U.S. arms-shield change aims to pressure Iran

WASHINGTON - President Obama's decision to abandon a Bush-era missile-defense system in Europe and establish a partly ship-based shield against Iranian rockets could tighten U.S. pressure on the Islamic republic and ease a simmering rift with Russia.

White House officials said the new missile-defense system was designed principally to confront Iran's emerging military might more directly, even as diplomats prepare for talks with Iran and other countries next month that the United States hopes will lead to discussions of Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Obama, in announcing his decision yesterday, said a shield based on the Navy's Aegis system would be geographically closer to Iran, deployed sooner, and more cost effective than the land-based system promoted by the Bush administration.

The abrupt reversal of U.S. defense policy immediately brought plaudits from Russian officials, who had viewed the prospect of an American missile-shield system on their western border as an affront. The shift raised the prospect of greater cooperation between the two powers on containing the Iranian threat and in negotiating a renewal of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which expires in early December.

"There's no substitute for Iran complying with its international obligations regarding its nuclear program, and we, along with our allies and partners, will continue to pursue strong diplomacy to ensure that Iran lives up to these international obligations," the president said in brief remarks. "But this new ballistic missile-defense program will best address the threat posed by Iran's missile program."

Rather than defend Europe and the United States against a handful of intercontinental ballistic missiles, military officials said, they must now counter Tehran's successful efforts to manufacture hundreds of smaller, shorter-range missiles.

Plans for 10 interceptor missiles and a radar facility in Poland and the Czech Republic - a key part of military policy advanced by President George W. Bush in 2006 - will be replaced by a network of smaller, more modern missiles based on ships, and later on land. Obama and his top military officials said the decision was driven by an evolving assessment of Iran's capability and intentions.

"The intelligence community now assesses that the threat from Iran's short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, such as the Shahab 3, is developing more rapidly than previously projected," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said. "This poses an increased and more immediate threat to our forces on the European continent, as well as to our allies."

U.S. officials denied there had been a quid pro quo with Russia, insisting that broader geopolitical considerations about kick-starting arms-reduction talks or gaining cooperation on Iranian aggression had played no part in their deliberations about which missile system was better equipped to protect the region and the United States.

In Russia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko insisted that no backroom deal had been struck between Moscow and Washington. But he made clear that Russian President Dmitry A. Medvedev was pleased with the development.

"So far, I can say that a possible review of the U.S. position on missile defense would be a positive signal," Nesterenko said.

White House officials said Obama's decision followed deliberations that included more than 50 meetings since March and almost 100 discussions with allies, some of which involved the U.S. president and his counterparts.

Officials said both systems would cost about $5 billion over the next decade or more to develop and deploy, but they said the new approach would buy far more missiles.

Still, the administration appeared caught off guard by the speed of the reaction as word leaked out late Wednesday.

Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher and two Pentagon officials made a whirlwind trip Wednesday night and yesterday to Poland, the Czech Republic, and NATO to brief allies. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called several counterparts and Obama did the same, a State Department official said.

Obama's decision sparked immediate condemnation from Republicans in Congress, who accused the administration of abandoning America's allies and putting the country's security at risk.

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R., Ohio) said in a statement that the move "does little more than empower Russia and Iran at the expense of our allies in Europe. It shows a willful determination to continue ignoring the threat posed by some of the most dangerous regimes in the world."

That concern was echoed by Obama's chief rival during the 2008 campaign, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), who called the move away from a missile system designed to counter long-range weapons "seriously misguided."

Watch or read Obama's address via http:// go.philly.com/obama.missile EndText