Missile shield could be completed by 2011

BERLIN, March 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. general leading the effort to build an antiballistic missile shield in Europe said in Berlin the project could be built by 2011 if started this year.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering said while in Berlin to meet with German security officials that negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic to deploy parts of the shield in those countries are expected to be completed this year, the International Herald Tribune reported Friday.

"If we start this year, we will not have the capability in place until 2011," Obering said.

He said additional delays could leave Europe and the United States open to a missile attack from Iran.

"The consensus of most of the intelligence community," he said, "is that Iran is going to have something before 2015 that could threaten the United States or parts of Europe with a long-range, intermediate or intercontinental ballistic missile capability."

Obering brushed aside criticism that the defense shield could set off an arms race as "misinformation on the part of some nations."

"We can cover the United States without this," he told the Herald Tribune. "What this does is, it adds this layer of protection" to Europe. He said the shield is strictly a defensive measure.