After 12 years of work,
Putin's plan starts taking vigorous shape.
Without a major war, but with the World in terrorist and financial turmoil for more than two decades, the World political map gets reshaped to its initial configuration and the military balance is about to be regained.
The US' aggressive offensive towards Russia's borders has been hardly but obviously slowed down.
The key American move to threaten Russia with placing the US' missile shield in Poland has been leveraged by the Arctic Russian offensive - the ace that Putin held in his sleeve when he met his counterpart Bush Sr. In Kenebunkport, in July 2007.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11650470
The unilateral withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, in the aftermath of the brutal demolition of the twin NY towers, seems now a futile supreme sacrifice.
Putin's thinking was a meticulous plan, composed of many diplomatic and tactical moves.
Putin charmed some of the Western European leaders, like Schroeder, Chirac, Berlusconi and also many others around the World, therefore gaining leverage that he could now put on the negotiation table, in exchange of gaining back what Gorbachev sold out in 1989.
Gorbachev changed not only the World configuration. He not only destabilized the World balance, but also destroyed and changed many destinies.
Hopefully Putin will succeed to fully implement the plan and to restore the World balance of the Cold War days, to bring back the peace in its post-WWII parameters.
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MAIN QUOTES:
GERMANY:
The command centre for a controversial missile defense shield in Europe will be housed at a U.S. air base in western Germany
POLAND:
U.S. President Barack Obama’s drive to cut nearly half a trillion dollars in defense spending over the next 10 years means Washington is reviewing already announced programs to reflect a stronger focus on Asia.
Poland, one of the most pro-American countries in Europe and once a member of the Soviet bloc, hopes enhanced military cooperation with the U.S. would upgrade its defense systems.
Washington already rotates a Patriot missile battery through Poland and last year sealed a deal with Warsaw on stationing U.S. air force personnel on Polish soil.But this too may come into question, analysts say, under the new U.S. defense strategy.
FULL-LENGTH ARTICLES:
U.S. airbase in Germany to host missile shield command
BERLIN Thu Feb 2, 2012 2:10pm EST
BERLIN (Reuters) - The command centre for a controversial missile defense shield in Europe will be housed at a U.S. air base in western Germany, a NATO spokesman said on Thursday.
Ramstein Air Base, which already houses the European headquarters of the U.S. Air Force and a NATO installation, will host the centre, which NATO says aims to protect Europe from potential attacks by so-called "rogue states" like Iran.
"The command and control element will be based at Ramstein," the spokesman for NATO's Allied Air Command said. "The implementation of the new command structure will take place in the next two years."
Russia opposes the shield, saying it upsets the balance of power in the region and weakens the deterrent of its nuclear arsenal, calling it a project imposed on allies by Washington.
The shield, which is expected to be fully in place by 2020, will include sites in Spain as well as two former Soviet bloc states, Poland and Romania.
Warsaw fears that planned U.S. defense cuts might stall the development of the anti-missile system on Polish soil and leave it more vulnerable to Russia.
Moscow has said it may take military counter-measures and could deploy Iskander missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave, a region separated from the rest of the country and sitting between NATO members, Poland and Lithuania.
(Reporting by Madeline Chambers, writing by Brian Rohan)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-germany-shield-idUSTRE8111SO20120202
Poland Fears U.S. Cuts Make It Vulnerable
Jan 25, 2012
Poland fears planned defense cuts by the United States may stall the development of an anti-missile system on Polish soil and leave it more vulnerable to Russia, a senior government source said.
U.S. President Barack Obama’s drive to cut nearly half a trillion dollars in defense spending over the next 10 years means Washington is reviewing already announced programs to reflect a stronger focus on Asia.
This review covers a planned U.S. missile shield endorsed by NATO. Missile interceptors are planned to be deployed in Poland from 2018 but the plan is vehemently opposed by its neighbor Russia, which regards the shield as a threat to its security.
“From Poland’s point of view, the worst-case scenario is that Russia, sensitive to this issue, as a retaliation places various elements in Kaliningrad while the missile shield, now reviewed by Americans, never comes true,” the source said under condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Moscow worries the missile shield would undermine its nuclear deterrent capability. It has said it would take military counter-measures if needed and could deploy Iskander missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave, a region separated from the rest of the country and sitting between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
In November President Dmitry Medvedev opened an early-warning radar facility there.
NATO dismisses Moscow’s argument and says the shield is aimed at protecting its European allies from potential attacks by the so-called rogue states like Iran. But talks between Russia and the 28-nation alliance are stalled.
Poland, one of the most pro-American countries in Europe and once a member of the Soviet bloc, hopes enhanced military cooperation with the U.S. would upgrade its defense systems.
Washington already rotates a Patriot missile battery through Poland and last year sealed a deal with Warsaw on stationing U.S. air force personnel on Polish soil.
But this too may come into question, analysts say, under the new U.S. defense strategy.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=none&id=news/awx/2012/01/25/awx_01_25_2012_p0-417535.xml&headline=Poland%20Fears%20U.S.%20Cuts%20Make%20It%20Vulnerable
