[Marguerite]

How does Obama expect to be respected by any foreign leaders, when he makes such gross mistakes? In foreign affairs, it’s unforgivable. No wonder rhat Putin doesn’t take him seriously.

It reminds me of a Western journalist explaining to Putin that NATO wanted to install a shield anti-missile in central Europe, to defend it from ... Iran!
Putin couldn’t stop laughing .

http://youtu.be/8ux3oiWELIQ

[edpc]

The system set to be installed in Poland were mid-course interceptors. They would not have been effective in defending the US from Russian ICBMs due to the ballistic path mismatch. If they wanted to protect Europe from Russian short and medium range missiles, THAAD would be a better option. The missile defense destroyers recently deployed to the Med are there to send a message to Iran, as are the radar stations in Turkey.

Russia has been historically against any effort by the US to develop and implement a missile defense system. Why? Simple: Since 1973, their military hardware and doctrine have been defeated. In a head to head matchup against the Weat in a conventional war, they'd lose badly, even in the deteriorating conditions in which the US military currently finds itself.

The only true threat they pose is their large nuclear arsenal. Negating that with a defense system diminishes them considerably.