Tentera Amerika Syarikat berdiri di hadapan bateri
peluru berpandu Patriot di pangkalan tentera di bandar utara Morag Poland. (US
soldiers stand in front of a Patriot missile battery at an army base in the
northern Polish town of Morag. (AFP Photo/Wojtek Radwanski – think IN pictures
@1WORLD Community)
JohnnyAdam – Amerika
Syarikat akan menggunakan sistem pertahanan peluru berpandu di Eropah walaupun
kemajuan dalam rundingan nuklear Iran, kata Setiausaha Pertahanan Chuck Hagel.
Berita itu datang sebagai Rusia mengesahkan penempatan peluru berpandu Iskander
di rantau Kaliningrad, yang bersempadan dengan EU.
Setiausaha
Pertahanan Amerika Syarikat Chuck Hagel secara rasmi dimaklumkan rakan Rusia
semasa telepersidangan video pada hari Isnin bahawa Pelan Tindakan Bersama P5 +
1, membuat kesimpulan antara Iran dan P5 + 1 negara anggota mengenai program
nuklear Teheran, “tidak menghapuskan keperluan untuk sekutu Amerika Syarikat
dan Eropah untuk terus melaksanakan rancangan pertahanan peluru berpandu di
Eropah,” laman website Jabatan Pertahanan melaporkan.
Hagel
yakin rakan Rusia beliau, Sergey Shoigu, bahawa “usaha pertahanan peluru
ber-pandu NATO tidak menimbulkan ancaman kepada Rusia dan menggesa kedua-dua
pihak terus rundingan mengenai rancangan masa depan peluru berpandu di Eropah,”
kata Pentagon.
US to deploy ABM systems in Europe despite P5 + 1
deal with Iran
The US
will deploy its missile defense system in Europe despite progress in Iran
nuclear talks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said. The news came as Russia
confirmed the deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad region, bordering
the EU.
The US
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has officially informed his Russian
counterpart during a video teleconference on Monday that the P5+1 Joint Plan of
Action, concluded between Iran and P5+1 member states regarding Tehran’s
nuclear program, “does not eliminate the need for US and European allies to
continue implementing missile defense plans in Europe,” the Defense
Department’s website reported.
Hagel
assured his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, that “NATO missile defense
efforts pose no threat to Russia and urged that both sides continue
consultations on future missile plans in Europe,” the Pentagon said.
Setiausaha Pertahanan Chuck Hagel dan kanan
kakitangan pertahanan bertemu bual secara langsung dengan Menteri Rusia
Pertahanan Sergey Shoygu melalui video (Secretary
of Defense Chuck Hagel and senior defense staff meet with Russian Minister of
Defense Sergey Shoygu via video (Photo from flickr.com/secdef – think IN
pictures @1WORLD Community)
Moscow
telah berharap bahawa sistem peluru berpandu Amerika Syarikat akan ditarik
balik, kerana perjanjian itu ditandatangani oleh Iran Tehran dan P5 + 1 pada 24
November di Geneva.
Apabila
perjanjian program nuklear telah ditandatangani, Menteri Luar Rusia Sergey
Lavrov melahirkan harapan (Sergey Lavrov
expressed the hope) bahawa Amerika Syarikat tidak lagi mempunyai sebab
untuk membina perisai pertahanan peluru berpandu yang telah lama disebut-sebut
di Eropah - jika Iran memenuhi tanggungjawabnya.
“Jika
perjanjian Iran itu dimasukkan ke dalam amalan, sebab yang dinyatakan bagi
pem-binaan perisai pembelaan akan tidak lagi terpakai,” Lavrov kepada wartawan
di Rom.
Dalam
ucapan tahunannya (annual address) kepada Perhimpunan Persekutuan pada 12 Disember, Presiden
Rusia Vladimir Putin berkata bahawa “mana-mana masalah antarabangsa boleh dan
mesti diselesaikan melalui cara politik”.
“Program
nuklear Iran pernah berkhidmat sebagai sebab utama bagi menggerakkan perisai
peluru berpandu,” kata Putin. “Dan apa yang kita ada sekarang? Masalah nuklear
Iran adalah pudar, manakala perisai peluru berpandu itu masih di tempatnya.
Lebih-lebih lagi, ia masih kian membangun.”
Terperangkap dalam rerambut silang Iskander ini
Hanya
beberapa jam menjelang sidang video Moscow - Washington antara menteri-menteri
pertahanan, Kementerian Pertahanan Rusia mengesahkan (confirmed) laporan media Jerman di
penempatan jarak dekat peluru berpandu Iskander di wilayah barat negara
Kaliningrad, yang dikelilingi oleh negara-negara anggota NATO.
