S. missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland that had deeply angered Russia, the Czech prime minister confirmed Thursday.

NATO's new chief hailed the move as "a positive step" and a Russian analyst said Obama's decision will increase the chances that Russia will cooperate more closely with the United States in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

Premier Jan Fischer told reporters that Obama phoned him overnight to say that "his government is pulling out of plans to build a missile defense radar on Czech territory."

"The same happened with Poland. Poland was informed in the same way about this intention," Fischer said.

He said Obama assured him that the "strategic cooperation" between the Czech Republic and the U.S. would continue, and that Washington considers the Czechs among its closest allies.

In Poland, officials declined to confirm Fischer's remarks, saying they were waiting for a formal announcement from Washington.

The plan, proposed by the Bush administration, aimed to defend the United States and its European allies against a possible missile attack from Iran or elsewhere in the Middle East. In all, 10 interceptor rockets were to have been stationed in Poland and a radar system based in the Czech Republic.

But Russia was livid over the prospect of having U.S. interceptor rockets in countries so close to its territory, and the Obama administration has sought to improve strained ties with the Kremlin.

"The U.S. president's decision is a well-thought (out) and systematic one," said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. "It reflects understanding that any security measure can't be built entirely on the basis of one nation."

"Now we can talk about restoration of (the) strategic partnership between Russia and the United States," Kosachev added.

Alexei Arbatov, head of the Russian Academy of Science's Center for International Security, told a Moscow radio station on Thursday that the U.S. was giving in on missile defense to get more cooperation from Russia on Iran.

"The United States is reckoning that by rejecting the missile-defense system or putting it off to the far future, Russia will be inclined together with the United States to take a harder line on sanctions against Iran," he said.

Czechs and Poles, along with some other Eastern Europeans, have complained of what many perceive as neglect by the Obama administration.

That, in turn, has prompted a U.S. diplomatic effort to reassure the countries that America - which helped liberate them from decades of communist-era isolation and helped bring them into NATO - still values them as friends and partners.

Fischer said after a review of the missile defense system, the U.S. now considers the threat of an attack using short- and mid-range missiles greater than one using long-range rockets.

"That's what the Americans assessed as the most serious threat," and Obama's decision was based on that, he said.

Obama took office undecided about the European system and said he would study it. His administration never sounded enthusiastic about it, and European allies have been preparing for an announcement that the White House would not complete the shield as designed.

Obama himself had hinted that the U.S. was rethinking the plan. In a major foreign policy speech in April in Prague, he said Washington would proceed with developing the system as long as Iran posed a threat to U.S. and European security.

But a top military leader, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, recently suggested that the U.S. may have underestimated how long it would take Iran to develop long-range missiles.

The Czech government had stood behind the planned radar system despite fierce opposition from the public, which staged numerous protests.

Critics feared the Czech Republic would be targeted by terrorists if it agreed to host the radar system, which was planned for the Brdy military installation 90 kilometers (55 miles) southwest of Prague, the capital.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Robert Gates scheduled a news conference Thursday with Cartwright, the point man on the technical challenge of arraying missiles and interceptors to defend against long-range missiles.

The decision to scrap the plan will have future consequences for U.S. relations with eastern Europe.

"If the administration approaches us in the future with any request, I would be strongly against it," said Jan Vidim, a lawmaker with Czech Republic's conservative Civic Democratic Party, which supported the missile defense plan.



Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
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http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog)

Text Fwd: Report: [nousbases] U.S. to Scrap E. Europe Missile Shield Bases

*Text Fwd from Bruce Gagnon on Aug 28, 2009

Report: U.S. to Scrap E. Europe Missile Shield Bases
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 27 Aug 2009 05:25

WARSAW, Poland - Washington will scrap plans to put anti-missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic and is looking at alternatives including Israel and Turkey, a Polish newspaper reported Aug. 27, citing U.S. officials.

The U.S. plan, intended for defense against attacks from Iran, has met with fierce objections from Russia, which regarded the eastern European bases as a threat to its own security.

Leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza cited administration officials and lobbyists in Washington in support of its story.

Pro-missile shield lobbyist Riki Ellison said the signals from the Pentagon were "absolutely clear," with U.S. authorities scouting for alternatives sites, the paper reported.

No immediate comment was available from U.S., Polish or Czech officials.

