by Ali Bulac Today’s Zaman

The US is installing a missile defense system in Poland, the agreement for which was signed on Aug. 20. A radar system had already been installed in the Czech Republic.
At the signing ceremony in Poland, the US secretary of state made an interesting statement of justification. “This is a system that is defensive and is not aimed at anyone,” she said, adding, “This is an agreement … that will establish a missile defense site that will help us to deal with the new threats of the 21st century … from countries like Iran or from North Korea.”
This explanation is neither smart nor convincing. Who is “us”? The US or NATO countries? The new defense system is targeted at the east and the north. For the present time, there is no threat in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Obviously, the targets are Iran and Russia. The one which takes precedence as a target is a matter of ambiguity at the present time. It could be Russia or Iran, as well. Iran is one of the countries included in the axis of evil declared by George W. Bush. The others were Syria and North Korea. North Korea has been taken off the list of countries that require immediate attention for now. Syria was about to conclude a deal with Israel after the involvement of Turkey in the process as a mediator but a crisis broke out in the Caucasus. This means that Syria may have to pick a new place and position in the new composition. That Russia hosted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow at a time when the crisis erupted is, of course, no coincidence. Russia also has extended a hand of support to the Arab countries which it had neglected for a long time. Read the rest of this entry »