Why is Putin Worried About the Missile Defense Shield?

Putin again has threatened the US and Europe about our Missile Defense Shield that is planned to be placed in Poland and the Czech Republic, and that in itself is worrisome.

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin warned the United States on Thursday that Russia could take retaliatory measures if Washington failed to take heed of its concerns over a missile defense shield in Europe.

"I can assure you that such steps are being prepared and we will take them. Where we should station what, that is for specialists of the Russian military's general staff," Putin said in response to a question about how to respond to the shield.

The United States plans to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of a shield Washington says is needed to counter possible attacks from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

Russia says the shield is a threat to its security and could spark an arms race, concerns U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought to ease in Moscow talks last week. Putin welcomed their efforts.

If Russia was a true friendly neighbor, then they would welcome the Missile Shield and not be concerned, but Russia is acting more like a nation that again has evil intents on riding roughshod over it's former satellite countries and Europe. The Missile Shield is for defense only, but to Putin, he sees it as a nullifier of his countries ability to threaten others, and that is not acceptable to him.

Russia is flexing it's political muscles again, which is not a stabilizing factor in the world, especially since they are allying themselves with the Terrorist Iran. It looks as if we are headed for another Cold War, to be fought with our current War on Terrorism, and that is not what the world nor America needs.


Mr Minority

So That's the Way It's Going to Be

A show down with the former Soviet Union has being building ever since Putin became president of that country, and his recent threat about Iran is bring us closer to another Cold War.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Vladimir Putin issued a veiled warning Tuesday against any attack on Iran as he began the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Tehran in six decades - a mission reflecting Russian-Iranian efforts to curb U.S. influence.

He also suggested Moscow and Tehran should have a veto on Western plans for new pipelines to carry oil and natural gas from the Caspian Sea, using routes that would bypass Russian soil and break the Kremlin's monopoly on energy deliveries from the region.

Putin came to Tehran for a summit of the five nations bordering the Caspian, but his visit was aimed more at strengthening efforts to blunt U.S. economic and military ties in the area. Yet he also refused to set a date for completing Iran's first nuclear reactor, trying to avoid an outright show of support for Iran's defiance over its nuclear program.

Putin's goal is power, both economically and politically, ala the old Commie agenda, and with siding with Iran, he is no longer playing the game of pretending to care about the threat of Islamic Terrorism, he is placing money and global power above the threat of a nuclear Islamic Terrorist State. And now that Russia is flush with petrodollars, Putin believes they longer needs the help of the US to stay afloat, and he can dictate what the rest of the world can and cannot do about Iran, which is delusional.

Maybe it is time for the US and the EU to curtail ties with Russia, especially trade ties, and let us see if they can stand on their own two feet without us.


Mr Minority