pakatan HarApan: Amerika Syarikat untuk mengendalikan Sistem ABM di Eropah walaupun perjanjian P5 + 1 dengan Iran . . .

Tentera Amerika Syarikat berdiri di hadapan bateri peluru berpandu Patriot di pangkalan tentera di bandar utara Morag Poland. (US soldiers stand in front of a Patriot missile battery at an army base in the northern Polish town of Morag. (AFP Photo/Wojtek Radwanski – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

SitiWanMahani - Amerika Syarikat akan menggunakan sistem pertahanan peluru berpandu di Eropah walaupun kemajuan dalam rundingan nuklear Iran, kata Setiausaha Pertahanan Chuck Hagel. Berita itu datang sebagai Rusia mengesahkan penempatan peluru berpandu Iskander di rantau Kaliningrad, yang bersempadan dengan EU.

Setiausaha Pertahanan Amerika Syarikat Chuck Hagel secara rasmi dimaklumkan rakan Rusia semasa telepersidangan video pada hari Isnin bahawa Pelan Tindakan Bersama P5 + 1, membuat kesimpulan antara Iran dan P5 + 1 negara anggota mengenai program nuklear Teheran, “tidak menghapuskan keperluan untuk sekutu Amerika Syarikat dan Eropah untuk terus melaksanakan rancangan pertahanan peluru berpandu di Eropah,” laman website Jabatan Pertahanan melaporkan.

Hagel yakin rakan Rusia beliau, Sergey Shoigu, bahawa “usaha pertahanan peluru ber-pandu NATO tidak menimbulkan ancaman kepada Rusia dan menggesa kedua-dua pihak terus rundingan mengenai rancangan masa depan peluru berpandu di Eropah,” kata Pentagon.

US to deploy ABM systems in Europe despite P5 + 1 deal with Iran

The US will deploy its missile defense system in Europe despite progress in Iran nuclear talks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said. The news came as Russia confirmed the deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad region, bordering the EU.

The US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has officially informed his Russian counterpart during a video teleconference on Monday that the P5+1 Joint Plan of Action, concluded between Iran and P5+1 member states regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, “does not eliminate the need for US and European allies to continue implementing missile defense plans in Europe,” the Defense Department’s website reported.

Hagel assured his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, that “NATO missile defense efforts pose no threat to Russia and urged that both sides continue consultations on future missile plans in Europe,” the Pentagon said.

Setiausaha Pertahanan Chuck Hagel dan kanan kakitangan pertahanan bertemu bual secara langsung dengan Menteri Rusia Pertahanan Sergey Shoygu melalui video (Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and senior defense staff meet with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu via video (Photo from flickr.com/secdef – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

Moscow telah berharap bahawa sistem peluru berpandu Amerika Syarikat akan ditarik balik, kerana perjanjian itu ditandatangani oleh Iran Tehran dan P5 + 1 pada 24 November di Geneva.

Apabila perjanjian program nuklear telah ditandatangani, Menteri Luar Rusia Sergey Lavrov melahirkan harapan (Sergey Lavrov expressed the hope) bahawa Amerika Syarikat tidak lagi mempunyai sebab untuk membina perisai pertahanan peluru berpandu yang telah lama disebut-sebut di Eropah - jika Iran memenuhi tanggungjawabnya.

“Jika perjanjian Iran itu dimasukkan ke dalam amalan, sebab yang dinyatakan bagi pem-binaan perisai pembelaan akan tidak lagi terpakai,” Lavrov kepada wartawan di Rom.

Dalam ucapan tahunannya (annual address) kepada Perhimpunan Persekutuan pada 12 Disember, Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin berkata bahawa “mana-mana masalah antarabangsa boleh dan mesti diselesaikan melalui cara politik”.

“Program nuklear Iran pernah berkhidmat sebagai sebab utama bagi menggerakkan perisai peluru berpandu,” kata Putin. “Dan apa yang kita ada sekarang? Masalah nuklear Iran adalah pudar, manakala perisai peluru berpandu itu masih di tempatnya. Lebih-lebih lagi, ia masih kian membangun.”

Terperangkap dalam rerambut silang Iskander ini

Hanya beberapa jam menjelang sidang video Moscow - Washington antara menteri-menteri pertahanan, Kementerian Pertahanan Rusia mengesahkan (confirmed) laporan media Jerman di penempatan jarak dekat peluru berpandu Iskander di wilayah barat negara Kaliningrad, yang dikelilingi oleh negara-negara anggota NATO.

