So why has the US decided to acclerate tensions by deploying missile sites in the Czech Republic and in Poland ? Russia has already reacted sharply by increasing it’s defense budget, and do you think China will be far behind ?
The US says that these missile basis are defences against possible missile attacks from Tehran and North Korea.
Umm … woul’dnt the North Korean missiles, if aimed at the US, be fired the other way ?
It is time for the US to realize that it is no longer is Big Brother. Any action like this will give sanction to nations like China, a nation that now sees itself a Global power no less than the US, to do the same. How would the world react if China started to deploy missile bases in Africa ? It might well do that soon as China is never going to allow the US to be militarily or economically as dominant as it used to be 20 years ago.
The US and the rest of the world, especially the West, must now come to terms with the new realities of the distribution of global power. Peace has always been, and will continue to be a negotiation. Or we are back into the days of the Cuban Missile crisis. And there are new players on the negotiating table.
shekhar
shekhar
Shekhar ,
I once had an argument on a similar topic with the
Director of the Center on Peace and Liberty , Independent Institute , Washington. He really got me going when he flaunted a very broad brush while at the same time acting up the expert part on Indian matters.
To answer your poser , Shekhar , it is quite obvious that the Bush-led US is ‘encircling’ Iran. it cannot and does not want to rely solely on Israel or its CBGs based in the Gulf.
The issue for the Americans is not whether to save Israeli asses or not – Israel will be the first country to be attacked by a strange and as yet unknown alliance of Arab nations , should the US attack or invade Iran.
There is a more practical reason why US cannot afford to do it – the US are totally helpless against a whole array of strategic cruise missiles , which though originating in Russia , we cannot be sure have not made their way into Iran’s forces. What it means is simply this – Israel will nto even know what hit it , nor some of the american camps strewn all over the Arab states when the Sunburn Onyx or the SS N2 hits them. If , they are tipped with nukes , the war couldd be over before it even began !
The only way US could even think of enetring Iran , would be to confuse or overwhelm the strategic cruise missile batteries of Iran or Russia. the only way they can do it ,is by encircling and invading Iran on multiple fronts by Air.
This could just be the Part 1 of Bush’s Iran plan – Bush is keen on invading Iran – this much is obvious and for whatever it is worth – regime change or not , Israel will defenitely be effected . The bigger question is what will it mean for India ?
We will have to wait and see where India stands in this. It seems to be playing its cards well. Trying to slove its problems with immediate neighbours like Pakistan and China, protecting it’s influence in Nepal and Bhutan. Firming down the fundamental’s of it’s economy so that it is less suceptible to sudden dips in the Global economy.
Yet there seems to be once again a firming of old ties between Russia and India, and the question is where will India’s new found relationship with the US stand in this relationship, as the US and Russia drift apart.
India’s great dependance on imported oil will ensre that it continues a relationship with all oil producing countries like Iran too.
Interesting times. Lets wait and watch,
shekhar