NATO Agrees on Missile Defense Shield Across Europe, US

Officials Hope to Convince Russia to Join Shield

According to President Obama, NATO officials agreed today to approve the oft-discussed massive missile defense shield system across Europe and the United States. Obama said the shield would discover every nation in Europe.

The agreement on the shield was said to be part of the 10-year strategic roadmap approved in Lisbon today. Officials also said they hoped to invite the Russian government, a longtime opponent of the system, to join the program.

The inclusion of Russia makes the deal comparatively pointless, beyond its massive expenditure, as most of the missile deployment is around the Russian border and in places where Russia is the only theoretical nation that could launch a missile.

But officials have insisted that the program cover an enormous region, and have insisted that the system specifically not be targeted at anyone. This is particularly important in this case, as by and large the system has no threats against which to shield and seems to be being built for its own sake.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.