Moscow berkata ia tidak melanggar perjanjian antarabangsa, tetapi Amerika Syarikat berkata bahawa balistik penugasan pertahanan peluru berpandu di Poland kini dalam lingkungan 500 kilometer peluru berpandu Iskander, yang boleh bersenjata dengan kepala peledak nuklear.

Moscow has been hoping that the US missile system would be withdrawn, since the Iranian deal signed by Tehran and the P5 + 1 on November 24 in Geneva.

Once the nuclear program deal was signed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed the hope that the US would no longer have a reason to build the long-touted missile defense shield in Europe – if Iran fulfills its obligations.

“If the Iran deal is put into practice, the stated reason for the construction of the defense shield will no longer apply,” Lavrov told journalists in Rome.

In his annual address to the Federal Assembly on December 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “any international problem can and must be solved through political means”.

“Iran’s nuclear program once served as the key reason for deploying missile shields,” Putin said. “And what do we have now? Iran’s nuclear problem is fading, while the missile shield remains in place. Moreover, it is still developing.”

Caught in Iskander’s Crosshairs

Just hours ahead of the Moscow-Washington videoconference between the defense ministers, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed a German media report on the deployment of short-range Iskander missiles in the country’s western enclave of Kaliningrad, which is surrounded by NATO member countries.

Moscow said it does not violate international agreements, but said that US ballistic missile defense deployments in Poland are now within the 500-kilometer range of Iskander missiles, which can be armed with a nuclear warhead.

Satu pelancar peluru berpandu jarak dekat balistik Iskander-E. (An Iskander-E short-range ballistic missile launcher. (RIA Novosti/kbm engineering design bureau – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

“Taktikal sistem peluru berpandu balistik Iskander adalah benar-benar dalam inventori peluru berpandu daerah Barat Rusia tentera dan angkatan meriam,” kata jurucakap Kementerian Pertahanan Mejar Jeneral Igor Konashenkov kepada wartawan. Konashenkov berkata bahawa “kawasan penempatan tertentu Iskander bahagian peluru berpandu di wilayah Barat Perintah tidak bercanggah mana-mana perjanjian antarabangsa perjanjian.”

Reaksi dari NATO tidak lama akan datang. Amerika Syarikat, Poland dan 3 negara Baltik: Estonia, Lithuania dan Latvia, semua telah menyatakan kebimbangan kukuh pada Iskander yang digunakan di Kaliningrad.

“Kami menggesa Rusia tidak mengambil langkah-langkah untuk menjejaskan kestabilan rantau ini,” AFP melaporkan timbalan jurucakap Jabatan Negara Marie Harf sebagai berkata.

“Ini adalah satu perkara yang NATO dan kita boleh mengharapkan perundingan mungkin dan tindakan . . . di peringkat NATO dan EU,” kata Kementerian Luar Poland dalam satu kenyataan.

Artis Pabriks, Menteri Pertahanan Latvia, berkata langkah Rusia terancam “beberapa bandar Baltik.”

“Adalah jelas bahawa ia adalah berita membimbangkan, kerana ia adalah salah satu daripada hujah-hujah yang mengubah keseimbangan kuasa di rantau kita,” Baltic News Service melaporkan Pabriks sebagai berkata.

‘Matlamat sebenar Amerika Syarikat adalah peringkat baru keunggulan di Eropah’

Rusia sentiasa mensyaki bahawa Amerika Syarikat telah menempatkan sistem pertahanan peluru berpandu bukan sahaja di Eropah, tetapi sepenuhnya beroperasi senjata serangan pertama. Amaran pertama sistem peluru berpandu Iskander yang digunakan di Kaliningrad sebagai tindak balas kepada IBM penempatan Eropah telah disuarakan oleh kemudian Presiden Dmitry Medvedev pada tahun 2008.

Putin adalah lebih mutlak dalam penilaian terbarunya daripada ABM Eropah.

“Kami juga sedar bahawa sistem pertahanan peluru berpandu hanya pertahanan nama, manakala dalam realiti ia merupakan satu elemen penting dalam potensi serangan strategik,” kata Putin ucapannya kepada Perhimpunan Persekutuan, sambil menambah bahawa Rusia telah “rapat berikut evolusi ‘bersifat yg menenangkan serangan nuklear’ konsep yang dikenali sebagai” tentera Amerika Syarikat . Putin berkata program Amerika Syarikat telah direka “untuk membuat kejutan kepada apa yang dikenali sebagai baki strategik kuasa.”

