Not So Grand Alliance

Campus Report ^ | September 17, 2009 | Allie Winegar Duzett

[bs9021]

Not So Grand Alliance

by: Allie Winegar Duzett, September 17, 2009

“Those who oppose missile defense are opposed to freedom,” was U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint’s sentiment at a recent Heritage Foundation forum entitled No Grand Bargain With Russia. The forum was held to discuss the need for “Third Site” missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic—and it appears as though the need for Third Site is great. Russian weapons systems pose what is perceived as a great threat to many Eastern European nations, and Third Site missile defense systems would, according to Jim DeMint, intimidate enemies and strengthen friendships. And in a world where international diplomacy can seem to be hanging by a thread, intimidating enemies and strengthening friendships can sound like a very good idea.

Sen. DeMint expressed his regret that President Obama has supported the idea of disarmament for peace—indeed, he has done nearly everything in his power to distance himself from Third Site policies. Sen. DeMint insisted that such an idea has never held up in history. “Unfortunately, hope is not a strategy,” Jim DeMint said, “and abandoning friendships for short-term victories is foolish.”

E.D. The Obama Administration announced today, on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, that it will not be establishing missile defense systems in Poland or the Czech Republic.

Jim DeMint was followed by Clifford D. May of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. May wasted no time in getting to the important questions: is Obama’s administration truly willing to do whatever it takes to protect America from missile attack?...

[JohnQ1]

The new strategy is a floating missile defense system, so that Obama can order the new Undersec of the Navy, his Harvard buddy, to reposition it to defend the Middle East. (Does everyone here know what a “buddy” is?)