Why Obama Surrendered the Missile Shield

American Thinker ^ | December 21, 2010 | Zbigniew Mazurak

[neverdem]

Documents from the State Department published by WikiLeaks show that the Obama administration surrendered the missile shield previously planned by the Bush administration to Europe because of Russian demands, not because of any supposed intel reports.

The original missile defense scheme was devised by the Bush administration, which persuaded Poland and the Czech Republic to authorize missile defense systems (ten unarmed interceptors and a radar) to be deployed on their soil.  In April 2008, Bush outmaneuvered Vladimir Putin by obtaining an endorsement of this scheme from all NATO allies before the Russian leader reached Bucharest for the NATO-Russia summit.

Russia has always opposed this scheme, putatively because the scheme would undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent (which it wouldn't -- ten unarmed interceptors can't undermine an arsenal of hundreds of ICBMs and SLBMs as well as 113 strategic bombers).  Really, Russia is in the middle of selling a nuclear reactor and tons of nuclear fuel to Iran, and the Kremlin doesn't want the West to be able to defend itself against the incipient Iranian nuclear threat.  Russia is also eager to claw Central Europe back into its sphere of influence.

Bush wisely chose not to succumb to Moscow, but he was replaced in 2009 by Barack Obama.

The leaked documents indicate that Obama's first eight months as president boiled over with Russian threats not to cooperate with the U.S. on any issue whatsoever (be it Iran, North Korea, space exploration, START negotiations, or anything else) barring cancelation of U.S. missile defense plans.  During meetings with American officials, the Russians would repeatedly interrupt American diplomats who tried to discuss anything but missile defense.

The Kremlin's message was this: you must capitulate on missile defense (and strategic arms), or else we won't even discuss (let alone cooperate on) other issues.  Eager to appease Russia, the Obama Administration naïvely surrendered missile defense plans on September 17, 2009.

Administration officials, including Obama and Bob Gates, are now falsely claiming that their surrender had nothing to do with Russia and was instead dictated by claimed new intel.  Supposedly, Iran's priority is now the development of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles rather than IRBMs and ICBMs (against which the Bush missile shield was designed to be effective).

But the leaked documents, reproduced by the NYT, show that the Iranians still prioritize the development and acquisition of long-range ballistic missiles.

The documents say that before Obama made his decision, Iran acquired BM25 (Rodong) IRBMs from North Korea.  These can reach Western Europe and Moscow.  Other publicly available intel reports say that Iran aims by 2015 to acquire ICBMs meant to reach the U.S.   Iran also has R-27 Zyb SLBMs bought from North Korea (with a range of 3,000 kilometers; Rodong missiles were derived from them) and is reportedly now developing Shahab-4 IRBMs and Koussar missiles that could fly as far as 5,000 kilometers.  And Iran possesses missiles that can deliver satellites into the Earth's orbit -- missiles that can reach Europe just as easily. Iran's Fajr-3 and Sajjil missiles can fly as far as 2,500 kilometers.  So the Iranian long-range-missile threat is growing, not declining.

Moreover, thanks to geography, long-range ballistic missiles are the only ones which could ever reach Western Europe.  Iran is too far away from Western Europe for its SRBMs and MRBMs to reach the Old Continent, let alone the U.S.  Its Shahab-3 MRBMs can fly no farther than 2,000 km, meaning it can reach only Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, etc.).

Whoever wants to protect Europe and the U.S. should first and foremost provide defenses against long-range ballistic missiles.

Obama's putative replacement for the Bush missile defense plan (which, for the record, was based on a proven technology designed against a real threat) is a fantasy scheme partially based on technology that doesn't even exist.  Obama plans to first deploy Burke- and Ticonderoga-class BMD-capable warships to Europe.  The problem is that the Navy has only 24 BMD-capable combatants.  The deployment would strain the BMD ship fleet (which must also defend Gulf states and eastern Asian countries) and would be more expensive than the deployment of ten interceptors and a radar on land.

The second and third phases, Obama says, would be to deploy a ground version of the SM-3 interceptor missile (which doesn't exist) in Romania and later Poland, plus "enhanced sensors" that will be inferior to the radar Bush planned to deploy.

In the fourth phase, Obama says, SM-3s will be upgraded to become able to intercept long-range missiles, and such interceptors might be deployed to Europe.  Of course, that would be contingent on the Congress and whatever government succeeds the Obama administration (assuming he will even be reelected in 2012) providing the necessary funding.  Moreover, it would emerge five years after Iran is projected to acquire ICBMs.  This means that even if such an interceptor was ever developed, produced, and deployed in Europe by 2020, the U.S.* and Europe would totally lack any defense against Iranian LRBMs for five years!  And even if Iran does not acquire ICBMs by 2015, it will still have much time to construct them before any defensive systems go up in Europe.

The Heritage Foundation and the nonpartisan CBO say that the deployment of ten interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic would be only half as expensive as the deployment of Aegis-type warships to Europe.  And these Bush-planned defensive systems would protect Europe much better against Iranian missiles than the systems Obama has offered.

Nor has Obama's concession to Russia been reciprocated.  Russia has not stopped backing Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Syria.  It has not allowed any serious sanctions to be approved by the UNSC.  Putin hasn't even toned down his comments about the U.S.

In short, Obama has succumbed to Moscow for nothing.  Now he is advertising a pseudo-missile-defense scheme which is decisively inferior to the Bush plan.  It is time for the Congress and GOP presidential candidates to review this issue.