Gazeta Wyborcza said Washington was now considering deploying anti-missile interceptors on naval vessels and at bases in Israel and Turkey, as well as potentially in the Balkans.

Ellison told the paper that a conference last week, U.S. generals "never once" mentioned the plan, which was initiated by the previous U.S. administration of President George W. Bush.

After taking office this year, Bush's successor, Barack Obama, launched a review of the controversial system.

Gazeta Wyborcza cited a source at the U.S. Congress, whom it did not identify, as saying that Washington had been "testing the water" among lawmakers for weeks about scrapping the eastern European part of the plan.

In 2008, Warsaw and Washington struck a deal on deploying 10 U.S. long-range interceptor missiles in Poland as part of a global air-defense system.

The system, which was meant to be operational by 2013, also foresaw a radar base in the Czech Republic, Poland's southern neighbor.

Washington said the goal was to ward off potential Iranian attacks, pointing to Tehran's nuclear program.

But Moscow condemned what it said was a U.S. threat on its doorstep and threatened to train nuclear warheads on Poland and the Czech Republic.

Warsaw and Prague broke from the crumbling communist bloc in 1989 and joined NATO 10 years later.

Victoria Samson
Washington Office Director
Secure World Foundation
1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
1.202.462.1841
www.SecureWorldFoundation.org

Text fwd: Aegis Sea-Based Missile Shield: "Attack. Pursue. Vanquish"

* Text Fwd from Rick Rozoff
http://www.onmilwaukee.com/myOMC/blog/show/2806
OnMilwaukee, May 12, 2009
"If it flies, it dies:" Tour the USS Truxton, the Navy's newest ship
By Walter Rhett

-[T]he current guided missile destroyer Truxtun uses the AEGIS computer-commanded combat system and the SPY-1 radar to power and operate the most powerful force deterrent in the fleet.
The AEGIS combat system, at its heart, is a computer controlled combat and data system. It can simultaneously launch strikes against missiles or other targets in the air, and on land and sea, either surface or underwater.

-AEGIS is the most capable missile launch system the Navy has ever put to sea. In any weather, including full cyclones, AEGIS can attack multiple targets underwater, and from wave top to directly overhead, at all speeds from subsonic to supersonic. The ship hangars two attack helicopters, including one specifically designed for anti-submarine missions.

-[T]he USS Truxtun has 16 vertical missile launchers that fire 3 different types of missiles, including “smart” tomahawks. Its arsenal includes more than 50 Tomahawks. But its major weapon is the Standard missile (SM-3), a solid fuel anti-ballistic 3,000 pound missile armed with kinetic warheads that have the capacity to knock down satellites or enemy ballistic missiles at 300 miles....The ship carries the Sea Sparrow...a cache of Harpoons, surface-to-surface missiles. The ship also has a large arsenal of other specialized missiles and guns, including anti-submarine missiles.

-The AEGIS combat system is being used in the naval ships of Japan (4), Norway (5), Spain (5), and South Korea (2)....The US, the world leader by far, has 64 destroyers and 22 cruisers employing AEGIS.

The USS Truxtun steamed into the port of Charleston near the end of April, and when the ship opened its gangplank for public tours, I couldn't resist stepping aboard. The Truxtun is the US Navy's newest ship. Built in a Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard building naval ships since 1938, the USS Truxtun is an AEGIS guided missile destroyer, the 25th of its generation built for the Navy by defense contractor Northrop-Grumman. When I saw the ship, it had not yet been commissioned.

The 521-foot Truxtun is the newest of a class of ships that are the largest and most powerful destroyers in the world. During its 2008 builder's trails, U.S. Navy Capt. Beth Dexter, The Navy's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Gulf Coast, praised the Truxtun's performance: "She needs some polish - but make no mistake - I'd have no hesitation in taking this one to the fight!"

The Truxtun's motto? It's taken from words spoken by its namesake, Thomas Truxtun, who went to sea at 12 and commanded his own ship at 20, and later commanded the Navy's USS Constellation, a 3-mast, 38-gun frigate built in 1797 at Baltimore's Fells Point, Harris Creek Shipyard, from a controversial design by Quaker master ship builder, Joshua Humphreys. That ship, under Thomas Truxtun's command, was the first naval ship put to sea and became the first US Navy ship to defeat an enemy ship when, in 1799, the fastest warship in the French fleet was forced to strike colors, outmaneuvered and outfought by the Constellation's attack of hull shots and racking broadsides. Truxtun's quote: “Attack. Pursue. Vanquish.”

