Posted on 03/02/2009 1:23:55 PM PST by icwhatudo
President Obama offered to consider scrapping plans for a missile defense shield in Europe if Russia helps rein in Iran's nuclear program, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
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Obama inherited plans to build the system in Poland and the Czech Republic from the Bush administration, but the new administration has equivocated over the project. Though the plans were put in place to deter nations like Iran and North Korea from launching attacks and developing nuclear weapons, Russia has interpreted the planned installation as a threat.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Obama wants to take down the domestic missile defense systems so as to not violate the ABM treaty and to please the Russians and Chinese. The problem is that Russia deploys ABM's and the Chinese are set to deploy their own ABM systems.
Obama's Sixth week in office President Obama offered to consider scrapping plans for a missile defense shield in Europe if Russia helps rein in Iran's nuclear program, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/02/report-obama-offers-scrap-missile-shield-russia-cooperates-iran/
for complete list, go to my website: www.nachumlist.com
Treason. Commander in Chief is above his paygrade. He serves the enemies of America.
Poland and the Czech Republic have the Bear for a next door neighbor and they HAVE put it on the line for the missile shield. They have have been bullied and threatened over and over by the Russians in this regard. Their reward will now be for us to pull the rug out from under them.
So if he DISABLES a shield from Russian nukes, that makes him PRO-nuke, not anti-nuke.
I understand your point, but it’s absurd to suggest that we couldn’t shoot down a missle in the 5,000+ miles between the eastern seaboard and Poland. It is required for their defence, not for ours.
Then they can build a European missle defense shield.
The mission is Afghanistan is ostensibly an NATO mission, but in reality it's a U.S., Canadian, British one. With the Germans and French sitting in their barracks doing nothing but giving lipservice to the concept of NATO. They aren't even allowed in combat areas. It's absolutley Europe (Britain excluded) taking care of itself.
"and who pushed for Poland et al to become part of NATO... wasn’t that largely....us?"
Yes, as usual, we've pushed to expand NATO for reasons that remain unclear to me...insisting on expanding a north Atlantic partnership into a continental defense pact that would force the U.S. into military commitments it could not ever reasonably hope to fulfill. The Russian invasion of Georgia and the impotent western response should have made that clear to everyone.
"and who, for commercial and national security reasons probably wanted to protect missile defense shield technology in a proprietary way...would that be...us?" "
Well, if we want to be proprietary about it, we should sell it to Europe...not pay for it to be implemented. If we're worried about keeping the technology safe, then we should keep it in north American and not sell it at all.
"and if europe’s security is breached and europe gets attacked, where does that leave...us? It’s “their” problem?
If Europe gets attacked, yes, it's their problem...or should we drain the U.S. treasury and every precious drop of American blood in protecting the freedom of those who have the ability, but not the will, to provide for their own defense?
"Bamsters reasoning is nutty. It presumes the missile threat to europe comes from Iran and the russians can and will curb that if we leave europes flank exposed to the russians. What sense does that make? How is this little deal in europe’s interest?"
His reasoning is nutty if he actually believes the Russians will do what they claim. They won't. It's probably not in Europe's best interest either, but they seem not to care. Frankly, I'm concerned with what's in America's best interest, and I'm not sure that imposing a missile defense shield in eastern Europe is it. Only the Poles want it, the Russians are adamantly against it, as are the western Europeans, and many of those in eastern Europe too. It would be better to help Poland with a conventional military buildup and response capability than proceed down this universally unpopular path that does nothing for our own N. American defenses.
"With us reneging on decades of assurances and planning ... who or what curbs the russian missile threat against europe? yes, Putin and his generals might actually pose one."
Europe has reneged on its pledge to fight for democracy and western values in my opinion...what are it's consequences? I think the Russian threat to continential Europe is dramatically overblown. Frankly the deterrent on Russian missiles is what it has always been: UK and French nuclear capabilities, backed by the U.S.
Naturally, he’s a fool if he wants to degrade our own N. American defense shield. ABM be damned.
66% of citizens in the Czech Republic don’t support the U.S. missile defense shield. 50% of Poles reject it. We’re not pulling the rug out from under anyone.
Poland and the Czechs are two of our staunchest allies on this earth. And Obama’s feeding them to the lions. This has nothing to do with “Old Europe”.
...they also don’t want missile defense.
Nobody is feeding anyone to the lions. The Czechs don’t want they system, and the Poles are evenly spit on it. They apparently don’t regard Russia as the threat you do on their behalf.
Not exactly. The article says, "President Obama offered to consider scrapping plans for a missile defense shield in Europe...."
The ostensible reason for that system was to protect Europe from missiles fired by rogue states like Iran, rather than to protect Europe from the Russians. So in that isolated context, the offer actually makes a great deal of sense.
The problem, of course, is that the Russians do not think in terms of isolated context, and neither did the Bush Administration. Both the Russians and Mr. Bush knew that a missile shield would also protect places like Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic nations from Russian threats; and those nations responded to our plans on that basis. The Russian incursion into Georgia simply reinforced the point.
The primary Russian objections to the shield were, of course, also based on the same reasoning. They're certainly xenophobic enough to suspect an offensive motive, but their primary objection is that it will make it more difficult for them to threaten Europe.
By giving in to get Russian help with Iran, Obama simply hands to the Russians their actual strategic goal -- and Obama probably doesn't even realize he's doing so.
Just another example of Obama's naive view of the world -- he'll out-Carter Carter in no time at all.
Every day I feel sicker and sicker about this unspeakable occupier of the White House. My parents fled Czechoslovakia when its government fell after WWII. They were betrayed at Munich, and here we go again. Appeasement never works - never, never, never. His actions scream weakness in defending our interests while destroying us from within.
Bambi doesn’t play chess.
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That's odd. I mean what with his people inventing the game and all. (/s)
The Sepia Savior LOL..........
A Look at Iran
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
#
A Look at Russia:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/russia
You have some reliable polling data from Poland and the Czech Republic on this that you’d like to share with the class?
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