Posted on 09/17/2009 7:09:46 AM PDT by balls
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday that it will scrap former President George W. Bush’s planned missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic and instead deploy a reconfigured system aimed more at intercepting shorter-range Iranian missiles, according to people familiar with the plans.
President Obama decided not to deploy a sophisticated radar system in the Czech Republic or 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland, as Mr. Bush had planned. Instead, the new system his administration is developing would deploy smaller SM-3 missiles, at first aboard ships and later probably either in southern Europe or Turkey, those familiar with the plans said.
The White House will announce the decision Thursday morning and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who was first appointed by Mr. Bush, will then discuss it with reporters at 10:30 a.m. It amounts to one of the biggest national security reversals by the new administration, one that will upset Czech and Polish allies and possibly please Russia, which adamantly objected to the Bush plan. But Obama administration officials stressed that they are not abandoning missile defense, only redesigning it to meet the more immediate Iranian threat.
“The way forward enhances our homeland defense and protects our forces abroad as well as our European allies,” said an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid upstaging the announcement by Mr. Gates. “Our review has been driven by an updated intelligence assessment of Iran’s missile programs and new advances in our missile defense capabilities and technologies.”
Administration officials said the Bush missile defense architecture was better designed to counter potential long-range missiles by Iran, but recent tests and intelligence have indicated that Tehran is moving more rapidly toward developing short- and medium-range missiles.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It’s shameful we don’t have a system fully in place already. It should have been our #1 defense priority for the past 20 years.”
The Price for NOT having a working system is going to be horrendous.
Reports are that Obama instructed Hillary to call the Polish Prime Minister to delivery the news.
The PM refused to take the call.
Uh OH Scubby....
I think soon Europe will be missing Bush.You left out the word "soon". They will SOON be missing Bush.
Ironic, isn't it?
At first glance your deduction would be correct. However, the alternate system that the Administration has selected, is less capable for defending USA mainland against long-range missiles, while providing a local Euro-centric capability. Which is precisely the reason that the Russians opposed the previous concept and will likely be placated by this alternate system.
What. A. Wimp.
its time to talk about why American troops are still stationed in Europe.
are they really necessary? in strictly military terms. is there a credible threat?
how much does it cost to keep these troops there?
are there Russian troops in any of the countries in “Eastern Europe?”
are there Russian troops in Poland? Ukraine?
i really don’t know for sure, but i think not.
why are we in Germany? England? Spain? and where else?
Everything this communist thug does is BY DESIGN, PLEANNED. Making this announcement on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland allows this thug to rub salt in the wounds of the Poles who fought hard and died in masses against communism and enslavement. This thug likes to humilate, cause pain, he revels in snarky commentary, and oh how he likes to use “the finger” to deliver his message of contempt..obama has a cruel streak within him and likes to make this known. And so he did just that again today when he turned his back on his allies, in order to show putin that he, too, is a “good communist”, a good ally, by giving putin what he wanted, and now putin should be willing to join forces with obama against Iran. My prayers go out to those countries in peril..they know suffering and pain and they know communism. My family knows about communism as well...I lost a freedom fighter in Poland during WWII..he was shot in front of his family and his body was then desecrated and buried in a common grave with other freedom fighters. Some advice for you, obama...don’t trust the Russian Bear. You may fancy yourself a big, strong communist who can walk on water, but putin knows he can squash you like the insect you are...and
save us the trouble of soiling the bottoms of our shoes, and hopefully with our lives intact. God bless the USA and those who love her.
I would have thought somebody with your background would have an understanding of Game Theory which was very much in play during the Cold War, and with Putin, has come very much back into vogue. Also, do you understand “spheres of influence” and their importance in serving the best political, econcomic, and security interests of the superpower in control of them? I doubt you want the USA to become a third-rate power, but that’s what 0 seems to want by this action.
When President Obama is correct— let’s say he is correct. When he is wrong on policy let us criticize with vigor. Missile shield for Europe?? No!! I don’t think so.Can’t care and we have no money. Put missile shield in Maine and near D.C. and in Seattle and San Diego. I don’t give a crap about Europe!!! Good job Mr. President!!!
By the way, there are Russian toops in Ukraine by treaty and the Ukraine has been trying to get them out. Russia is threatening to take over Sevastapol, an important oil port on the Black Sea, if the Ukraine doesn’t let the troops stay. Does that answer one of your questions?
Oh, and by the way, don’t forget that Russia saw a moment of weakness in the USA and annesxed Georgian territory last year. Georgian territory is of important strategic interest to Russia because of its control of oil pipelines
Please read #148 and #150.
I’ll just cut to the chase.
Anyone on this thread that believe 0 did the right thing by scrapping the defense shield in Europe must not be carrying the burden of experience or knowledge of these matters and is speaking above his pay grade. Please leave this discussion to adults who have been around for a while and know what they are talking about.
the polish helped us in Iraq. once our friends are gone we are gone.
I would disagree with this decision no matter who was president. At the very least, Obama is proving to be totally inept at foreign policy.
It’s a major concession to the Russians. He should have at least used it as a bargaining chip with Russia to get something concrete. Instead we got nothing. Russia will spin this domestically as a Russian victory and will portray us as weak and unreliable.
Russia has designs on eastern Europe and Georgia. Obama’s move will embolden Russia to pursue those designs more vigorously. China is also watching from the sidelines and biding it’s time until the US is perceived to be weak enough, then it will go for Taiwan.
I think Obama’s actions have us looking incredibly weak at the moment.
Not only in Iraq, it all began in 18th century.
Now if you were hell bent on destroying America, what would you do? Answer: follow the Obamessiah and the democRATS. No we can’t... do ANYTHING that helps Americans, such as using our own resources, and heaven forbid, DEFEND ourselves and our true allies, the Eastern Europeans. Obama rule of thumb: If it’s against American interests, and the interests of the people, that is the correct way. I can’t really be sure, but he seems to want to sabotage anything remotely in our favor. He’s the Manchurian Candidate.
Obama’s not weak so much as he is selling us out, deliberately. He hates America. He doesn’t believe in the Constitution. He should be impeached and brought up on charges, as he hasn’t kept his oath. I despise the man.
yes that does answer the question
so....the Bear is still in the woods prowling around for an opportunity
so....we protect Europe? It’s too big to fall?
i am not a big fan of George Will lately, but something about his recent op-ed calling for leaving Afghanistan started me thinking....
we have American troops stationed all around the globe....are all of these deployments necessary?
isn’t there anywhere we can stand down?
maybe we review the policy and decide, yes, we stay everywhere....but i have to think that we might be able to withdraw from somewhere, sometime, maybe now.
I think we should get out of Afghanistan in particular. Our toops should be dying to protect the lives of savages. It’s an impossible war as hundreds of years of history have already taught previous leading military nations of the world.
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