Comment & Debate
Robert G. Gard. “National Missile Defense in Europe: Premature and Unwise”. Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. 9 Jan. 2008 – MDA also claims that deploying GMD in Europe will promote regional stability. But the announcement of the deployment and the reaction to it has in fact created considerable instability. Russian President Vladimir Putin has angrily denounced the deployment. He perceives it as yet another U.S. and NATO military encroachment into former Warsaw Pact countries close to Russia’s western border, despite earlier assurances by the U.S. that NATO would not move east if a unified Germany could join NATO. Putin also suspects that further development of the European GMD complex could threaten Russian security in the future.
“Disarming Nations”. New York Times, Letter to the Editor. 1 Aug. 2008 – In the Czech Republic, the proposal is in trouble: polls show a clear majority against the Czech component of the system. Washington claims the system responds to an Iranian nuclear threat, but there’s no credible evidence of such a threat today.
And far from protecting against such a threat in the future, the United States militaristic stance, with its proclaimed right to wage preventive war and more than 700 military bases worldwide, only enhances its likelihood.