*Even the U.S. is unprotected against Iranian missiles.  The interceptors stationed in California and Alaska can protect only against missiles flying over the Pacific Ocean, e.g. from North Korea or China.  They cannot protect the U.S. against missiles from over the Atlantic Ocean.

[gusopol3]

I wonder what a stuxnet does to ICBM targeting though.

[gusopol3]

Now that depends on which way the wind blows.

[Doogle]

...because Dumbo is a street agitator turned politician who has loaded his administration with advisers with people not that much smarter than himself...

[onyx]

Every damn senator that votes for this “Russian Dream Act” is a traitor to our Republic.

The senators have just as much and more information as contained in this article, so there’s no valid reason or excuse for voting for the START Treaty.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

*Even the U.S. is unprotected against Iranian missiles. The interceptors stationed in California and Alaska can protect only against missiles flying over the Pacific Ocean, e.g. from North Korea or China. They cannot protect the U.S. against missiles from over the Atlantic Ocean.

I don't think that's a true statement. BMEWS Fylingsdale would detect and track an Iran-East Coast shot with (just) enough timeline to allow an intercept from Alaska, but I agree strongly that a European Midcourse Radar is a much better option and has the added benefit of tying the U.S. closer to Eastern Europe. I think the invasion of Georgia was the the 3:00 AM phone call and Barack flunked.

[Venturer]

That’s three halves, but you are right.

This guy has no more business in the White House than does Bill Ayres.

[Diogenesis]

"Forget Anna Chapman, Barak.
You are our most horrorshow, and deepest, agent, … ever."

The Imposter:”Bomb them, already, before they demand my birth certificate.”

[silverleaf]

We know why obama surrendered to Russia - now, why are so many GOP senators willing to follow him off the cliff?

[silverleaf]

Not to mention the KGB knows where obama was born, who is his Daddy, and what extracurricular activities he engaged in while at Occidental, Columbia, and Chicago

A president with so much past that is meticulously covered up or hidden- is eminently blackmailable

[hondact200]

No surprise here, what do you expect from all the campaign donations that came from abroad. The guy is a communist, plain and simple. He is so gleeful that there a people in DC who have a price that can be bought so he can complete his plan to destroy America before 2012. Obama goes down in history as the president whom destroyed America. What a legacy to leave behind. To bad we cannot leave Obama behind. Too many in DC are stuck on Obama that they do not care about Aerica at all. It just might be to late on Jan 5, 2011 for the 112th Congress to do anything.

My greatest fear is that it is coming on Obama’s third year in office and there is an extreme dissatisfaction with him and there is the strong possibility he will undergo a successful assassination attempt.

There will be rioting in the streets and so forth if this comes to pass. What if he survives the assasins bullet and he becomes even more ruthless than he already is - conservatives in America will be called the culprits. The people whom have the least will suffer needlessly because of a schoolyard bully whom hates America and anything to do with America.

There are some who say if Obama would survive a assassination attempt he would become worse than he already is.

I do not want anything like this to happen, as it is beyond our control now. I do not accept fatalism, I just watch this country each and every day get closer to a precipice that will end only in tragedy. Russis and China desire America to end and Obama is helping them to implode America upon itself and to many in the Republican Leadership are to dumb and stupid to see Obama for what is really about. Unfortunately, We The People are at lose ends in striving to curb our own demise.

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting article, but I find some of the information in it to be almost laughable.

I always found it hard to believe that the U.S. "missile shield" -- as described here -- in Poland and the Czech Republic was intended to defend against Iran.

[The Comedian]

President Mother Effer once again sides with the enemies of freedom.

We all knew this. Nice to see it confirmed in Wikileaks though. I should print this off so I can refer to it after the nukes go off...

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[joe fonebone]

The answer is Reagan. The question is, “What are the libs trying to erase from the face of the earth?”

[Bulldawg Fan]

Who would have thought this bowing and scraping president would abandon the US and its allies to the Russians? Message to Russia: If you ever wanted to reestablish your troops and influence in Ukraine and eastern Europe, this is the time to do it. You have a two year window to get it done at no cost other than a bunch of clucking hens in the west and secret admiration from Obama and his marxist democrats.

[Thermalseeker]

The next Pearl Harbor/911 will be absolutely horrific.

Yep and our own gubmint is guaranteeing it......

[Inwoodian]

The Russkies are playing this twerp like a $2 ukelele. Remember the no-handshake line?

[silverleaf]

Did you ever think that maybe a war in the Mideast would require that the US forces transit bases in Europe and maybe maintain stockpiles of fuel, weapons and other supplies at forward bases? And who was willing to cooperate with us by providing those facilities?

(hint- western europe- 2012 and beyond- France Germany Italy and Spain all weak, energy dependent, and unwilling to ally with US against a nuclear Iran and its hostile protector Big Bro Russia. The eastern europe leaders much more dynamic, liberty loving, willing to ally with the US - if protected from retaliation by Iran mid-range missiles)

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Um, because he’s the Manchurian candidate? What do I win?

Why isn't this obvious to other people when you have PROOF that it is true. This man is "giving" us to our enemies on a platter. Perhaps people who cannot understand the obvious when they confront it should die. (I just worry about the rest of us).

[Thunder90]

PING

[GailA]

PHONE TIME TODAY! Start Treaty, and FCC Net Neutrality

FIRE UP THE SENATE PHONE LINES!

Toll-Free number to the Congressional Switchboard (866) 338-1015.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker is PRO START treaty, time to change his mind.