“The need for missile defence in Europe is real, and I believe it’s urgent,” Bush said in a speech at the National Defence University in Washington, Deutsche-Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Bush has aggressively pursued a long-range ballistic-missile- defence system. His administration announced plans earlier this year to deploy 10 missile interceptors to Poland and a radar tracking site to the Czech Republic.

The controversial plans have angered Moscow, which views the system as a threat to its nuclear deterrent and has not ruled out targeting the potential bases in Eastern Europe. Bush cited US intelligence that Iran could have a ballistic missile capable of reaching Europe by 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin has played down the Iranian threat and has questioned western claims that the Islamic state is developing nuclear weapons.

But on October 25, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov billed the United States’ latest offer on a missile shield in Europe as “unacceptable,” Itar-Tass reported from the Netherlands, where the Russian official attended an informal meeting of NATO defence ministers. “US missile defence proposals are unacceptable and do not suit Russia.

There remain disagreements over a number of issues between Russia and NATO countries, in the first place over missile defence and on the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty,” the Russian news agency quoted Serdyukov as saying.

Putin has proposed using a Soviet era radar site in Azerbaijan and a facility in southern Russia. Bush is open to the offer but not as a substitute for the Czech and Polish locations.

Instead he sees it as an opportunity for the two sides to work together against a common threat. “We believe these sites could be included as part of a wider threat monitoring system that could lead to an unprecedented level of strategic cooperation between our two countries,” Bush said.

Bush said the Eastern European sites are too small to endanger Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal. “The missile defences we will deploy are intended to deter countries who would threaten us with ballistic missiles,” Bush said. “We do not consider Russia such a country.”

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, in Prague for talks with Czech leaders about the plans, said Washington is open to allowing a Russian presence at the bases to ease Moscow’s opposition. He also said the United States would consider building the system but not activate it until “concrete proof” of a threat emerged. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proposed the idea earlier this month at a meeting in Moscow attended by Gates and their Russian counterparts.

ÿGates was speaking at a press conference with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who reacted coolly to the idea of allowing the Russian military to return to his country. US officials hope to have negotiations soon completed with Poland and the Czech Republic aiming to have the system in place by 2013.

The US would seek Prague’s approval for the move - proposed in order to ease Moscow’s opposition to the project by providing transparency - before approaching Moscow with further details, Gates added.

“Nothing would be done in this regard without the consent of the Czech government,” Gates said at a press conference after his meeting with Topolanek.

Prague was far from enthusiastic about the offer, a diplomatic source told Deutsche- Presse-Agentur dpa, while a stone-faced Topolanek told reporters: “I don’t feel a need to comment on this.”

“We are not opposed to various ideas based on mutual transparency and reciprocity,” Czech chief negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar told dpa.

He added that it was not yet clear what shape the US proposal of a Russian presence at the central European sites would take. “Specific proposals are not the matter of the day,” Pojar said, adding later that providing transparency “is rather about sharing data and not about physical presence.”

As Soviet troops crushed the Czechoslovak reform movement of 1968 and occupied the country until the fall of communism in 1989, any presence of foreign, let alone Russian, troops on Czech soil is sensitive for Czechs.

“Czechs are really glad they got rid of Russians,” said political scientist Jiri Pehe who found Washington’s offer “politically impassable” for Prague. “I can see those headlines screaming that with American military, Russians will arrive in the Czech Republic.” Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by the Russina news agency Interfax as saying that the US “made a number of interesting suggestions we’re looking at more closely.”

Washington asked Prague and Warsaw to host a radar and 10 interceptor missiles on their soil respectively for the US missile shield, which the US says is being developed against potential Iranian long-range missiles.

The plan to place the US bases in the central European members of NATO and the European Union has received a lukewarm response across Europe and a frosty one in Russia, which says the system would be aimed at its nuclear arsenal.

Despite adverse public opinion, Czech and Polish governments entered into bilateral talks with the United States earlier this year. Both Gates and Topolanek told reporters that they hope the bilateral talks on the matter will be wrapped up by the year’s end.
 

• America faces a growing ballistic missile threat.  In 1972, just nine countries had ballistic missiles.  Today, that number has grown to 27 and it includes hostile regimes with ties to terrorists.
   
• When the President took office, the United States had no capability to defend the American people against long-range ballistic missile attack, but we have since deployed new capabilities.  In 2001, the President announced our intention to move beyond the ABM Treaty and deploy missile defenses to protect the American people, U.S. forces abroad, and our allies around the world against limited attacks.  He also pledged that as we built these defenses, America would undertake significant reductions in nuclear weapons and establish a new approach to deterrence that would leave behind the adversarial legacy of the Cold War and allow us to prepare for the threats of the 21st Century.
   
• The next step is to take a missile defense system that has passed demanding tests in the Pacific theater, and deploy elements of it to Europe – so we can defend America and our NATO allies from attacks emanating from the Middle East.

