Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Obama offers Poland no commitment on missile plan

CHICAGO - President-elect Obama has spoken to the president of Poland about relations between the two countries but didn’t make a commitment on the multibillion-dollar missile defense program undertaken by the Bush administration, an Obama aide said Saturday.

That contrasts with a statement by Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who said Obama told him the missile defense project would continue.

The U.S. and Poland signed an agreement in August for basing American missiles in Poland as part of a shield against possible missile attacks from Iran.

The plan received relatively little discussion during the presidential campaign. Republican candidate John McCain supported it while Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic nomination, expressed skepticism about its effectiveness and cost.

Obama said earlier this year that the system would require much more vigorous testing to ensure it would work and justify the billions of dollars it would cost.

Obama foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough said Saturday that Obama had “a good conversation” with Kaczynski about the American-Polish alliance.

“President Kaczynski raised missile defense, but President-elect Obama made no commitment on it. His position is as it was throughout the campaign, that he supports deploying a missile defense system when the technology is proved to be workable,” McDonough said.

In a statement issued before McDonough’s, Kaczynski said Obama “emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership of Poland and the United States and expressed hope in the continuation of political and military cooperation between our countries. He also said that the missile defense project would continue.”

President Bush wanted construction of a European missile shield—installations would be in Poland and the Czech Republic—to begin before he left office in January with a completion date of 2012.

Under the U.S. plan, 10 interceptors would be placed in Poland and radar systems would be located in the Czech Republic. The system could identify and shoot down missiles fired by Iran at Europe or the United States.

Experts in the Defense Department believe more interceptor testing is required, according to reports over the summer. Additional tests could delay the program for years.

Russia objects to a system located so close to its borders.
(AP)

Obama and Russian president Medvedev chat on phone

CHICAGO - President-elect Obama spoke to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday as the future American leader had another round of phone calls with counterparts in other nations.

A Kremlin statement said Obama and Medvedev “expressed the determination to create constructive and positive interaction for the good of global stability and development” and agreed that their countries had a common responsibility to address “serious problems of a global nature.”

To that end, according to the Kremlin statement, Medvedev and Obama believe an “early bilateral meeting” should be arranged.

Obama’s office did not issue a statement describing the call.

A Bush administration plan for setting up a missile shield close to Russia’s borders has been a sore point with the Kremlin and has served as another dent in its battered relationship with the U.S.

On Wednesday, the day after Obama’s election, Medvedev threatened to move short-range missiles to Russia’s borders with NATO allies even as the U.S. offered new proposals on nuclear arms reductions as well as missile defense. Allowing Russian observers at planned missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic were among them, U.S. officials said.

During the presidential campaign, Obama expressed skepticism about the system, saying that it would require much more vigorous testing to ensure it would work and justify the billions of dollars it would cost.

Obama foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough said Saturday that Obama had “a good conversation” with Polish President Lech Kaczynski about the American-Polish alliance but that Obama had made no commitment on the missile shield plan.

“His position is as it was throughout the campaign, that he supports deploying a missile defense system when the technology is proved to be workable,” McDonough said.

That was in contrast to a statement issued by the Polish president. Kaczynski said Obama “emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership of Poland and the United States and expressed hope in the continuation of political and military cooperation between our countries. He also said that the missile defense project would continue.”

President Bush wanted construction of a European missile shield—installations would be in Poland and the Czech Republic—to begin before he left office in January with a completion date of 2012. Experts in the Defense Department believe more interceptor testing is required, according to reports over the summer. Additional tests could delay the program for years.

Obama’s office had no comment on a statement from Khaled Mashaal, leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, that he is ready to talk to Obama “with an open mind.” The exiled militant leader told Sky News from Damascus, Syria, that the election of an American president with African roots is “a big change.”

The Bush administration has boycotted Hamas, as has most of the international community, because Hamas refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel.
(AP)