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President Barack Obama has announced that he’s shelving the former President Bush’s plans for a missile defense system in Europe, a project that had become a major irritant in the relations between the United States and Russia. From Washington, here is Paul Adams.
    President Obama says (2) the new missile defense system will be stronger, smarter and swifter than its predecessor. The latest intelligence assessment suggested that Iran was concentrating its efforts on developing short and medium-range missiles, not ones capable of hitting the United States. (3) But faced with criticism that the administration is turning its back on missile defense in Europe and caving in to Russia. The Defense Secretary Robert Gates said such fears were misguided. The US had already held talks, he said, with Poland, and the Czech Republic about stationing land-based interceptors in Eastern Europe in the future.