Caucaus Radar?

[Arpa]

I have listened to this piece of shitty news several times, yet I have no idea what is being said.

Can any of our politically savvy pundits make sense of it?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/07/bush.putin/

 

Surprise offer defuses U.S.-Russia missile spat

Story Highlights

• Putin tells Bush he will drop objections to missile shield if it's in Azerbaijan

• Heavy police presence keeps G8 summit protesters at bay

• Bono: Bush-Putin a distraction but "people love a cockfight"

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (CNN) -- U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Thursday at the G8 summit in Germany to cooperate on missile-defense systems, apparently cooling tensions between the two leaders.

"We have an understanding about common threats, but we have differences. The difference is the ways and means in which we can overcome these threats," Putin told reporters after a one-on-one meeting with Bush.

While the United States wants to install missile-defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic -- a plan that has severely irritated the Russians -- Putin said he suggested using an existing radar station that Russia rents in neighboring Azerbaijan. (Watch Bush and Putin in cooperative mood at news conference)

That way, all of Europe would be protected, he said at a joint news conference.

"The existing agreement makes it possible for us to do this. And the president of Azerbaijan stressed he would be glad to contribute to world security and stability," Putin said.

He said he met with the Azerbaijan president on Wednesday. There would have to be new construction, and that could start right away, Putin added.

Azerbaijan, formerly part of the Soviet Union, is north of Iran, and is bordered on the east by the Caspian Sea.

According to Putin, use of the radar station would make it unnecessary for Russia to install "offensive complexes" at European borders and unnecessary for the United States to put such complexes in outer space.

Bush said the missile-defense plan was meant to block possible attacks from Iran and other nations, but Putin said the systems would be on Russia's doorstep and could be converted into offensive weapons.

"It's much better to work together than to create tensions," Bush said after the meeting. "He expressed his concerns to me. He is concerned that the missile defense system is not an act that a friend would do."

Bush said the men agreed to share ideas, and involve officials from the U.S. State Department, Department of Defense and military.

"This is a serious issue and we want to make sure we understand each other's positions very clearly," Bush said.

He said he has invited Putin to the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, in July, where they will continue discussions on a variety of issues.

Last weekend, Putin warned that his country could aim nuclear weapons at European targets unless Washington abandoned the missile-system proposal.

"They're [Russians] not a military threat," Bush told reporters Thursday. "They're not what we should be hyperventilating about. What we ought to be doing is figuring out ways to work together."

Representatives from Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom are at the summit in Heiligendamm. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting the meeting because her country has the rotating presidency this year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Error 404]

Interesting outcome...

 

I am actually speechless.

 

Why would Putin offer Azerbaijan as an alternative location for the radar? Is it too far away and out of the range of proposed interceptor misslies?

How about Turkey? Why not in Turkey?

Azerbaijan is in a decade-long conflict which has not settled yet...

Does he know something that we don't know?

Does Aliev know about this proposal or he just got to know from the news?

 

Let the conspiracies begin!

[Dave]

Why would Putin offer Azerbaijan as an alternative location for the radar? Is it too far away and out of the range of proposed interceptor misslies?

 

Well Azerbaijan is closer to Iran, so the Russian plan certainly is appealing to the US. The missiles are also to be built in Azerbaijan, I think.

 

How about Turkey? Why not in Turkey?

 

I guess Russia doesn't own a radar facility there. In Azerbaijan, it does.

 

Azerbaijan is in a decade-long conflict which has not settled yet...

 

Isn't it weird that this comes at a time when the Karabagh issue is "close to a solution"?

 

Does Aliev know about this proposal or he just got to know from the news?

 

Actually Russian officials had already arranged this with the Azerbaijanis prior to the proposal.

 

Edited June 8, 2007 by Dave

[gamavor]

Why would Putin offer Azerbaijan as an alternative location for the radar?

 

Collateral damage

[Error 404]

Collateral damage

 

LOL

[Sassun]

The Azeri-Russian-U.S honeymoon has officially commenced???

