June 11, 2007 :: Analysis
Congressman Trent Franks issued a press release commenting upon Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal that the U.S. and Russia cooperate on missile defense issues by using an existing radar facility in Azerbaijan and place interceptors in Turkey or Iraq. Putin's proposal came during a meeting with President Bush to discuss American efforts aimed at placing ten Ground Based Interceptors in Poland and an X-band radar in the Czech Republic. Franks observed:
President Putin acknowledged that America and Russia have a shared interest in defending against an Iranian ballistic missile threat. The United States and Russia should cooperate in building an effective defense against our mutual enemies, and this admission is a significant step; however, the United States must remain committed to placing the interceptor site at a location that optimizes security for the United States and our allies. If this location is with our allies in Poland and the Czech Republic, and Poland and the Czech Republic want them, then this is where they must be placed.
Assuming that Putin's proposal was genuine in expressing a willingness to cooperate, an additional factor is whether the less powerful and less precise Azeri radar would be as capable as a modern, X-band, radar such as was proposed for the Czech Republic. (Article)
