Clinton defends new U.S. approach to missile defense

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday rejected the criticism that President Barack Obama's decision to abandon of the Bush-era controversial missile defense shield program in Eastern Europe will leave Europe more vulnerable.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks about the United States'  agenda for the United Nations General Assembly at the Brookings Institution in Washington, September 18, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

The criticism of Obama's plan about missile defense is "not yet connected to the facts. We are not, quote, 'shelving' missile defense. We are deploying missile defense sooner than the Bush administration planned to do so," Clinton said in a speech at the Brookings Institution.

Defending Obama's decision, Clinton said that "we believe this is a decision that will leave America stronger and more capable of defending our troops, our interests and our allies."

"We will deploy missile defense sooner than the previous program. We will be able to swiftly counter the threat posed by Iran's short- and medium-range ballistic missiles."

The top U.S. diplomat also pledged to continue cooperation with Poland and the Czech Republic, both had been central to the previous missile defense plan crafted by the Bush White House.

"We would never, never walk away from our allies," she said. "We will continue to cooperate closely with both (Poland and the Czech Republic)."

Obama on Thursday announced abandon of the Bush-era controversial missile defense shield program in Eastern Europe, but unveiled a "phased, adaptive approach" for missile defense in the continent.

"This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defense program," Obama said at a brief news conference in the White House.

U.S. officials said the Obama administration would instead use Patriot missiles and newly developed SM-3 missiles that intercept enemy launches before an offensive missile enters the atmosphere to contend with an Iranian threat.

The latter system would be deployed initially on U.S. ships in the Mediterranean, not in Russia's old area of influence in Eastern Europe.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a press conference on Thursday that the first SM-3 systems will be deployed on ships and by 2015 the military hope to have established land-based SM-3 installions.

The Washington Times quoted an unidentified senior White House official as reporting on Friday that the locations for those land-based system "haven't been picked yet."