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NEWS: Official: U.S., Russia close to arms deal

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posted on Jan, 11 2005 @ 06:20 PM
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With the growing risks posed by terrorists using portable air-defence missiles today the United States and Russia are very close to completeing an agreement that is meant to limit the trafficking of such weapons. In what is being called a "common interest between the United States and Russia"...
 





USATODAY.com Full Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Russia are close to completing an agreement designed to limit trafficking in portable air-defense missiles, which some security experts fear terrorists could use against commercial airliners, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday.

At a joint news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ivanov provided few details but said the proposed accord reflected a common interest between the United States and Russia in constraining the unauthorized movement of these weapons around the world.

"You know full well that terrorists of all hues and stripes" have sought to obtain them, he said.

Ivanov, speaking through an interpreter, said "an agreement on the exchange of information" on portable air-defense weapons would be signed by the two countries "pretty soon."



Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


Though I think the spirit of cooperation between the world's super powers is a good thing I can't help but notice the sense of urgency in moving this plan forward.

It seems the threats posed by such weapons to both the U.S.A. and Russia required quick action.

These cheap weapons are small rocket-propelled warheads with heat seeking sensors and can be used to take down a wide range of commercial and millitary aircraft.

They were proven effective in Afghanistan when CIA backed rebels used U.S. made stinger missiles to take out Russian military helecopters and may have ended that war sending the Russian military home with a bitter loss.

If these "missiles" were in the hands of terrorists it is not hard to imagine them being able to bring down many commercial aircraft in a series of attacks.

[edit on 11-1-2005 by UM_Gazz]



posted on Jan, 11 2005 @ 06:31 PM
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Great news! I hope this is the first step to better relations between the U.S. and Russia. This agreement will only help in the coming decades as there is still many IR-RPGs on the market and places like china will also fuel the market with rip-offs and designs of their own...
Good work so far none the less.



posted on Jan, 11 2005 @ 06:37 PM
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Unfortunately I think there are already too many of these weapons out there in the wrong hands. That being said, I am glad to see that action is being taken for the future.

What intrigues me here is that comment about "urgency" and also the acknowledgement via this agreement, that both countries are currently experiencing the same concerns and are intersted in working together to stop it. I find this a major improvement, refreshing and step forward. I don't think that many Americans think about the fact that other countries are suffering from terrorism that goes well beyond what Americans experienced in 9/11. Now if only these two superpowers, having found a common goal, could move beyond a relationship that has seemed stagnant for the past few years.



posted on Jan, 11 2005 @ 06:37 PM
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Limit trafficking of these weapons? Just limit? What's the point in that? Eliminate the trafficking of them and we might get somwhere. Although not likely...the black market of weapons buying and selling will continue as it always has.



posted on Jan, 11 2005 @ 06:44 PM
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I don't think that many Americans think about the fact that other countries are suffering from terrorism that goes well beyond what Americans experienced in 9/11.


No matter what stations you feel are legitimate we do see this terrorism on TV daily. Many of us know what goes on in other parts of the world but it's just a shock that it happened on such a big scale in such a small time. You know what I mean? It's like putting a Hawaiian in Alaska for a week. You could put her in Washington where the climate is temperate and she wouldn’t notice the chance drastically but in Alaska she risks death. It’s just such a big issue after a long calm.




 
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