[gamavor]

[Dave]

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/...FCEA435F04.html

[_femme333_]

I don't think that we should be worried about anthing.

No one is saying that Russia is shifting towards Azerbaijan overnight.

Maybe there are other geopolitical reasons as to why Russia has proposed the Unites States those sites in Azerbaijan.

Russia ahs always had a normal diplomatic relationsh with Baku, so it's not like they were nemies and now Russia is making friends with the Azeris. Tomorrow or in the next few days hopefully, things will be clear. We all know about the good Russian-Iranian ties, so I doubt that Russia would like to piss off Iran like that...by bringing US closer to the Iranian border.

[Dave]

If the US takes further initiatives:

 

http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=199

[MadArmo]

I don't think that we should be worried about anthing.

No one is saying that Russia is shifting towards Azerbaijan overnight.

Maybe there are other geopolitical reasons as to why Russia has proposed the Unites States those sites in Azerbaijan.

Russia ahs always had a normal diplomatic relationsh with Baku, so it's not like they were nemies and now Russia is making friends with the Azeris. Tomorrow or in the next few days hopefully, things will be clear. We all know about the good Russian-Iranian ties, so I doubt that Russia would like to piss off Iran like that...by bringing US closer to the Iranian border.

 

 

We need to respond quick and take action, If there is such facilities being built in Azeri BOK land we must take it out of operation ! We need to stablish crack commando units to eradicate such sites... We can't stand idle and allow this to happen folks, It also concerns Armenia and the entire region not to mention our own missile deffence which gives us the upper hand if hostilities resume with Azeri bokian ...

 

 

Armenians answer the Call !

 

 

 

[Error 404]

Calm down. Nothing is going to change.

 

Here: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...ec=Worldupdates

 

 

World Updates

June 9, 2007

 

Bush signals C.Europe shield to go ahead

By Tabassum Zakaria

 

GDANSK, Poland (Reuters) - President George W. Bush thanked Poland on Friday for being ready to host the U.S. missile shield and sent a clear signal he would not scrap the plan in the face of an alternative offer from Russia.

 

Bush, making a whistle stop in Poland after attending the Group of Eight meeting in Germany, met Polish President Lech Kaczynski to discuss missile defence and Russia's vehement opposition to its positioning in Moscow's former backyard in central Europe.

 

Polish President Lech Kaczynski (L), holding his granddaughter Ewa, stands next to his wife Maria Kaczynska (2nd L), U.S. President George W. Bush © and First lady Laura Bush during their meeting at the Polish President's seaside residence in Jurata June 8, 2007. (REUTERS/PAP/Jacek Turczyk)

"First let me say I appreciate the support for the deployment of the missile defence interceptors here in Poland," Bush told a joint briefing with Kaczynski.

 

"We will negotiate a fair agreement that enhances the security of Poland and the security of the entire continent against rogue regimes who might be willing to try to blackmail free nations."

 

Washington has been negotiating to place 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar in another ex-Soviet satellite, the Czech Republic, as the European part of a global system to counter the threat of a nuclear attack from "rogue" states such as Iran.

 

A sceptical Russia sees the project as undermining its own security and President Vladimir Putin has threatened to revert to the Cold War practice of targeting Russian missiles on Europe if the plan goes ahead.

 

Upping the ante, Putin made a surprise offer on Thursday to let the United States use a Russian-controlled radar in Azerbaijan to detect any threats from the Middle East.

 

On Friday, he said the interceptors could be placed in southern Europe or Turkey and that Russia was happy to share intelligence picked up by the Azeri radar.

 

"Qabala completely covers the whole region that worries the Americans," Putin told a news conference at the end of the G8 summit, referring to the radar station. "We are ready on-line and in real-time to hand over all information."

 

He appeared to suggest he expected talks between Washington, Warsaw and Prague to be suspended until his offer is studied.

 

"We hope there will be no unilateral actions until completion of negotiations," Putin said. "We will not be late because Iran does not have these rockets."