“Kami sedar tentang itu. Dan kita tahu apa yang kita perlu lakukan,” Putin memberi Amaran.

“The Iskander tactical ballistic missile systems are really in the inventory of the Russia’s Western military district’s missile and artillery forces,” Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told journalists. Konashenkov said that “specific deployment areas of Iskander missile divisions on the Western Command territory does not contradict any of the international treaties of agreements.”

The reaction from NATO was not long in coming. The US, Poland and three Baltic states: Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, have all expressed strong concern at Iskander being deployed in Kaliningrad.

“We've urged Russia to take no steps to destabilize the region,” AFP reported State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf as saying.

“This is a matter for NATO and we can expect possible consultations and action . . . at the NATO and EU level," Poland’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Artis Pabriks, Latvia's Defense Minister, said that Russia’s move threatened “several Baltic cities.”

“It is clear that it is alarming news, as it is one of the arguments changing the balance of power in our region,” Baltic News Service reported Pabriks as saying.

‘US real goal is new stage of superiority in Europe’

Russia has always suspected that the US was deploying not just missile defense systems in Europe, but fully-fledged first strike weapons. The first warning of Iskander missile systems being deployed in Kaliningrad in response to the European IBM deployment was voiced by then-President Dmitry Medvedev in 2008.

Putin was much more categorical in his latest assessment of the European ABM.

“We are well aware of the fact that the missile defense system is only defensive in name, whereas in reality it is an essential element of a strategic offensive potential,” Putin said his address to the Federal Assembly, adding that Russia was “closely following the evolution of the so-called ‘disarming nuclear strike’ concept” of the US military. Putin said the US program was designed “to upset what is known as the strategic balance of power.”

“We are well aware of that. And we know what we need to do about it,” Putin warned.

Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin membaca alamat tahunannya kepada Perhimpunan Persekutuan di Dewan St George Kremlin. (Russian President Vladimir Putin reads his annual address to the Federal Assembly in the St. George's Hall of the Kremlin. (RIA Novosti/Dmitry Astakhov – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

Minggu lepas, Rusia Timbalan Perdana Menteri Dmitry Rogozin memberi Amaran (Dmitry Rogozin warned) bahawa Rusia akan menggunakan senjata nuklear jika ia berada di bawah serangan, sambil menambah bahawa kemungkinan ini berfungsi sebagai penghalang utama kepada provocateurs penceroboh yang berpotensi.

“Satu eksperimen boleh selama mana yang diingini dengan menggerakkan kepala peledak bukan nuklear pada pembawa peluru berpandu strategik. Tetapi seseorang itu perlu ingat bahawa jika terdapat serangan terhadap kami, kami pasti akan mengambil jalan keluar dengan menggunakan senjata nuklear dalam keadaan tertentu untuk mempertahankan kepentingan wilayah dan negeri kami,” Rogozin, ketua industri pertahanan berkata pada hari Rabu bercakap di Negeri Duma, rumah yang lebih rendah.

Aleksey Pushkov, pengerusi Jawatankuasa Hal Ehwal Luar Negara Duma Rusia, rumah rendah parlimen, berkata dalam satu temu bual untuk RT bahawa dari hujah barat yang bermula menyokong idea ABM Eropah adalah “sangat cacat” dan kedua-dua Utara hujah Korea dan Iran digunakan untuk mewajarkan Amerika ABM di Eropah “hanya palsu.”

“Matlamat sebenar adalah untuk mewujudkan satu peringkat baru dalam keunggulan Amerika di Eropah, untuk cuba meneutralkan potensi nuklear sekurang-kurangnya sebahagiannya Rusia dan mahu mewujudkan bon baru antara Amerika Syarikat dan Eropah,” Pushkov memberitahu RT.

Last week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin warned that Russia would use nuclear weapons if it came under attack, adding that this possibility serves as the main deterrent to potential provocateurs and aggressors.

“One can experiment as long as one wishes by deploying non-nuclear warheads on strategic missile carriers. But one should keep in mind that if there is an attack against us, we will certainly resort to using nuclear weapons in certain situations to defend our territory and state interests,” Rogozin, the defense industry chief said on Wednesday speaking at the State Duma, the lower house.

Aleksey Pushkov, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said in an interview to RT that from the very beginning western argument backing the idea of the European ABM was “deeply flawed” and both North Korean and Iranian arguments used to justify American ABM in Europe “are just fake.”

“The real goal is to create a new stage of American superiority in Europe, to try to neutralize at least partially Russian nuclear potential and to create the new bond between the US and Europe,” Pushkov told RT.