PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
11 March 2008
Missile Development, Proliferation Among Top U.S. Concerns
Newer missiles are more sophisticated, can travel farther
Washington -- The heightened threat from advanced missile technology and the proliferation of missiles among countries of security concern to the United States are the major reasons the United States is pursuing a missile defense system, according to a senior U.S. diplomat.
"You start with the fact that there is a wide availability of ballistic missiles in the world today. Some roughly two dozen countries either have or are pursuing missile programs," says John Rood, acting under secretary of state for arms control and international security affairs.
Rood says the missiles being used today have longer ranges, are more sophisticated and there are more of them. "Many of them are in the hands of some of the countries that we are most concerned about from a security perspective, such as North Korea and Iran," Rood said March 11 at a Washington Foreign Press Center briefing.
Rood cited Iran as a recent example of the threat that faces the United States and allies in Europe. Earlier this year, the Iranian defense minister announced that Iran is seeking new missiles with greater range and capabilities, Rood stated "And we also saw the Iranians, of course, conduct a flight test of a space launch vehicle” that used technology “very similar” to that of ballistic missiles, he said.
As a consequence, Rood says the United States continues to see this threat progression causing the greatest amount of concern. The United States is not just interested in a missile defense shield for itself, he says, but also for its allies and friends.
"And we have pursued a range of cooperative efforts with allies, and we feel like we've had a very successful track record here over the past few years," he said.
Today, Japan is the United States' largest missile defense partner, Rood said. But there is also the MEADS program for joint development and deployment of a missile defense system in cooperation with Germany and Italy, he said.
Some of the other joint programs and cooperative efforts involve Israel, Britain and Denmark, he said. And negotiations are under way with Poland and the Czech Republic, where the United States wants to place 10 interceptor missiles and a large state-of-art radar facility.
Rood said negotiations with the Czech government are very close to resolution. Literally, only a few words need to be negotiated for a final agreement, he said. And he said negotiations with Poland are also very close to resolution.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with President Bush at the White House March 10.
"I think the question of moving forward on missile defense is increasingly one where allies agree on the need to move forward," he said. "And we're hopeful that ... in the days and weeks ahead, that we're going to continue to see that progression and see some expression of that view at the Bucharest [NATO] Summit in April."
The ongoing debate over a missile defense shield located in Europe will be a featured issue at the NATO Summit April 2-4.
Rood said most of the discussions at NATO of late have revolved around the degree of protection afforded by a missile defense shield, how the allies will cooperate to provide that protection and what will be the different roles and responsibilities afforded to NATO members and their national efforts.
NORTH KOREA AND IRAN NEGOTIATIONS
In other ballistic missile news, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack announced that Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will meet with North Korea's Kim Kye-Gwan in Geneva March 13 in a new push for a full declaration from Pyongyang on its nuclear programs.
Also, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged all nations March 11 to do everything possible to engage Iran in further negotiations over its highly contested nuclear development program.
