US Considers Shield Plan

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 17, after meeting with NATO and Russian officials that Washington's missile shield plans could be changed should Iran suspend its nuclear program.

The shield is "intended against the major problem we see developing, which is Iran, and if that problem went away or attenuated we would obviously draw conclusions," said Fried. "This is a threat-based system, and we would be affected if Iran gave up its [uranium] enrichment and worked with the international community, and had a different approach to things."

Moscow has been highly critical of the US plans to place part of its missile defense system near Russia's European borders, specifically focusing on the proposed installation of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and tracking radar in the Czech Republic.

Russia argues that Iran does not have the long-range missiles necessary to pose any threat to Europe, let alone the continental United States, and is unlikely to develop that capacity any time soon. Russia's main concern is that the US shield would compromise its own defenses.

Shield plans could slow down under "right conditions"

While Fried ruled out any immediate halt, he did suggest that the development of the shield might slow down under the right conditions. "Our position is that our negotiations with the Poles and the Czechs will continue, but we don't feel the need to spend money at quite as fast a rate for a threat that is attenuated," he said.

Fried also reiterated that the defense shield was needed to guard against threats from "rogue states" like Iran or North Korea and assured Russia once again that it was not a target. "Our real concern is not Russia," he said. "We are advancing a missile defense program in response to what we see as an Iranian ballistic missile and nuclear weapons threat.

"We want [Russia's] help, and the help of all responsible nations, to work with Iran so this problem is attenuated and goes away," Fried said and added that US officials had explained their stance on Iran to the Russians, and that "they seemed interested in the concept."

Polish election could affect US relations

Another factor which may force Washington's hand in adapting its plan for European bases is Poland's parliamentary election on Sunday.

Poland's ties with the United States, its cooperation on the defense shield and the presence of Polish troops in Iraq could all change if Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski loses power.

The centrist Civic Platform party, the main opposition to Kaczynski's ruling conservatives, is mounting a strong challenge to the current leadership and is gaining support through its leader Donald Tusk's assertions that a government under his authority would not want so close a relationship with Washington.

Surveys show most Poles want their troops out of Iraq and oppose the missile shield. Recent events, including an attack on the Polish ambassador in Iraq last week, have brought these topics and Poland's foreign policy as a whole to the forefront of the Civic Platform party's agenda.

Prime Minister Kaczynski and his twin brother Lech, the Polish president, have put close ties with the US at the center of Poland's foreign policy alongside a distrust of the EU.

Since coming to power in 2005, the brothers have maintained the country's military presence in Iraq, increased Polish forces in Afghanistan and have all but pledged to host the anti-missile shield.