Moscow
berkata ia tidak melanggar perjanjian antarabangsa, tetapi Amerika Syarikat berkata
bahawa balistik penugasan pertahanan peluru berpandu di Poland kini dalam
lingkungan 500 kilometer peluru berpandu Iskander, yang boleh bersenjata dengan
kepala peledak nuklear.
Moscow
has been hoping that the US missile system would be withdrawn, since the
Iranian deal signed by Tehran and the P5 + 1 on November 24 in Geneva.
Once the
nuclear program deal was signed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed the hope that the US would no longer have a reason to build the
long-touted missile defense shield in Europe – if Iran fulfills its
obligations.
“If the
Iran deal is put into practice, the stated reason for the construction of the
defense shield will no longer apply,” Lavrov told journalists in Rome.
In his annual
address to the Federal Assembly on December 12, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said that “any international problem can and must be solved
through political means”.
“Iran’s
nuclear program once served as the key reason for deploying missile shields,”
Putin said. “And what do we have now? Iran’s nuclear problem is fading, while
the missile shield remains in place. Moreover, it is still developing.”
Caught in Iskander’s Crosshairs
Just
hours ahead of the Moscow-Washington videoconference between the defense
ministers, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed a German media report on the
deployment of short-range Iskander missiles in the country’s western enclave of
Kaliningrad, which is surrounded by NATO member countries.
Moscow
said it does not violate international agreements, but said that US ballistic
missile defense deployments in Poland are now within the 500-kilometer range of
Iskander missiles, which can be armed with a nuclear warhead.
Satu pelancar peluru berpandu jarak dekat balistik
Iskander-E. (An Iskander-E short-range ballistic missile launcher. (RIA
Novosti/kbm engineering design bureau – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
“Taktikal
sistem peluru berpandu balistik Iskander adalah benar-benar dalam inventori
peluru berpandu daerah Barat Rusia tentera dan angkatan meriam,” kata jurucakap
Kementerian Pertahanan Mejar Jeneral Igor Konashenkov kepada wartawan.
Konashenkov berkata bahawa “kawasan penempatan tertentu Iskander bahagian
peluru berpandu di wilayah Barat Perintah tidak bercanggah mana-mana perjanjian
antarabangsa perjanjian.”
Reaksi
dari NATO tidak lama akan datang. Amerika Syarikat, Poland dan 3 negara Baltik:
Estonia, Lithuania dan Latvia, semua telah menyatakan kebimbangan kukuh pada
Iskander yang digunakan di Kaliningrad.
“Kami
menggesa Rusia tidak mengambil langkah-langkah untuk menjejaskan kestabilan
rantau ini,” AFP melaporkan timbalan jurucakap Jabatan Negara Marie Harf
sebagai berkata.
“Ini
adalah satu perkara yang NATO dan kita boleh mengharapkan perundingan mungkin
dan tindakan . . . di peringkat NATO dan EU,” kata Kementerian Luar Poland
dalam satu kenyataan.
Artis
Pabriks, Menteri Pertahanan Latvia, berkata langkah Rusia terancam “beberapa
bandar Baltik.”
“Adalah
jelas bahawa ia adalah berita membimbangkan, kerana ia adalah salah satu
daripada hujah-hujah yang mengubah keseimbangan kuasa di rantau kita,” Baltic
News Service melaporkan Pabriks sebagai berkata.
‘Matlamat sebenar Amerika Syarikat adalah
peringkat baru keunggulan di Eropah’
Rusia
sentiasa mensyaki bahawa Amerika Syarikat telah menempatkan sistem pertahanan
peluru berpandu bukan sahaja di Eropah, tetapi sepenuhnya beroperasi senjata serangan
pertama. Amaran pertama sistem peluru berpandu Iskander yang digunakan di
Kaliningrad sebagai tindak balas kepada IBM penempatan Eropah telah disuarakan
oleh kemudian Presiden Dmitry Medvedev pada tahun 2008.
Putin
adalah lebih mutlak dalam penilaian terbarunya daripada ABM Eropah.
“Kami
juga sedar bahawa sistem pertahanan peluru berpandu hanya pertahanan nama,
manakala dalam realiti ia merupakan satu elemen penting dalam potensi serangan
strategik,” kata Putin ucapannya kepada Perhimpunan Persekutuan, sambil
menambah bahawa Rusia telah “rapat berikut evolusi ‘bersifat yg menenangkan serangan
nuklear’ konsep yang dikenali sebagai” tentera Amerika Syarikat . Putin berkata
program Amerika Syarikat telah direka “untuk membuat kejutan kepada apa yang
dikenali sebagai baki strategik kuasa.”
“Kami
sedar tentang itu. Dan kita tahu apa yang kita perlu lakukan,” Putin memberi Amaran.
