Has The U.S. Given Up On The European Missile Shield?

• The U.S. Administration seeks alternatives to bases in Poland, Czech Republic

The Obama Administration seems to have given up on the plan to house components of the ballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and is currently considering alternatives, including Israel and Turkey, according to the Polish newspaper Gazette Wyborcza, quoting U.S. sources.

"The signals given by generals from the Pentagon are clear: the current US government is looking for different solutions on the question of missile defence than Poland and the Czech Republic," said pro-shield lobbyist Riko Ellison.

The newspaper quotes a source within Congress who says that the Obama Administration has been sounding out lawmakers, for two weeks now, on how they would react to the news that the Poland/Czech Republic anti-missile system was to be cancelled.

Gazeta Wyborcza said that the Pentagon had been asked to explore switching planned interceptor rocket sites from the two east European states to Israel, Turkey, the Balkans or to mobile launchers on warships.

Warsaw and Washington last year reached an agreement to install 10 interceptor missiles at a facility in Poland that would be connected to long-range radar in the Czech Republic. Russia strongly opposed the idea.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in July renewed threats that Russia would deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, if an agreement with the U.S. on the missile shield turned out impossible.

The U.S.-driven plan to install a missile shield in Europe to counter a potential strike from Iran faced Russia"s strong opposition, as prospective military installations in Eastern Europe were interpreted as a threat to Russia"s own security.