On Friday Russia stated that they strongly opposed the United States plans for a new missile shield in Europe because they believe the missiles are pointed at Russia. They continued in their rage saying that the missile shields would not be exempt from Russian military action. In my mind, this seems to be the first serious comments of hostility that the United States has seen from Russia in years.
The President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev commented that the United States was developing the system specifically with the Russians in mind.
What do you believe is happening with the missile system located in the Czech Republic and Poland? The stated military objective of this system has always been to protect against rogue nations, specifically Iran. Is it possible that this system was designed to protect against Russia as well?
Honestly, the United States would be foolish if they didn’t factor the Russian military when designing this system. We are trying to be protected from every nation with this new shield. The shield is not being built to attack anyone, as Russia believes to be the case.
In my mind, there is only one answer, the shield was built to protect, not assault. However we have factored every nation into this defensive plan. Do you believe that it is counter-diplomatic to build a shield that suggests that we may not trust our worldwide neighbors? Or is it an intelligent, preemptive move that the United States is making? Either way, what do you see as being the best outcome for solving this situation with the Russians diplomatically?
