U.S. Senator Seeks Missile Cooperation With Russia

U.S. Senator Seeks Missile Cooperation With Russia

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 25, 2009: The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has said the country must seek close missile defense cooperation with Russia as the best means of protection against Iran. Missile defense has so far been a major obstacle in Russia-U.S. relations, due to U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Central Europe, purportedly to defend against Iranian long-range missiles. Sen. Carl Levin told a missile defense conference on Monday that the United States and Russia should work jointly to weaken the Iranian missile threat. "U.S.-Russian cooperation on missile defense against Iranian missiles - even if we were simply to begin serious discussions on the subject - would send a powerful signal to Iran," he said. "Iran would face in a dramatic way a growing unity against her pursuit of dangerous nuclear technology." Russia has consistently rejected the U.S. justification for the anti-missile radar and interceptors planned for the Czech Republic and Poland, and views them as a major national security threat. However, Levin said that with cooperation the divisive issue could actually improve the atmosphere between Washington and Moscow. "Missile defense could become a tool for positive change, rather than an impediment to better relations," he said. At the same conference, Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher, a likely candidate for a top nonproliferation post in the administration of President Barack Obama, questioned the need for the missile shield. "The argument that the U.S. would be naked against an Iranian threat unless we deploy the GMD [Ground-Based Midcourse Defense] system in Europe is simply not right," she said. Last week Russia welcomed the Czech Republic's decision to put off a parliamentary vote on the ratification of a deal to host a U.S. anti-missile radar.:

Pakistan's Nuke Technology, A Chinese Contribution? / China Is a Rogue Nuclear State

Pakistan's Nuke Technology, A Chinese Contribution? / China Is a Rogue Nuclear State (NSI News Source Info) Washington - January 4, 2009: Did People's Republic of China help Pakistan to achieve nuclear facility? Did China play any role to spoil the peaceful relation between India and Pakistan? 'Yes' says US Air Force Secretary Thomas Reed. Reed claimed that China had tested for Pakistan its first nuclear bomb in 1990s. In an interview to 'US News and World Report' new magazine Reed said, "The Chinese did a massive training of Pakistani scientists, brought them to China for lectures, even gave them the design of the CHIC-4 device, which was a weapon that was easy to build a model for export." A weapons designer at Livermore National Laboratory, Reed had co-authored a new book, 'The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation' with Danny Stillman (the former director of Technical Intelligence Division, LosAlamos National Laboratory). The book accuses China of internationally proliferating nuclear technology and said that the nation has helped 'risky regimes' like Pakistan to achieve this. Reed told to the magazine that China gave nuclear technology to Pakistan as 'India was China's enemy and Pakistan was India's enemy. He said, "Under the then Pakistan President Benazir Bhutto, the country built its first functioning nuclear weapon. We believe that during Benazir's term in office, the PeoplesRepublic of China tested Pakistan's first bomb for her in 1990." He also pointed out various reasons to believe this including the design of the weapon and information gatheredfrom discussions with Chinese nuclear experts. "That's why the Pakistanis were so quick to respond to the Indian nuclear tests in 1998. It only took them two weeks and three days," Reed added. It is up to the rulers and people of both the democratic nations to decide whether India and Pakistan should still continue to fall prey for vested interests or should work for their own development. Nuclear technology whether possessed by developing or developed nation, both ways is harmful. Did China play any role in adding fuel to fury is yet to be known. But a joint efforts from both India and Pakistan and also cooperation from International community is a must to eradicate the menace of terrorism and militancy. Additional Info: Related Topic China Is a Rogue Nuclear State Gordon G. Chang - 01.03.2009 - 4:22 PM (NSI News Source Info) January 4, 2009: China, charges Thomas Reed, is continuing to transfer uranium and nuclear technology to Iran. In an interview posted yesterday on the U.S. News & World Report website, the former U.S. Air Force Secretary also refers to Beijing’s use of the North Koreans to distribute nuclear and missile technology to Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen in addition to Iran. Why did the Chinese decide to proliferate nuclear weapons technology? “They did so deliberately with the theory that if nukes ended up going off in the western world from a Muslim terrorist, well that wasn’t all bad,” Reed says, citing a decision made by Deng Xiaoping in 1982. “If New York was reduced to rubble without Chinese fingerprints on the attack, that left Beijing as the last man standing.” Reed is correct when he points out that China has been a rogue nuclear state for a long time. In fact, China was helping Pakistan build a bomb as early as 1974, long before Deng took power in 1978. So, for more than three decades, the Chinese have been spreading the world’s most destructive technology to Islamic fanatics. We can understand why Beijing would wish us harm, yet it is difficult to comprehend why successive American administrations, especially those of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, have failed to speak out about Chinese proliferation, even when Beijing had been caught red-handed. These two presidents, as powerful as they were, may not have had the means to stop China’s transfer of nuclear technology, yet they failed to sanction Beijing or even speak out about what was happening. Both of them were responsible for many failures during their times in office, but these are by far the worst. Washington evidently believes that, if we do not criticize the Chinese in public, one day they will eventually stop proliferating. As Reed notes, many younger officials in Beijing realize the lunacy of their country’s pro-proliferation policies-he suggests they don’t want to incinerate Los Angeles because they can’t then sell us sneakers-but at this time there is no consensus in the Chinese capital to change course from Mao’s and Deng’s policies. By the time China becomes a responsible nuclear power, it will undoubtedly be too late. By refusing to oppose those who wish us harm, we are creating the conditions for our own destruction.