Uh, no.
Direct route from Tehran to New York City, pasing over Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Kalingrad Russia, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, and Canada.
Posted on 11/17/2005 1:13:40 AM PST by twinself
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. and Polish officials are discussing building a base in Poland from which U.S. interceptors could shoot down long-range missiles as part of a global defence network, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.
It would be the first American strategic missile defence site outside U.S. territory, and would be designed to defend all of Europe against intercontinental-range missiles - primarily those launched from the Middle East.
No decision has been made to proceed with a missile defence base in Poland and alternative sites in Europe are a possibility. But the Pentagon official said Poland appears to be the most likely host country for the kind of American military installation that would have been unthinkable before Poland joined NATO in 1999.
The official discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Pentagon has made no public announcement of its discussions with Polish officials, although it has made known its extensive consultations in recent years with NATO allies on the threat posed by ballistic missiles.
On Monday, Poland's new prime minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, said he was opening a public debate on whether to host a U.S. missile defence base.
He did not specifically say Washington was interested in installing ground-based interceptors of the sort that the Pentagon has recently installed in Alaska.
"This is an important issue for Poland, related to our security and to our co-operation with an important ally," Marcinkiewicz said.
He leads a new conservative government in Warsaw that took office on Oct. 31. The previous government had expressed concern that missile defence co-operation with Washington could harm relations with Russia, which had opposed Poland's decision to become a member of NATO.
The U.S. military has no permanent bases in Poland or other Central and Eastern European countries formerly aligned with the Soviet Union. The U.S. does have bases in former Soviet republics in Central Asia such as Kyrgyzstan.
U.S. officials have been discussing with new NATO members Romania and Bulgaria the possibility of basing some U.S. troops there as part of a repositioning of U.S. forces around the world.
U.S. officials have been considering a number of possibilities for extending the American missile defence network to include Europe, although most of the focus has been on defences against short-range missiles.
Long-range missiles are considered an emerging threat, in the view of Bush administration officials, because of the proliferation of technologies that would allow countries such as Iran and possibly Syria or Libya to build extended-range missiles. The threat is especially worrisome when coupled with nuclear warheads.
The current U.S. defence system against long-range missiles is limited mainly to an installation at Fort Greely, Alaska, where at least six missile interceptors are in underground silos, linked to a command and control system. It is designed mainly to shoot down missiles fired at U.S. territory from North Korea, with future expansion planned.
The Pentagon official who discussed the Polish option said that if a missile defence base were built there, it probably would be the only one needed to defend Europe against long-range missiles, although radars, other sensors and interceptors designed to combat shorter range missiles also would be needed for a complete defence.
The official estimated that a site in Poland would not be ready to begin operating before 2010. He offered no estimate on how much it might cost or when U.S. officials were likely to make a decision to proceed. Also undetermined is whether the site would be controlled jointly by U.S. and Polish forces or possibly with a NATO role.
I read something different but I will check that later and If you are right then of course I will apologize for my obvious antisemitism.
"Plus this would provide some jobs and benefits to Poland a coalition ally."
How many jobs ? 30 ? You think that this is a good price for becoming the first target ?
Should I be happy that we will become the first target ?
They need not follow the "shortest" path but by definition, ballistic missile have to follow a "ballistic" path. Ballistic missile trajectories are highly constrained, unlike aircraft. They more or less follow Kelperian trajectories (ellipses) between burn out and reentry. There are no "laws of physics" that would prevent continuous maneuvers, but no power has fielded any such system to date. (Recent maneuverable Russian reentry vehicles are intended to vex tracking radars and countermeasures, they do not significantly deviate from Keplerian trajectories.)
Russians would welcome [U.S. withdrawal from Europe].
That only makes sense if Russians yearn for the good old days of Cold War when they were seen a threat to Western Europe. Clinton's intervention in Serbia was a violation of the NATO charter and should never have happened, granted. Clinton should have told Putin, this mess is in your backyard, clean it up or we'll have to. Of course, no one ever took anything Clinton said seriously, which illustrates the problem with being "all blow and no show".
You'd think that but then russia is intent on arming our enemies like Iran and Syria.
Meanwhile Putin continues to fight democracy.
Some other parts of the source:
http://www.geocities.com/visplace/vatican4.htm
CHAPTER 4: SPIRITUAL TOTALITARIANISM OF THE VATICAN
http://www.geocities.com/visplace/vatican7.htm
CHAPTER 7: VATICAN POLICY BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS
"Had the Vatican not existed, or had it remained entirely neutral, or had it been hostile to the rise and progress of Fascism, perhaps the great cataclysm whose climax was the outbreak of the Second World War would have come just the same. On the other hand, there is no doubt that the help, direct and indirect, which the Vatican was able to give at certain critical moments to the Fascist States greatly helped to hasten the process which led to the crystallization of Europe into a Fascist Continent, and to the outbreak of the Second World War."
http://www.geocities.com/visplace/vatican8.htm
CHAPTER 8: SPAIN, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE CIVIL WAR
"Even the Protestant United States of America intervened in the struggle and helped Franco, thanks to the American Catholic clergy, who mobilized to influence public opinion in favor of the rebels. The result was that the Republic was denied facilities to buy arms practically everywhere in Europe and also in the only open market left to her, namely the United States of America."
With the perspective to fight Hitler alone, having unprepared army, extending the starting point for nazi army to Poland from Estonia looks well-based.
Moreover, add here reuniting Ukrainian and Belorussian people with their mainland like the Teszen case.
Actually, a missile launched from Iran towards the U.S. east coast would travel very close to, and in some cases through Poland. Launched from Tehran to New York City, a missle would pass over northeastern Poland.
Will a Poland based ABM have enough time to intercept an Middle-East ICBM?
Uh, no.
Direct route from Tehran to New York City, pasing over Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Kalingrad Russia, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, and Canada.
2. That only makes sense if Russians yearn for the good old days of Cold War when they were seen a threat to Western Europe. Clinton's intervention in Serbia was a violation of the NATO charter and should never have happened, granted.
From the Russian point of view Russia can become the second Serbia.
From Iran, Poland is at about 1/3 of the way to the U.S.
It should be well located for a mid-course intercept.
I don't know how well Poland works to defend southern europe, but we could easily put our Aegis cruisers with their theater ballistic missile defense system in the Mediterranean.
So why doesn't NATO have their own MDS? Oh wait ,LOL!!!!!!!!
He again posts from communist sources. Once he attacked me personally cause I dared to disagree with article from World Socialist Website that he provided as a evidence of something.
So you need to learn from the Czechs and Slovaks how these things should look like :)
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