Gates Springs a Surprise on Russia

With three weeks remaining before the U.S.-Russia summit, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates caught analysts in both countries by surprise. Speaking before the Senate committee on June 9, Gates dropped a diplomatic bombshell. He claimed that Moscow has now admitted that the threat from Iran's missile program is near.

If what Gates said is true, it would mean that the Kremlin will need to support the Pentagon's plan to create a global missile defense system to counter the imminent threat from Tehran. What's more, Gates claimed that talks are already under way for Russia to join the United States in some form of "partnership" to develop the so-called "third position" -- in Poland and the Czech Republic -- of the U.S. global missile defense system. The possibility of deploying U.S. radar installations or establishing or joint centers for the exchange of information on Russian territory to monitor missiles in foreign countries is supposedly also under consideration.