“The
Iskander tactical ballistic missile systems are really in the inventory of the
Russia’s Western military district’s missile and artillery forces,” Defense
Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told journalists. Konashenkov
said that “specific deployment areas of Iskander missile divisions on the
Western Command territory does not contradict any of the international treaties
of agreements.”
The reaction
from NATO was not long in coming. The US, Poland and three Baltic states:
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, have all expressed strong concern at Iskander
being deployed in Kaliningrad.
“We've
urged Russia to take no steps to destabilize the region,” AFP reported State
Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf as saying.
“This is
a matter for NATO and we can expect possible consultations and action . . . at the
NATO and EU level," Poland’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Artis
Pabriks, Latvia's Defense Minister, said that Russia’s move threatened “several
Baltic cities.”
“It is
clear that it is alarming news, as it is one of the arguments changing the
balance of power in our region,” Baltic News Service reported Pabriks as
saying.
‘US real goal is new stage of superiority in
Europe’
Russia
has always suspected that the US was deploying not just missile defense systems
in Europe, but fully-fledged first strike weapons. The first warning of
Iskander missile systems being deployed in Kaliningrad in response to the
European IBM deployment was voiced by then-President Dmitry Medvedev in 2008.
Putin
was much more categorical in his latest assessment of the European ABM.
“We are
well aware of the fact that the missile defense system is only defensive in
name, whereas in reality it is an essential element of a strategic offensive
potential,” Putin said his address to the Federal Assembly, adding that Russia
was “closely following the evolution of the so-called ‘disarming nuclear
strike’ concept” of the US military. Putin said the US program was designed “to
upset what is known as the strategic balance of power.”
“We are
well aware of that. And we know what we need to do about it,” Putin warned.
Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin membaca alamat
tahunannya kepada Perhimpunan Persekutuan di Dewan St George Kremlin. (Russian
President Vladimir Putin reads his annual address to the Federal Assembly in
the St. George's Hall of the Kremlin. (RIA Novosti/Dmitry Astakhov – think IN
pictures @1WORLD Community)
Minggu lepas,
Rusia Timbalan Perdana Menteri Dmitry Rogozin memberi Amaran (Dmitry Rogozin
warned) bahawa Rusia akan
menggunakan senjata nuklear jika ia berada di bawah serangan, sambil menambah
bahawa kemungkinan ini berfungsi sebagai penghalang utama kepada provocateurs
penceroboh yang berpotensi.
“Satu eksperimen
boleh selama mana yang diingini dengan menggerakkan kepala peledak bukan
nuklear pada pembawa peluru berpandu strategik. Tetapi seseorang itu perlu
ingat bahawa jika terdapat serangan terhadap kami, kami pasti akan mengambil
jalan keluar dengan menggunakan senjata nuklear dalam keadaan tertentu untuk
mempertahankan kepentingan wilayah dan negeri kami,” Rogozin, ketua industri
pertahanan berkata pada hari Rabu bercakap di Negeri Duma, rumah yang lebih
rendah.
Aleksey
Pushkov, pengerusi Jawatankuasa Hal Ehwal Luar Negara Duma Rusia, rumah rendah
parlimen, berkata dalam satu temu bual untuk RT bahawa dari hujah barat yang
bermula menyokong idea ABM Eropah adalah “sangat cacat” dan kedua-dua Utara
hujah Korea dan Iran digunakan untuk mewajarkan Amerika ABM di Eropah “hanya
palsu.”
“Matlamat
sebenar adalah untuk mewujudkan satu peringkat baru dalam keunggulan Amerika di
Eropah, untuk cuba meneutralkan potensi nuklear sekurang-kurangnya
sebahagiannya Rusia dan mahu mewujudkan bon baru antara Amerika Syarikat dan
Eropah,” Pushkov memberitahu RT.
Last
week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin warned that Russia would use
nuclear weapons if it came under attack, adding that this possibility serves as
the main deterrent to potential provocateurs and aggressors.
“One can
experiment as long as one wishes by deploying non-nuclear warheads on strategic
missile carriers. But one should keep in mind that if there is an attack
against us, we will certainly resort to using nuclear weapons in certain
situations to defend our territory and state interests,” Rogozin, the defense
industry chief said on Wednesday speaking at the State Duma, the lower house.
Aleksey
Pushkov, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian State
Duma, the lower house of parliament, said in an interview to RT that from the
very beginning western argument backing the idea of the European ABM was
“deeply flawed” and both North Korean and Iranian arguments used to justify
American ABM in Europe “are just fake.”
“The
real goal is to create a new stage of American superiority in Europe, to try to
neutralize at least partially Russian nuclear potential and to create the new
bond between the US and Europe,” Pushkov told RT.
READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/8wxovy