Today, the current guided missile destroyer Truxtun uses the AEGIS computer-commanded combat system and the SPY-1 radar to power and operate the most powerful force deterrent in the fleet.

The AEGIS combat system, at its heart, is a computer controlled combat and data system. It can simultaneously launch strikes against missiles or other targets in the air, and on land and sea, either surface or underwater.

The Truxtun can withstand and still operate successfully after taking a direct missile, but such a hit is unlikely with defensive measures that include construction angles for sleath design, radar absorbing construction materials, electronic counter measures, anti-submarine measures, and physical anti-aircraft chaff.

In fact, the AEGIS combat system is so advanced it pioneered a new approach to Navy ship building. The Truxtun's steel hull, mechanical, and electrical systems are designed and built to support its combat systems and mission. Its computer programs and back-ups, the ship's records of repair parts, maintenance, personnel, and tactical plans are linked and integrated to constantly determine the ship's multi-mission capacity, readiness and best options.

AEGIS is the most capable missile launch system the Navy has ever put to sea. In any weather, including full cyclones, AEGIS can attack multiple targets underwater, and from wave top to directly overhead, at all speeds from subsonic to supersonic. The ship hangars two attack helicopters, including one specifically designed for anti-submarine missions.

The eyes of the AEGIS system is the AN/SPY-1, a phased-array radar that can detect, identify, and track over 100 targets at the same time, until each is killed.

Phased construction of AEGIS destroyers allows for new technology or improvements in any aspect of operation to be built in immediately, in the shipyard. The Truxtun, however, ran into a myriad of obstacles that hindered and delayed its construction. Hurricane Katrina shut down the Pascagoula ship yard and made it impossible to receive supplies and parts for construction. The ship caught fire while under construction, and all of the fire-damaged areas had to be ripped out, repaired, and rebuilt. A union strike also held up work.

The AEGIS system and the class of destroyers it supports inherits the tradition of anti-missile defense developed by the Polaris submarines, originally based in Charleston. A Polaris submarine could stay at sea for up to 3 years, and its 16 missiles had a strike range of 2,500 miles.

Today, the USS Truxtun has 16 vertical missile launchers that fire 3 different types of missiles, including “smart” tomahawks. Its arsenal includes more than 50 Tomahawks. But its major weapon is the Standard missile (SM-3), a solid fuel anti-ballistic 3,000 pound missile armed with kinetic warheads that have the capacity to knock down satellites or enemy ballistic missiles at 300 miles, the distance from Charleston to Atlanta, Georgia. A kinetic warhead carries no explosives or nuclear charges. It destroys its target by the blunt force of its high speed impact, similar to a rock shattering a windshield, or a battering ram splintering a door.

The ship carries the Sea Sparrow, a missile used for ship self-defense and a cache of Harpoons, surface-to-surface missiles. The ship also has a large arsenal of other specialized missiles and guns, including anti-submarine missiles.
....
The AEGIS combat system is being used in the naval ships of Japan (4), Norway (5), Spain (5), and Korea (2). China has developed a similar system that appears to have size and launch advantages. The US, the world leader by far, has 64 destroyers and 22 cruisers employing AEGIS.
....

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Text Fwd: Obama Arrives in Prague Amid Shield Protests

* Text fwd by Bruce Gagnon*

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/04/AR2009040400171.html?hpid%3Dtopnews⊂=AR
Obama Arrives in Prague Amid Shield Protests

(See short video with Jan Tamas in Prague at http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ )

By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 4, 2009

PRAGUE, April 4 -- Like elsewhere in Europe, President Obama received the red-carpet treatment when he arrived in the Czech Republic on Saturday. But he was also greeted by crowds of demonstrators who have nearly succeeded in defeating a key component of the Pentagon's missile-defense shield and want Obama to bury the project for good.

Polls show that about 70 percent of Czechs oppose the shield, a futuristic project designed to intercept long-range missiles fired by Iran at Europe or the United States. Despite popular opinion, the Czech government signed a treaty with the Bush administration last July to host a radar tracking system, one of two legs of the shield that would be based in Eastern Europe.

