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Gates calls for air and missile defense umbrella in Gulf
Washington (AFP) Dec 7, 2007 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates Friday called for an "air and missile defense umbrella" over the Gulf region to deter missile attacks by Iran. Gates told Al Hurra television -- a US funded Arabic language satellite television network -- that Iran could resume its nuclear weapons program "at a whim or a moment's notice" despite a new intelligence finding that Tehran halted a secret program in 2003. "So I think it's very important to keep the pressure on and get Tehran to abjure a nuclear weapon in the future, and to bring their enrichment program under control," Gates said, according to a transcript of the interview. Gates, who is in Bahrain for a regional security conference, said the United States enjoyed strong military relations with most of the Gulf states. He said they should "cooperate multilaterally in establishing an air and missile defense umbrella over this region that would deter a country like Iran from threatening to use missiles." The United States has begun discussions with countries in the region "about things such as a shared early warning, maritime surveillance, and things like that," he said. The Pentagon this week announced proposed sales of Patriot missile defense and early warning systems to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait worth more than 10 billion dollars. On Friday, it notified Congress of a possible sale to Saudi Arabia of upgraded AWACS airborne early warning systems worth another 400 million dollars. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Iran NIE Hurts BMD Say Some Analysts
Washington (UPI) Dec 7, 2007 The stunning U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that Iran is not making nuclear weapons will most likely deal a death blow to the Bush administration's already-beleaguered plans to build an anti-ballistic missile base in Poland, armed with 10 interceptors to guard against a future Iranian nuclear ballistic missile attack against Western Europe or the United States. |
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