Lieutenant General Henry Obering says it is time for the world to ask Russia to justify itscriticism of the U.S. missile defense program. "When they makeincreasingly aggressive statements, it's incumbent upon them to justifythose because there is absolutely no justification, in our eyes, forsome of their statements and some of their concern about these sites."
GeneralObering showed reporters videos of several successful missile intercepttests, and described progress on the land and sea-based systemdesigned to intercept medium and long range missiles in the Pacific andEurope. The United States says the system's European elements aredesigned to protect against Iran's growing missile capability. U.S.intelligence officials say Iran already has missiles that can reachIsrael and the fringes of Europe, which it tested again last week, andcould develop a missile capable of reaching the United States by 2015.
TheU.S. interceptors destroy incoming missiles by hitting them with asolid metal projectile. General Obering says that makes themparticularly difficult to turn into offensive weapons - which is one ofRussia's concerns.
"They don't carry explosives. They don'tcarry warheads. If we try to turn them into offensive missiles, thatwould be imminently evident to even the casual observer. It's notsomething we have any intent to do, nor reason to do, frankly," he said.
Lastweek, after the United States and the Czech Republic signed anagreement for an interceptor radar site, Russia's foreign ministryissued a statement saying if the agreement is ratified Russia wouldrespond with what it called "military-technological methods." GeneralObering said Tuesday he did not know what that would mean.
Healso repeated U.S. offers not to activate the European missile defensesystem until Iran tests a longer range missile, and to have Russianofficials monitor the radar and launch sites. He also disputed Russianclaims that the system's radar would intrude into its airspace, sayingthe radar would only see into Russia at very high altitudes, above 250kilometers.
The launch site for the European part of thesystem is planned for Poland. U.S. officials say negotiations withPoland are nearly complete, but if they fail other countries, such asLithuania, could provide an alternate site.