In recent weeks, however, foes have won a series of battles that have nearly derailed the project here, a turn of events that has surprised even some activists.

Last month, the government was forced to postpone a legislative vote to ratify the treaty after opponents mustered enough support to block it A few days later, lawmakers voted to dissolve the government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, a leading champion of the shield.

Topolanek remains in power for the moment but is a lame duck until elections can be held, likely in October. Analysts said a new government, mindful of public skepticism of the missile shield, will probably let the unratified treaty lay dormant, if not kill it outright.

"As far as the Czechs are concerned right now, it's on the shelf," said Oldrich Cerny, a former Czech national security adviser and foreign intelligence chief. "It didn't stand a chance of being ratified by the Parliament in its current shape."

Obama has said he has doubts about whether the interceptors will work and has questioned whether the project is affordable, but has not pulled the plug on the project. That has prompted opponents to plan large-scale demonstrations Sunday -- when Obama is scheduled to make an open-to-the-public speech at Prague Castle.

"The truth is, the treaties are not dead. They can be brought back to life," said Jan Tamas, a leader of the Non-Violent Movement, a coalition that has lobbied against the shield "That's the strange thing about it. We have our own politicians who have already gone completely against the will of the people, so who knows what they'll try to do."

Jan Glivicka, a spokeswoman for another group called the No Bases Initiative, said many Czechs think highly of Obama and have been encouraged that he has expressed doubts about the missile shield. But she said she doubted Obama would go so far as to bury it.

The only way to do that -- or at least to ensure that the Czechs play no role in the project -- is to pressure Czech lawmakers to kill the treaty, she said.

"We really want to win this battle at home in the Czech Republic," Glivicka said. "It's not just a question of foreign policy. It's a battle for democracy. We can vote down this relic of the Bush administration on our own."

The Pentagon has said it is crucial to base the shield in Eastern Europe so it can intercept Iranian missiles aimed at Europe or the United States.

Last Augusts, after lengthy negotiations, Poland agreed to host 10 interceptor missiles in exchange for U.S. pledges to help upgrade the Polish military. The Czech leg of the system would be a tracking radar planted on top of a rocky hill in the Brdy military district, about 60 miles southwest of Prague.

After decades of occupation by Soviet forces, however, many Czechs are hostile to the idea of a foreign military presence on their territory. Others doubt whether the shield would work and wonder why they should insert themselves into a conflict between the United States and Iran.

"It's a scheme that doesn't work, against a threat that doesn't exist, in a country that doesn't want it," Glivicka said.

Many Czechs are also worried about alienating Russia, which has complained that the shield is a Pentagon stalking horse aimed at Moscow. U.S. military officials say the anti-missile system is purely defensive and is too small to withstand the Russian nuclear arsenal. But so far, they have failed to persuade the Russians to drop their objections.

In November, on the day after Obama won the U.S. presidential election, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev threatened to retaliate against the shield by moving short-range missiles into Kaliningrad, a sliver of Russian territory on the Baltic Coast, adjoining Poland. Russian generals have also talked tough about taking aim at Poland and the Czech Republic if they continued to cooperate with Washington.

Since then, the Russians have toned down their threats, partly in response to the Obama administration's professed lack of enthusiasm for the shield. But Russia also seems to be betting that the Czechs will pull out of the project.

Dmitri Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, said the collapse of the pro-shield Czech government and the decision to hold fresh elections later this year represented "a practically insurmountable problem" for the project. "Without the radar, the U.S. missiles in Poland would be blind," he added.

Tomas Weiss, a security analyst at the Europeum Institute for European Policy in Prague, said many Czechs worry that the shield could make them a potential target. But he said public perceptions could shift if Iran becomes a nuclear power, or tests long-range missiles that could reach Europe. If that happens, he said, the Czech government could quickly dust off the treaty and win legislative approval.

"All of it can be sold to the public if the situation changes," he said. "I don't really think it's dead completely. I just think it's on hold."

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com
http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog)

Text Fwd: Missile Defense and the Korean Peninsula-What Is the Problem?

