U.S. and Czechs sign missile deal prompting Moscow warning

PRAGUE-The United States and the Czech Republic signed an agreement on Tuesday to build part of a U.S. missile defense shield, prompting Russia to say that if deployed it would respond with "military-technical methods".The U.S. and Czech foreign ministers toasted with champagne after signing the accord to place a tracking radar southwest of Prague as part of a system to protect against the perceived threat of missile attack from countries such as Iran. But Russia, in a statement reminiscent of the Cold War, warned the United States against deploying a missile defense shield close to its borders."If the real deployment of an American strategic missile defense shield begins close to our borders, then we will be forced to react not with diplomatic methods, but with military-technical methods," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its https://www.mid.ru/ website.The deal was also marred by a U.S. failure to seal a corresponding pact with Poland, where Washington wants to put 10 interceptor rockets that would be guided by the Czech site.Washington says the shield would defend itself and its allies against missile attacks from so-called "rogue states" and points to intelligence suggesting Iran could develop a long-range missile capable of striking its soil by 2015."We face, with the Iranians, and so do our allies and friends, a growing missile threat that is getting ever longer and ever deeper, and where the Iranian appetite for nuclear technology, to this point, is still unchecked," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after signing the deal.However, the deal has its critics in the United States, who argue that the system has not demonstrated its capability under real operational conditions, and it is opposed by many in the Czech Republic, where it requires parliamentary approval.

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