We Must Deploy A Missile Defense System To Defend Europe

Iran is pursuing the technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles of increasing range that could deliver them.  Last November, Iran conducted military exercises in which it launched ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel and Turkey, as well as American troops based in the Persian Gulf. 

• Our intelligence community assesses that, with continued foreign assistance, Iran could develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. and all of Europe before 2015.  If it chooses to do so, and the international community does not take steps to prevent it, it is possible Iran could have this capability.  Iranian officials have declared they are developing missiles with a range of 1,200 miles, which would give them the capability to strike many of our NATO allies, including Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and possibly Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.

We must deploy a missile defense system to defend Europe against the emerging Iranian threat.  This system will be limited in scope – a system made up of ten ground-based interceptors located in Poland, and an X-Band tracking radar located in the Czech Republic.  Such a system would have the capacity to defend countries in Europe that would be at risk from long-range attack from the Middle East.  We are also working with NATO on developing defenses against short- and medium-range attacks from the Middle East.

• The system is not designed to defend against an attack from Russia.  The missile defenses we envision would be easily overwhelmed by Russia's nuclear arsenal – the system is intended to deter countries that would threaten the United States with ballistic missile attack, and the U.S. does not consider Russia such a country.
   
• We are inviting Russia to join us in the cooperative effort to defend Russia, Europe, and the United States against an emerging threat that affects us all.  For his part, President Putin has offered the use of radar facilities in Azerbaijan and southern Russia.  We believe these sites could be included as part of a wider threat monitoring system that could lead to an unprecedented level of strategic cooperation between our two countries.

To Keep Our Nation Safe, Congress Needs To Fully Fund Missile Defense Programs

We are investing in the next generation of missile defenses, which defend our citizens and strengthen our deterrence.  Missile defense strengthens our counter-proliferation efforts by reducing incentives to build ballistic missiles and helping dissuade nations from developing nuclear weapons.

• Congress should fully fund these programs, but instead Congress has:
   
  • Cut our request for missile defenses in Europe by $139 million, which could delay this deployment for a year or more and undermine our allies who are working with us to deploy such a system on their soil. 
  • Eliminated $51 million from the Airborne Laser program, a critical effort that will allow us to intercept missiles in the boost-stage of flight, when they are still over the country that launched them.
  • Slashed $50 million from the Multiple Kill Vehicle program that will help us defeat both the incoming warhead and the decoys deployed to overcome our defenses.
  • Cut $50 million from the Space Tracking and Surveillance System, a constellation of space satellites that can help us more effectively detect and track ballistic missiles headed for our country.

The Effort To Develop Ballistic Missile Defense Is Part Of A Broader Effort To Move Beyond The Cold War And Establish A New Deterrence Framework For The 21st Century

Today, our adversaries are terrorist states and terrorist networks who might not be deterred by our nuclear forces, so we need a new approach.  This approach combines deep reductions in offensive nuclear forces with new advanced conventional capabilities, and defenses to protect free people from nuclear blackmail or attack.

• In 2001, the President directed the Defense Department to achieve a credible deterrent with the lowest number of nuclear weapons consistent with our national security needs, including with our obligation to our allies.  These reductions were eventually codified in the Moscow Treaty, which commits the United States and Russia to reduce operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 within five years from now.
   
• Since the Moscow Treaty took effect, the United States has retired all of our Peacekeeper ICBMs, and reduced our operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads from more than 6,000 when the President took office to fewer than 3,800 today.  When the rest of the reductions we have set in motion are completed, the total U.S. nuclear stockpile will be one-quarter its size at the end of the Cold War – the lowest level since the Eisenhower Administration.

As we reduce our nuclear arsenal, we are investing in advanced conventional capabilities.  These include new unmanned aerial combat vehicles, and next generation long-range precision weapons that allow us to strike our enemies quickly, at great distances, without using nuclear weapons. 

The Administration Is Delivering On Its Pledge To Defend America From The Threat Of Ballistic Missile Attack.

1. The President withdrew the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.  This 30-year-old agreement was designed for a Soviet Union threat that no longer existed in 2002, and was constraining our efforts to develop and deploy missile defense.  While Russia did not agree with our withdrawal, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the decision "does not pose a threat to Russia," and announced his country would join the U.S. in making historic reductions in our deployed offensive nuclear arsenals.
    
2. The Administration made missile defense operational, while continuing our research and development efforts.  By the end of 2004, the Nation had a rudimentary capability in place to defend against limited missile attacks by rogue states or accidental launch. As new technologies come online, we continue to add to this system, making it increasingly capable, and moving us closer to the day we can intercept ballistic missiles of all ranges, in every stage of flight.
    
   • Our military commanders believe we now have a credible system in place that can provide the American people with a measure of protection against the threats emanating from Northeast Asia.  Last month, the Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Northern Command conducted its 30th successful "hit to kill" test since 2001. 
      
3. The Administration reached out to involve other nations in missile defense, creating a truly international effort to help protect free nations against the threat of ballistic missile attack.  Since 2001, we have worked closely with countries such as Britain, Israel, Italy, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and others on missile defense.