*Image Source/caption*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Sejong_the_Great_class_destroyer
'ROKS Sejong the Great (DDG 991) during the 2008 Busan International Fleet Review'


* Thanks to the translator, Agatha D. Haun, the article below was reproduced in the Tlaxcala website.
http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=7276&lg=en

* Bruce Gagnon thankfully linked the article to his blog, Space4Peace(Organizing Notes).
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2009/03/turning-to-korea.html

* Thanks to Dave Webb and Bruce Gagnon, this site was posted in.
http://www.space4peace.org/articles/md_and_korean_peninsula.htm

* Thanks to Makiko Sato, this site was translated in Japanese.
http://www.anatakara.com/petition/md-and-the-korean-peninsula.html

* Peace Making, on-line journal of the South Korea also loaded the article.
http://peacemaking.kr/english/

Missile Defense and the Korean Peninsula:
What Is the Problem?

Written by Cheong, Wooksik (http://www.peacekorea.org/english)
on March 6, 2009

Translated by Agatha D. Haun (http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=7276&lg=en)


The reality of the partition of the Korean peninsula is certainly also revealed in the US's plan for a missile defense (MD) system. That is because North Korea, as the chief pretext for the promotion of MD, became the central issue in persuading South Korea to serve as the advanced base for the US's MD system. The Obama administration, which has just been inaugurated into this maelstrom, is more cautious about MD than the era of the Bush administration was. On the other hand, the Lee Myeong Bak administration, which regards the ROK-US "strategic alliance" structure as the supreme diplomatic and security policy objective, is more positive about MD than the Kim Dae Jung and Ro Mu Hyeon administrations were. Just at this point, the unsynchronized movements of the latest South-North-US three-party relationship are hidden. Furthermore, since MD dominates the complicated structure of relations between the US-Japanese alliance and the Chinese-Russian collaboration system, if the ROK clumsily inserts itself into that, it will not be a case of "bridge-building" between continental power and sea power; the ROK can be degraded as a "scapegoat". While such a situation is also developing in Northeast Asia, the ROK could find itself in a position like that of Poland, where the US-Russian controversy over the installation of an MD system in Eastern Europe resembles a "Second Cold War".

For the ROK, there are three categories of MD projects. First, the US is deploying an MD system inside the ROK; second, the government is promoting what it insists is an independent "Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD)". These two kinds are the models that are moving forward at present. And for the third, there is a question of whether the ROK will officially take part in the US's MD system. Of course, these three kinds are not completely separate. Participation by Poland and the Czech Republic in the MD system, disputed between the US and Russia, doesn't mean that these countries are purchasing the MD system, rather they are permitting the US to station its MD system on their territory. Similarly, without any connection to official announcements, the deployment of the US's MD system in the ROK can by itself be taken to mean that the ROK is already taking part in the MD system. Also, even though there is a political and diplomatic difference between the KAMD and official participation in the US's MD system, there is a close connection in the sense that there is no option but to integrate them in terms of military technologies.

The ROK's MD plans

Since the Lee Myeong Bak government was inaugurated, signs of a subtle but important change in the ROK's policy on missile defense have appeared. Above all, the Lee Myeong Bak government is giving impetus to the construction of the KAMD that had been considered at the time of the Kim Dae Jung and Ro Mu Hyeon governments and was in the initial phase of promotion. Military authorities have announced a plan to sink an estimated 300 billion won (250 milion dollars) into a "missile tracking and interception operations control center (AMD-Cell)", which will have full charge of the mission of monitoring and intercepting North Korean missiles, and to construct it by 2012. They also decided on a plan to buy early-warning radar with a detection range of about 500 km, and a plan to complete the selection of the kinds of apparatus, focused on the Israeli Elta company's Green Pine and the French-Dutch joint Thales Raytheon Systems company's M3R, by April this year and to make the purchase next year. In addition, in stages, from this year to 2011, three Aegis vessels' AN/SPY-1D(V) radar will be deployed on active duty, and four units of the aerial early warning system (AEWS), scheduled to be introduced by 2012, will also play the part of the ROK MD's "sensor".

Together with this, the plan is that 48 Patriot-2 (PAC-2) missiles brought from Germany by this year and medium-range surface-to-air missiles, called "Soot-2", will take on the role of the ROK MD's interceptor missiles. In order to enhance the interception capability, they are investigating the possibility of gradually installing missiles, including the SM-6, on Aegis ships, and the second SAM-X project for additional interceptors. Since the Lee Myeong Bak administration was installed, these are the most important indicators that tell us that the "ROK type of MD", forming a line of interceptor missiles -- sensors -- operational control centers, appears to be starting in earnest .

