US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said the new missile defence system for Eastern Europe would leave America and its allies stronger and charged the Republicans that their criticism of the new policy is not based on facts.
"We believe this is a decision that will leave America stronger and more capable of defending our troops, our interests and our allies," Hillary said in her address to the Brookings Institute, a Washington-based think tank.
President Barack Obama yesterday scrapped a controversial Bush regime missile defence plan for Eastern Europe -- a key irritant in US-Russian ties -- and unveiled a new system which will offer "greater defences" against the threat of possible missile attacks from Iran.
Clinton said the US would deploy the new missile defense sooner than the previous programme.
"We will be able to swiftly counter the threat posed by Iran's short-and medium-range ballistic missiles," she said.
The US would now deploy missile defense that is more comprehensive than the previous programme, with more interceptors in more places, and with a better capacity to protect all of US friends and allies in the region.
"We will deploy technology that is actually proven so that we do not waste time or taxpayer money, and we will preserve the flexibility to adjust our approach to the threat as the threat evolves," she said.
