Bush asks Czechs to back missile defense

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- President Bush urged the Czech Republic today to support a U.S. missile defense system to be deployed here and in Poland, and assured Russia that it had nothing to fear from the weaponry.

The issue, reminiscent of Cold War tensions, is coloring the start of the president's weeklong European tour and, moreover, U.S.-Russia relations. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, who will meet with Bush on Thursday during the Group of Eight summit in Germany, has strenuously objected to the missile plan.

"It is a purely defensive measure, aimed not at Russia but at true threats," Bush said.

He argued that radar, which would be deployed in the Czech Republic, and missile interceptors, which would be placed in Poland, were intended to protect Europe and the United States from long-range missiles launched by Iran or other "rogue" states. Putin says the system is a threat to Russia.

Previewing the case he will make to Putin, both in Germany and at a longer set of meetings scheduled for July 1-2 in Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush said: "My message will be 'Vladimir ... you shouldn't fear a missile defense system. Why don't you cooperate with us on a missile defense system?' "

Bush spoke after meeting with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek at the 1,100-year-old Prague Castle.

Klaus praised Bush for promising to "make a maximum effort to explain" the missile defense plan to Russia and Putin.

He said that the matter was "very sensitive" to the Czech people, for whom Cold War memories remain strong. For four decades they were trapped in the antagonism between Moscow and Washington, their lives controlled largely by Kremlin-imposed rule.

"The Cold War is over," Bush said. "It ended. The people of the Czech Republic don't have to choose between being a friend to the United States and a friend with Russia. You can be both."

But Putin has insisted the missile defense system is a throwback to the Cold War era.

In a pre-summit interview, the Associated Press reports, Putin said: "We are being told the antimissile defense system is targeted against something that does not exist. Doesn't it seem funny to you, to say the least?"

He continued: "If a part of the strategic nuclear potential of the United States appears in Europe and, in the opinion of our military specialists will threaten us, then we will have to take appropriate steps in response. What kind of steps? We will have to have new targets in Europe."

These could be targeted with "ballistic or cruise missiles or maybe a completely new system," he said.

In response, Stephen J. Hadley, Bush's national security advisor, said such comments represented "some escalation in the rhetoric" and were "not helpful."

Bush began the day with a motorcade ride through the hairpin turns leading up to the Prague Castle, where, on the cobblestones of the entrance courtyard, Czech soldiers greeted him in a goose-stepping, heel-clicking display.

The castle overlooks the city and has been home to Czech kings, Holy Roman emperors and, at times, Czech presidents.

For Czechs, the debate over the missile defense system is joined with a dispute over a U.S. requirement that they obtain visas before visiting the United States — a requirement that is not applied to visitors from Western Europe.

"I cannot imagine having a radar base near Prague while my countrymen still need a visa to visit our great ally, the United States," Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra was quoted as saying.

Bush said he was sympathetic to the Czech complaints, and indicated he would work with Congress to grant Czechs easier access to the United States. He noted that the matter could become embroiled in the immigration debate taking place in Congress.

"I understand the issue well," Bush said.

He summarized the Czech view as one focused on the "contradiction" of sending troops to fight alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan but being denied the privilege of visiting the United States without visas, while people in western Europe —some from countries not sending troops into combat — can make such visits.




Source : www.latimes.com

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