When we look at it in political terms, KAMD can appear to be independent. However, when we consider the special character of the military structure known as the ROK-US mutual defense system, and the nature of its interoperabilities, joint MD military operations with the US are unavoidable. USFK commanders constantly emphasize the point that the KAMD must be combined and employed with the US's system. Also, concerning participation in MD, the ROK's Minister of Defense likewise said in February this year that, "An investigation at the national strategic level is necessary, considering the ROK-US alliance and the security conditions on the Korean peninsula, the budget requirements, etc." While this kind of ROK type of MD appears to be independent, in actuality it seems that most probably it will be integrated into the US system.

How much will it cost?

An extravagant sum of money is required for MD, so much that in the US, it is known as "the goose that laid the golden eggs" to the military sector and "money-swallowing hippopotamus" to the taxpayer. If that is the case, how much will the ROK's MD participation cost in economic terms? Of course the appropriation is different, depending on the scale and components of MD. The PAC-2 that the ROK is purchasing from Germany costs a trillion won [about $0.7 billion], and if they upgrade this to the PAC-3, it will cost as much as an additional one trillion won [about $0.7 billion]. It is estimated that it would also cost as much as one to two trillion won [about $0.7~1.4 billion] to equip three Aegis vessels with SM-2 Block 4 and SM-6, as well as SM-3 that are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. Moreover, 250 billion won[about $172 million] will be sunk into an early warning radar system, two trillion won [about $1.4 billion] for an aerial early warning system (AEWS), 300 billion won [about $207 million] for a missile tracking and interception operational cont00rol system, 500 billion won[about $344 million] for a "Soot-2" system, and so on.

If we put this all together, just the cost of acquiring them amounts to five to seven trillion won[about $3.4billion~4.8billion]. If we include in this the necessary operation and maintenance expenses, which are usually about twice as much, the total cost of the system skyrockets to about 20 trillion won[about $14 billion]. In a situation where many people face a threat to their survival because of extreme economic difficulty, fundamental questions must arise about whether it is truly appropriate to use for mirage-like weapons systems many tens of trillions of won of tax money squeezed out of the citizens.

The best thing to do is to cancel MD!

In this case, whether it is an ROK MD, or participation in the US MD, while MD cannot give real protection against the threat of North Korean missiles, squandering such an enormous amount of money on a device that will give no protection means increasing the tension in South-North relations, intensifying the arms race on the Korean peninsula, and provoking uncertainty in relations with China and Russia. Expenses related to MD, if they include the fatal maintenance costs, amount to several tens of trillions of won[about $20~30 billion] .

In addition, North Korea's intention to reinforce the military strength of its missiles, and desire to incapacitate the ROK-US MD, are related to the reinforcement of the ROK-US MD's capabilities. It is an arms race between the "spear and shield". While the US intends to press ahead with stationing an MD system in Eastern Europe, an emerging "Second Cold War" could also be revived in East Asia. That is because North Korea, and of course China and Russia, also are focusing their attention on the East Asia MD system, in which the US is taking the leading role. For this reason, before the ROK falls into the MD morass, the Lee Myeong Bak administration must make a choice that takes into consideration the economy, the national interests and regional peace.


* Note by No Base Stories of Korea*

_ The conversion price from won to dollar is based on the approximate price of 1$=1450 won in March, 2009.

_ Cheong, Wooksik’s most recent English translated writing is
http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/03/text-fwd-north-koreas-satellite-versus.html
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Text fwd: North Korea’s Satellite versus US-ROK Joint Military Exercise

_ Related site (Site info. provided by Cheong, Wooksik)
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3949088
South Korea to Complete Missile Defense by 2012

_ Related site
The Ministry of National Defense, Republic of Korea


Bio

Writer, Wooksik Cheong is one of the founding members and the representative of Peace Network, a non-governmental organization formed in 1999, working for peace and disarmament in the Northeast Asia and on the Korean Peninsula. The reason that he founded the Peace Network was that he felt so sad about the North Korean humanitarian tragedy. He thought that this tragedy would be resolved by making peace and reducing military spending on the Korean Peninsula. While striving hard to realize these goals with his colleagues since then, he recognized that it was much difficult to achieve them in the short-term. He has worked as a full-time staff member from the beginning of Peace Network to the present. As a peace activist, an independent researcher, and a journalist, he has organized many campaigns and conferences, written books and essays, and made speeches both in Korea and abroad. He is the leading member of the Korean committee for the International Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense and for the End of Arms Race, Seoul, South Korea, April 16-18, 2009 and is one of the main speakers in the April 17 symposium program of the conference. The conference program will be officially updated soon. (wooksik@gmail.com)

