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Found at:
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL2638104820071026
Putin compares U.S. missile shield to Cuban crisis
Fri Oct 26, 2007 3:03pm EDT
By Oleg Shchedrov
MAFRA, Portugal (Reuters) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin drew a
parallel on Friday between U.S. plans for a missile shield in Europe
and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, widely regarded as the closest
the world came to nuclear war.
[There is no valid comparison between the two: During the Cuban
Missile Crisis, the Russians installed nuclear weapons and missiles to
deliver them in Cuba, just minutes away from blasting American cities.
The U.S. missile defense shield does not have the ability to turn
Russian cities into smoking nuclear ruins. It is purely for defense
against such threats. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a direct threat to
the lives of millions of Americans, and is the reason President John
F. Kennedy felt he had to take drastic action to eliminate this
danger. A missile defense system, especially the limited one referred
to here, does not endanger even one Russian citizen BTW, Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro lobbied the Russians vigorously to get them to
launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. He was so vehement about this
that the Russians starting thinking Castro had lost his mind. Had it
been up to Castro, the Cuban Missile Crisis would have resulted in a
nuclear attack on the U.S. that would have killed millions here, and
as a consequence, millions of others around the world. Thankfully,
cooler Russian heads prevailed.]
But the Kremlin leader added that his personal friendship with U.S.
President George W. Bush has helped to prevent the latest U.S.
initiative from turning into a new global disaster.
"I would remind you how relations were developing in an analogous
situation in the middle of the 1960s," he told a news conference after
the Russia-EU summit in the Portugal.
"Analogous actions by the Soviet Union when it deployed rockets on
Cuba provoked the Cuban missile crisis," Putin added. "For us,
technologically, the situation is very similar. On our borders such
threats to our country are being created."
[This missile defense system is NOT a threat to Russia. Russia
could easily overwhelm this missile defense system considering the
large number of missiles they can field. And we could expect that if
Russia planned to attack the U.S. or Western Europe, the first thing
they would do would be to destroy the missile defense system.]
A decision by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to send nuclear
missiles to Communist ally Cuba put the world on the brink of nuclear
war in 1962. After days of dramatic negotiations, Khrushchev agreed to
pull out the missiles.
[Yes, we were closer to nuclear war than most people realize. If
Khrushchev had been as crazy as Castro, hundreds of millions of people
would have been killed. Khrushchev was not averse to pushing the
envelope, but he wasn't crazy, either. Sanity prevailed in the end,
no thanks to Fidel Castro.]
Russia has been outraged by the U.S. decision to deploy a radar in the
Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland to avert potential
missile strikes from countries like Iran. It sees the plan as an
outright threat to its security.
[It might see the Czech Republic and Poland cooperating with the
U.S. as a threat to its security, but that is a different matter, not
connected to the argument against a missile defense system. This
cooperation of former Russian subject nations with the U.S. is the
real reason Russia is objecting to the missile defense system. It's
not the missile defense system per se but rather the cooperation that
bothers them.]
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack strongly
rejected Putin's comparison between the U.S. missile shield proposal
and the Cuban crisis.
"There are some very clear historical differences between our plans to
deploy a defensive missile system designed to protect against launch
of missiles from rogue states such as Iran, and the offensive nuclear
capability of the missiles that were being installed in Cuba back in
the 1960s," McCormack said.
"They are not historically analogous in any way, shape or form," he
added.
[No, they are not.]
MISSILE PRODUCTION
In a demonstration of potential consequences, a top Russian military
commander said on Friday Moscow could resume the production of short
and medium-range nuclear missiles, similar to those which threatened
Western Europe in the mid-1980s.
"If there is a political decision to make such a class of missile,
then it is obvious that they will be made in Russia in the near future
because we have everything we need," Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov
said in Moscow.
[As if Russia did not already have short-range missiles of this
type. You can bet they are prepared for any scenario, and this new
"threat" is a ploy to frighten people into doing what the Russians
want. They can only kill us once, so having additional weapons is
irrelevant, at this point.]
In an attempt to stop the U.S. plan, Putin has promised to allow
Washington use a radar it rents in Azerbaijan, built in the Soviet
days to monitor the Indian Ocean zone, or a new radar with even wider
range located in Southern Russia.
[Part of the old Soviet Union's own missile defense system, which
they deny ever having.]
He has also proposed setting up a joint missile defense system, which
would include European countries.
[I think the U.S. would be receptive to this idea.]
Washington has made clear it was ready to cooperate with Russia, but
insisted that the Russian offer was an addition rather than a
replacement for its missile shield plan.
"Unfortunately we haven't received replies to our proposals," Putin
said.
[Be patient.]
He added, however, that the row over the U.S. missile shield plans had
no chance of turning into a major global crisis: "Thank God, we do not
have any Cuban missile crisis now and this is above all because of the
fundamental way relations between Russia and the United States and
Europe have changed."
[I'm glad to see that Putin is being reasonable. Lately, some of
his statements have given me cause to doubt his motives.]
"Not in the least our personal relations with President Bush, the
relations of trust, help to smooth such problems," he said. "I have a
full right to describe him as my personal friend as he calls me his
friend."
In an attempt to ease Russian concerns, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates said earlier this week that Washington had offered to delay the
activation of parts of its missile shield in Europe if Russia
cooperated on the project.
(Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Sue Pleming
in Washington)
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL2638104820071026
Putin compares U.S. missile shield to Cuban crisis
Fri Oct 26, 2007 3:03pm EDT
By Oleg Shchedrov
MAFRA, Portugal (Reuters) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin drew a
parallel on Friday between U.S. plans for a missile shield in Europe
and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, widely regarded as the closest
the world came to nuclear war.
[There is no valid comparison between the two: During the Cuban
Missile Crisis, the Russians installed nuclear weapons and missiles to
deliver them in Cuba, just minutes away from blasting American cities.
The U.S. missile defense shield does not have the ability to turn
Russian cities into smoking nuclear ruins. It is purely for defense
against such threats. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a direct threat to
the lives of millions of Americans, and is the reason President John
F. Kennedy felt he had to take drastic action to eliminate this
danger. A missile defense system, especially the limited one referred
to here, does not endanger even one Russian citizen BTW, Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro lobbied the Russians vigorously to get them to
launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. He was so vehement about this
that the Russians starting thinking Castro had lost his mind. Had it
been up to Castro, the Cuban Missile Crisis would have resulted in a
nuclear attack on the U.S. that would have killed millions here, and
as a consequence, millions of others around the world. Thankfully,
cooler Russian heads prevailed.]
But the Kremlin leader added that his personal friendship with U.S.
President George W. Bush has helped to prevent the latest U.S.
initiative from turning into a new global disaster.
"I would remind you how relations were developing in an analogous
situation in the middle of the 1960s," he told a news conference after
the Russia-EU summit in the Portugal.
"Analogous actions by the Soviet Union when it deployed rockets on
Cuba provoked the Cuban missile crisis," Putin added. "For us,
technologically, the situation is very similar. On our borders such
threats to our country are being created."
[This missile defense system is NOT a threat to Russia. Russia
could easily overwhelm this missile defense system considering the
large number of missiles they can field. And we could expect that if
Russia planned to attack the U.S. or Western Europe, the first thing
they would do would be to destroy the missile defense system.]
A decision by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to send nuclear
missiles to Communist ally Cuba put the world on the brink of nuclear
war in 1962. After days of dramatic negotiations, Khrushchev agreed to
pull out the missiles.
[Yes, we were closer to nuclear war than most people realize. If
Khrushchev had been as crazy as Castro, hundreds of millions of people
would have been killed. Khrushchev was not averse to pushing the
envelope, but he wasn't crazy, either. Sanity prevailed in the end,
no thanks to Fidel Castro.]
Russia has been outraged by the U.S. decision to deploy a radar in the
Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland to avert potential
missile strikes from countries like Iran. It sees the plan as an
outright threat to its security.
[It might see the Czech Republic and Poland cooperating with the
U.S. as a threat to its security, but that is a different matter, not
connected to the argument against a missile defense system. This
cooperation of former Russian subject nations with the U.S. is the
real reason Russia is objecting to the missile defense system. It's
not the missile defense system per se but rather the cooperation that
bothers them.]
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack strongly
rejected Putin's comparison between the U.S. missile shield proposal
and the Cuban crisis.
"There are some very clear historical differences between our plans to
deploy a defensive missile system designed to protect against launch
of missiles from rogue states such as Iran, and the offensive nuclear
capability of the missiles that were being installed in Cuba back in
the 1960s," McCormack said.
"They are not historically analogous in any way, shape or form," he
added.
[No, they are not.]
MISSILE PRODUCTION
In a demonstration of potential consequences, a top Russian military
commander said on Friday Moscow could resume the production of short
and medium-range nuclear missiles, similar to those which threatened
Western Europe in the mid-1980s.
"If there is a political decision to make such a class of missile,
then it is obvious that they will be made in Russia in the near future
because we have everything we need," Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov
said in Moscow.
[As if Russia did not already have short-range missiles of this
type. You can bet they are prepared for any scenario, and this new
"threat" is a ploy to frighten people into doing what the Russians
want. They can only kill us once, so having additional weapons is
irrelevant, at this point.]
In an attempt to stop the U.S. plan, Putin has promised to allow
Washington use a radar it rents in Azerbaijan, built in the Soviet
days to monitor the Indian Ocean zone, or a new radar with even wider
range located in Southern Russia.
[Part of the old Soviet Union's own missile defense system, which
they deny ever having.]
He has also proposed setting up a joint missile defense system, which
would include European countries.
[I think the U.S. would be receptive to this idea.]
Washington has made clear it was ready to cooperate with Russia, but
insisted that the Russian offer was an addition rather than a
replacement for its missile shield plan.
"Unfortunately we haven't received replies to our proposals," Putin
said.
[Be patient.]
He added, however, that the row over the U.S. missile shield plans had
no chance of turning into a major global crisis: "Thank God, we do not
have any Cuban missile crisis now and this is above all because of the
fundamental way relations between Russia and the United States and
Europe have changed."
[I'm glad to see that Putin is being reasonable. Lately, some of
his statements have given me cause to doubt his motives.]
"Not in the least our personal relations with President Bush, the
relations of trust, help to smooth such problems," he said. "I have a
full right to describe him as my personal friend as he calls me his
friend."
In an attempt to ease Russian concerns, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates said earlier this week that Washington had offered to delay the
activation of parts of its missile shield in Europe if Russia
cooperated on the project.
(Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Sue Pleming
in Washington)