 

NOT AGAINST RUSSIA

 

Neither Bush nor Kaczynski commented directly on the Russian offer, but both reiterated that Russia had nothing to fear from the central European deployment of the shield.

 

"Neither the U.S or Polish plans are aimed against Russia. It (Russia) can feel safe from our side," Kaczynski said.

 

Following their briefing, Bush took off on board Air Force One for Italy.

 

Earlier in the day, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the United States would talk to all parties -- NATO, Czech Republic, Poland and Russia.

 

"Everything is on the table," she said. "We are going to continue talking to Russia. President Putin put forward a very substantive proposal."

 

A senior U.S. diplomat said Bush faced a delicate task of continuing negotiations with Poland and the Czech republic without appearing to reject the Russian offer.

 

"The U.S. does not see the (Russian) proposal as a substitute (for the central European anti-missile project), it can only be complementary," he said.

 

"No one wants to give the impression that we are not interested in the Russian proposal."

 

In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer reacted cautiously to the idea of using the Qabala radar in Azerbaijan.

 

"I think it is a bit close to the rogue states we are discussing," he said of the proposed Russian alternative.

 

(Additional reporting by Mark John in Brussels, Lada Yevgrashina in Baku, Alan Crosby in Prague and Caren Bohan travelling with President Bush)

 

 

[gamavor]

"The U.S. does not see the (Russian) proposal as a substitute (for the central European anti-missile project), it can only be complementary," he said.

 

This is the essence of the whole story. If Americans were that much concerned about Iranian missiles why the hell they want to have their stuff in Poland and Czech Republic? It doesn't make any sense given that Americans already have bases in Turkey and obviously in Iraq which is next door of Iran. The Russian are upgrading their nuclear arsenal with highly effective and mobile missile systems and that is the primary concern of Bushy. As a side not, any implantation of American equipment in Azerbaijan is in our favor. That would be the last nail in the Iran-Azerbaijan coffin.

[gamavor]

[Dave]

Nice vids

[abass80]

AZG Armenian Daily #109, 12/06/2007

 

International

 

PUTIN’S PROPOSAL TO USE GABALA RADIOLOCATION STATION TOGETHER WITH USA

 

What kind of figure will Azerbaijan become in the world "game of chess"?

 

Policy is really an exclusive category, which makes possible any impracticable idea and more frequently leaves unrealized those ideas.

 

The situation created around Iran gives an opportunity to the United States, the "judge" of the world destiny, to speak aloud of setting personal antimissile systems in Europe. Moreover, the US has started to speak of building US antimissile systems in Czech and Polish territories, though some of the Congressmen are against those projects.

 

According to some experts and many Russian figures the proposal of Russian President Vladimir Putin to use Gabala Radiolocation Station (Azerbaijan) jointly had a "freezing" effect on G8 Summit. US President Bush didn’t give a satisfactory answer to it, he only emphasized that the proposal was interesting.

 

Anyway, the experts think that the idea of using Gabala Radiolocation Station jointly is not realistic. Most of all, Putin’s announcement is a kind of proposal-test for USA, which, may be, will temporarily weaken the whole pressure and at the same time solve the issue of security.

 

If the United States is really concerned about the security of Europe and situation in the Middle East with the intention of building stations in the Czech Republic and Poland, it will be very hard to give a basic and acceptable explanation for rejecting Putin’s proposal

 

The announcement of the General Secretary of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, related Putin’s proposal of using Gabala Radiolocation Station jointly instead of building antimissile stations in Poland and Czech Republic, had also an air of uncertainty. The NATO General Secretary seems to be more concerned about the fact that Gabala Station is located in the Iranian region, though at the same time he mentions that the discussions on this proposal may be constructive.

 

According to some military experts the realization of this proposal will become a probable threat to Azerbaijan, as the Azerbaijani authorities with Iran have signed an agreement of not placing their territories at the third state disposal for the military actions. If Gabala Station is jointly used with USA, the official Tehran may estimate it as a breaking of the agreement, which is a menace to the security of Iran. And as the USA and European countries are not available to Iran, the appropriate target for the latter becomes Azerbaijan.