Translator Agatha D. Haun is a PhD from the Stanford University, in Japanese and Russian. Her other studies are in European and Asian languages, history, social sciences. She has done Post-doctoral study at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is a Peace activist and free-lance translator for non-governmental organizations in Europe and Korea. She often loads her translated works to the website of the Tlaxcala, the ‘translators’ networks for linguistic diversity’. (dillardhaun@gmail.com)


* Original Korean writing of the above*

MD와 한반도, 무엇이 문제인가?
정욱식(평화네트워크 대표), 2009 년 3월 6일

한반도 분단 현실은 미국의 미사일방어체제(MD) 계획에도 어김없이 드러난다. 북한은 MD 추진의 최대 구실로, 남한은 미국 MD의 전초기지이자 포섭 대상이 되어왔기 때문이다. 이러한 와중에 출범한 오바마 행정부는 부시 행정부 때보다 MD에 신중하다. 반면 한미간의 ‘전략동맹’ 구축을 최고의 외교안보정책 목표로 삼아온 이명박 정부는 김대중-노무현 정부보다 MD에 적극적이다. 바로 이 지점에 최근 남-북-미 3자관계의 엇박자가 숨어 있다. 더구나 MD는 미일동맹과 중러협력체제 사이의 갈등 구조도 깔고 있기 때문에, 한국이 어설프게 발을 들여놓으면 대륙세력과 해양세력 사이의 ‘가교’가 아니라 ‘희생양’으로 전락할 수 있다. 미국과 러시아가 동유럽 MD를 둘러싸고 ‘제2의 냉전’을 방불케 하는 상황이 동북아에서도 벌어지면서 한국이 폴란드와 같은 신세가 될 수 있다는 것이다.

한국에게 MD는 세 가지 범주가 있다. 첫째는 미국이 한국 내에 MD 시스템을 배치하고 있는 것이고, 둘째는 정부가 독자적이라고 주장하는 ‘한국형 미사일방어체제(KAMD)’를 추진하는 것이다. 이 두 가지는 현재진행형이다. 그리고 셋째는 한국이 공식적으로 미국 MD에 참여하는 것이다. 물론 이 세 가지는 완전히 분리된 것이 아니다. 미러간에 논란이 되고 있는 폴란드와 체코의 MD 참여는 이들 나라가 MD 시스템을 구입하는 것이 아니라, 미국의 시스템 배치를 허용하는 것이다. 마찬가지로 한국이 공식적인 선언과 관련없이 미국의 MD 시스템이 한국에 배치되는 것 자체가 이미 MD에 참여하고 있는 것이라고 해석할 수도 있다. 또한 KAMD와 미국 MD에의 공식 참여 사이에는 정치외교적인 차이는 존재하더라도 군사기술적으로는 통합될 수밖에 없다는 점에서 긴밀한 연관성을 갖는다.

한국의 MD 계획

이명박 정부 출범이후, 한국의 미사일방어체제(MD) 정책에 미묘하지만 중대한 변화의 조짐이 보이고 있다. 우선 이명박 정부는 김대중-노무현 정부 때 검토되거나 초기 추진 단계에 있었던 ‘한국형미사일방어체제(KAMD)’ 구축에 박차를 가하고 있다. 군 당국은 북한의 미사일을 탐지·요격하는 임무를 전담할 ‘탄도유토탄 작전통제소(AMD-Cell)’를 3천억원의 예산을 투입해 2012년까지 구축한다는 계획을 발표했다. 또한 탐지거리 500km 안팎의 조기경보레이더 구매 방침을 정하고, 이스라엘 엘타의 그린파인(Green Pine)과 프랑스-네덜란드 합작사인 탈레스의 M3R을 대상으로 올해 4월까지 기종 선정을 끝내고 내년에 구매한다는 방침도 세웠다. 아울러 올해부터 2011년까지 단계적으로 실전배치에 들어가는 3척의 이지스함의 AN/SPY-1D(V) 레이더와 2012년까지 4대가 도입될 예정인 공중조기경보통제기(AEWS)도 한국 MD의 ‘센서’ 역할을 하게 된다.

