Posted on 09/17/2009 7:14:59 PM PDT by myknowledge
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama abruptly canceled a long-planned missile shield for Eastern Europe on Thursday, replacing a Bush-era project that was bitterly opposed by Russia with a plan he contended would better defend against a growing threat of Iranian missiles.
The United States will no longer seek to erect a missile base and radar site in Poland and the Czech Republic, poised at Russia's hemline. That change is bound to please the Russians, who had never accepted U.S. arguments, made by both the Bush and Obama administrations, that the shield was intended strictly as a defense against Iran and other "rogue states."
Scrapping the planned shield, however, means upending agreements with the host countries that had cost those allies political support among their own people. Obama called Polish and Czech leaders ahead of his announcement, and a team of senior diplomats and others flew to Europe to lay out the new plan.
"Our new missile defense architecture in Europe will provide stronger, smarter, and swifter defenses of American forces and America's allies," Obama said in announcing the shift, which U.S. officials said was based mainly on a May U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran's program to build a nuclear-capable long-range missile would take three years to five years longer than originally expected.
The replacement system would link smaller radar systems with a network of sensors and missiles that could be deployed at sea or on land. Some of the weaponry and sensors are ready now, and the rest would be developed over the next 10 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
"I'm gonna cut down the missile defense shield in Eastern Europe". 
"Make sure you complete your task for us, because we want Eastern Europe again." 
"I will dismantile the missile shield in Eastern Europe, rendering the EU defenseless." 
Russian soldiers looking down on a OTR-21 Tochka SSM (SS-21 Scarab) SS-21 Scarab 
Iran's Shahab-3 MRBM
Yep. 0 wouldn’t want us protecting Europe or Israel especially.
Hemorrhoid II strikes again!
There is the suggestion that ship based missiles will be used to defend Europe; that there have been technical advances that made these missiles as obsolete as the Jupiter IRBMs in Kennedy's day. I don't believe that's true. There are always advances, but this system was mature.
The replacement system would link smaller radar systems with a network of sensors and missiles that could be deployed at sea or on land. Some of the weaponry and sensors are ready now, and the rest would be developed over the next 10 years.
Sadly we are not only being attacked from within we are being stripped naked to the world. We are being put in in great danger by the very people we elected to protect us.
its like cuba crisis II, quid pro quos and so forth.
Let the Poles and Czechs have the Patriot PAC-3.
There was a story about this on Greta. The shield had a dual role; to defend the Europeans from short range attacks and to do an early intercept on missiles headed towards the USA. The ship based system only addresses the short range threat.
Given that the lead time to fully deploy system could be as much as 5 years, what will the Iranians have in long range delivery systems and nuke warheads by then? So he really screwed us..... Lets pray he’s NOT in office 5 years from now.
Quite frankly I think we’ll see a move from Israel soon. I don’t they have a choice.
A bad day for America.
This bald eagle is angry at BHO.
Interesting map. It’s not a stretch to say they might have ICBMs in 5 years from now, especially with help from the Rooskies and North Korea.
And once they have a nuke, they don’t need a delivery system.... just give it to one of their terrorist surrogates and plant it in a ship bound for a major US port.
They already have delivery systems in the form of ballistic missiles (Iranian ballistic missiles are reverse-engineered North Korean designs).
Israel is one of the Iranians’ prime targets, and the Shahab-3 is the ideal weapon, while the Shahab-5 (Iranian reverse-engineered version of North Korean Taepodong-2) could reach the UK.
BHO would jeopardize us all, along with the Euroweenies.
I understand what they have today and clearly Israel needs to be very worried given what they have now. But according to Senator Kyl, part of Bush strategy was based on future capabilities and longer range ICBMs.
Also Obama has cut missile defense by at least 10% this year I believe, so that will not help our USA based ABM capabilities.
"Hemorrhoid II strikes again!"
In Canasta this is known as renegging!Nobody likes a renegger!! I hear the President of Poland, or maybe it was the Chezk Republid isn't returning Hitlery's calls!!!
Weren't these clown Demonicrats always rippin Bush for alienating US from the rest of the world???
As George Washington said on that terrific sign on the march on D.C... "WTF?" Now he's got the military brass under his control...
It’s reminiscent of the ‘50s era civil defense bomb shelters program.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.