 

Iran, in its turn, in the person of the Embassy of Iran in Azerbaijan, announces that it is not concerned about Putin’s proposal, as Russia and Azerbaijan are good neighbors of Iran, the authorities of Iran are confident, that these two countries won’t take any steps against the security of Iran. This kind of approach of the Iranian side is probably based on the uncertainty, related to the acceptance of Putin’s proposal by USA.

 

While the US President Advisor Steven Hedlin has already announced of not seeing any problem in using Gabala Radiolocation Station, if the situation is acceptable to the Azerbaijani authorities.

 

In spite of the Azerbaijani announcements about the ecological dangers of Gabala Radiolocation Station, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov announces that Azerbaijan is ready to take part in the discussions on using the station jointly. Mammadyarov informed that they had already discussed the issue with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the latter’s official visit to Baku, but they had not had discussions with the American side yet. Besides, in the case of probable agreement Azerbaijan will not have any problem with Iran according to Mammadyarov

 

It’s very interesting that Mammadyarov does not connect the issue of the settlement of Karabkh conflict with the issue of Gabala Radiolocation Station. Anyway, according to the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan the probable joint use of the station will provide more stability in the region and the actions in the South Caucasus will become more predictable.

 

Anyway, if Putin’s proposal is rejected, a rebalancing will happen in the world level. But if the US accepts the proposal, a new card will appear in the hands of Azerbaijan, and regardless of all negotiations and discussions, Azerbaijan will probably use it in order to have more profitable version in the settlement of Karabakh conflict.

 

Finally, the policy is based on the interests, and this military proposal together with the oil interests will directly or indirectly increase the possibilities of Azerbaijan to get more in the "political trade".

 

By Aghavni Harutyunian

[abass80]

http://english.aljazeera.net

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

9:51 MECCA TIME, 6:51 GMT

 

US team inspects Russian radar

 

A team of US military experts has inspected a Soviet-era radar station in Azerbaijan that Russia has offered as an alternative to anti-missile defence sites located in central Europe.

 

The Pentagon delegation said it had gathered data to prepare response to Moscow's offer to share the Gabala station, which Russia leases from Azerbaijan.

 

But a US general suggested that Garbala was too outdated to defend against an Iranian threat - the US argument for the radar.

 

"Our impression here was that it is a radar that has performed the function it was designed to by the Russians back in the '80s," said Brigadier-General Patrick O'Reilly.

 

The general, who is deputy director of the US Missile Defence Agency, said: "We are evaluating how that would fit in with a mutually beneficial cooperative way ahead."

 

Upgrade proposed

 

Major-General Alexander Yakushin, the deputy head of Russia's space forces, said Russian experts were convinced by the meeting that the US is interested in co-operating.

 

"We showed the basic characteristics, parameters and prospects of this facility," he said.

 

Yakushin said Russian experts had explained how the Soviet-era radar could be upgraded to work with US missile defence systems.

 

"We showed the perspectives for the radar's development and modernisation if there is a political decision to co-operate," he said.

 

Moscow has offered to share Gabala station with the US instead of it using bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.

 

Relations between Moscow and Washington have been tense due to the proposed missile defence system plans, with the Kremlin threatening to re-deploy nuclear missiles if the US decides to go ahead with the project.

 

'No negotiations'

 

Russian officials have also said that three-way consultations would be held between Azerbaijani, Russian and US experts in Baku.

 

But US officials said the visit was only technical and that no negotiations would be held.

 

Azerbaijan is located north of Iran and Russia says the station would be more practical in thwarting potential Iranian missile attacks than sites in Europe.

 

The Gabala station is set in the mountains of northern Azerbaijan, and was put into operation in 1984 as one of the most powerful radars in the Soviet Union's missile-attack early-warning system.

 

Gabala feeds information to installations in Moscow and has a range of 6,000km, capable of monitoring the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa.

 

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Azerbaijani government agreed to lease the station to Russia until 2012.