Bush And Polish Leader Disuss Missile Defense Plan
Washington (AFP) July 16 - US President George W. Bush and Polish President Lech Kaczynski on Monday vowed to press ahead with a planned US missile shield on Russia's doorstep despite Moscow's angry objections. The two leaders, meeting at the White House, insisted as they have in the past that the system was not aimed at Russia but at smaller countries that US officials say pose a missile threat, like Iran or North Korea. "There's no better symbol of our desire to work for peace and security than working on a missile defense system," Bush said as they held talks in the Oval Office. Bush said the deployment "would provide a security for Europe from single- or dual-launch regimes that may emanate from parts of the world where leaders don't particularly care for our way of life and/or are in the process of trying to develop serious weapons of mass destruction."
Washington wants to site 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of an extended defense shield against airborne attacks, along with a powerful tracking radar in the Czech Republic. "So it is really a defense instrument, missile defense instrument. And so I do hope that all this project, the whole project will be completed successfully," Kaczynski said through an interpreter. Russian President Vladimir Putin has never been mollified by that argument, and the Kremlin announced Saturday that he had signed a decree suspending Moscow's participation in a key post-Cold War security treaty.
Bush and Kaczynski also discussed US requirements that Poles traveling to the United States need a visa -- a sore point between the two allies, as Poland wants that requirement lifted. "It is in the hands of the Congress," said the Polish leader. "So we are looking forward to positive changes in this area." "I will continue to work with Congress to change a law that needs to be changed," said Bush. The US Senate earlier this year approved legislation adding Poles to the list of foreign nationals exempted from needing a visa to enter the United States, in recognition of Poland's support for the Iraq war and its European Union membership. Poles and other foreigners wishing to travel to the United States under the amended visa-free regime, which has yet to be approved by the US House of Representatives, need to have biometric passports.
