Administration Defends Changes to European Missile Shield

Administration Defends Changes to European Missile Shield
Friday, Oct. 2, 2009

By Martin Matishak

Global Security Newswire

A U.S. ground-based missile interceptor is lowered into a silo at Fort Greely, Alaska, in 2004. The arsenal of interceptors in Alaska and California would provide "full protection of the homeland" from an Iranian long-range missile threat by the end of next year, a senior Pentagon official said yesterday (U.S. Missile Defense Agency photo).

WASHINGTON -- Key officials from the U.S. Defense and State departments yesterday vigorously defended the Obama administration's decision to retool a proposed Europe-based missile defense shield (see GSN, Oct. 1).

"We are not scrapping missile defense in Europe. We are strengthening it," Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy told the House Armed Services Committee.

The White House announced two weeks ago that it would shelve a Bush administration plan to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic as a hedge against a developing missile threat from Iran (see GSN, Sept. 17). The plan proved controversial in the proposed host countries and was vehemently opposed by Russia as a threat to its strategic security.

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