이와 더불어 올해까지 독일로부터 도입될 48기의 패트리어트-2(PAC-2)와 ‘철매-2’로 불리는 중거리 지대공유도무기는 한국 MD의 요격미사일 역할을 담당한다는 계획이다. 요격 능력을 강화하기 위해 이지스함에 SM-6를 비롯한 미사일 추가 확보 및 2차 차기방공망사업(SAM-X) 사업 추진도 검토 중이다. 요격미사일-센서-작전통제소로 이뤄지는 ‘한국형 MD’가 이명박 정부 출범이후 본격화될 조짐을 보이고 있다는 것을 알 수 있는 대목들이다.

정치적으로 볼 때, KAMD는 독자적인 것처럼 보일 수 있다. 그러나 한미연합방위체제라는 군 구조의 특성과 상호운용성을 고려할 때 미국과의 공동 MD 작전은 불가피하다. 주한미군 사령관들은 KAMD가 미국 시스템과 통합되어 운용되어야 한다는 점을 줄곧 강조해왔다. 또한 한국의 국방장관 역시 2009년 2월 MD 참여에 대해 “한미동맹과 한반도 안보 상황, 예산 소요 등을 고려해 국가전략 차원에서 검토가 필요하다”고 말했다. 이러한 기류는 한국형 MD가 독자적인 모양새를 띠면서도 실제로는 미국과 통합될 가능성이 높다는 것을 보여준다.

비용은 얼마나 드나?

미국에서 군산복합체에게는 ‘황금알을 낳은 거위’로, 납세자에게는 ‘돈 먹는 하마’로 불릴 정도로 MD에는 엄청난 예산이 소요된다. 그렇다면 한국의 MD 참여시 그 재정적 비용은 얼마나 될까? 물론 예산은 사업 규모에 따라 달라진다. 한국이 독일로부터 구매하고 있는 PAC-2는 1조원이 소요되고 있고, 이를 PAC-3로 업그레이드 할 경우에 드는 추가적인 비용은 1조원 정도이다. 3척의 이지스함에 탄도탄 요격이 가능한 SM-2Block4나 SM-6, 그리고 SM-3를 장착하는 비용도 1-2조원 정도로 추산된다. 또한 조기경보레이더 사업에 2천5백억원, 공중조기경보통제기(AEWS)에 2조원, 탄도유토탄 작전통제소 사업에 3천억원, 철매-2 사업에 5천억원 등이 투입된다.

이를 종합해보면 획득사업비만도 5-7조원에 달한다. 여기에 통상 2배 안팎이 소요되는 운영유지비를 포함할 경우 총사업비는 20조원 안팎으로 폭등한다. 극심한 경제난으로 많은 국민들이 생존의 위협에 직면한 상황에서, 수십조원의 혈세가 신기루와 같은 무기 사업에 사용되는 것이 과연 타당한가라는 근본적인 의문이 제기되지 않을 수 없는 것이다.

MD, 안하는 것이 최선!

이처럼 한국 MD이든, 미국 MD 참여이든, MD는 북한 미사일 위협에 실질적인 대비책은 되지 못하면서, 막대한 예산 낭비와 남북관계의 불안 및 한반도 군비경쟁 격화, 그리고 중국, 러시아와의 관계 불안을 야기하고 말 것이다. 운영유지비를 포함할 경우 MD 관련 비용은 수십조원에 달한다. 또한 북한은 미사일 전력을 강화해 한미 양국의 MD를 무력화하려고 할 것이고, 이는 한미 양국의 MD 능력 강화로 이어질 것이다. ‘창과 방패’ 사이의 군비경쟁이다. 미국이 동유럽에 MD 배치를 강행하려고 하면서 불거진 ‘제2의 냉전’이 동북아에서도 재연될 수 있다. 북한은 물론이고 중국과 러시아도 미국 주도의 동아시아 MD 체제에 촉각을 곤두세우고 있기 때문이다. 한국이 MD의 늪에 빠져들기 전에 이명박 정부가 경제와 국익을 고려한 선택을 해야 할 까닭이다.