Directed against Russian Cities, Pentagon Considers Deploying Nuclear Missiles to Europe
Are Pershing missiles returning to Europe?
On June 4 a portion of a report by Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was declassified,
in which he claims that Washington is considering deploying cruise
missiles with nuclear warheads in Europe as a response to Russia’s
alleged “violations” of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF, which the United States and Soviet Union became party to back in 1987.
Four days later a similar statement was made by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who announced
London’s willingness to once again accept US nuclear missiles, which
were removed from British bases in 2006. In so doing, the United Kingdom
has joined those who are criticizing Moscow for an “offense” that the
Russians have never committed at any time or in any place.
The fact is that the new Russian R-500 operational and tactical
cruise missile, which is mentioned in the American military documents,
does not fall under any of the categories listed in the INF. That treaty
required the destruction of two classes of nuclear missiles:
ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles of “intermediate- and
shorter-range,” meaning able to travel 1,000-5,500 km. and 500-1,000
km., respectively. The new Russian cruise missile in question has a
maximum range of less than 500 km. The Russians have not officially
released any other information regarding its range. Nor have the
Americans officially issued such information. In addition, the US
delegation did not file any specific complaints about the missile during
the special US-Russian consultations on arms control held last fall and
this past spring. They just claimed that the Russians have tested “some
kind of missile and they know what we are talking about…” But this is
not a serious conversation. As Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted on
June 9 of this year, “We are ready to examine any concrete evidence
that gives the Americans reason to think that we have violated
something.”
Extended Long Range Air Launch Target (E-LRALT) missile testing in 2012
