Barack Obama surrenders to Russia on Missile Defence

blogs.telegraph.co.uk...

“According to reliable sources, Obama administration officials are on their way to Poland and the Czech Republic to deliver very bad news. The administration intends to cancel completely the missile defense sites that had been promised to these governments by the previous administration.”

Goldfarb also links to a post by leading defence expert Gary Schmitt, who writes:
“Guess who’s coming to dinner (in Warsaw)? Four senior Obama officials, including Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Ellen Tauscher and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security “Sandy” Vershbow, are apparently in the air right now on their way to Poland. Why? If the Washington hot rumor mill is right, to deliver the news to the Poles and then the Czechs that the administration has decided not to go forward with a missile defense system for Europe and the United States against the budding missile threat from Iran.”

This is bad news for all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defence of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. A deal with the Russians to cancel missile defence installations sends a clear message that even Washington can be intimidated by the Russian bear.

What signal does this send to Ukraine, Georgia and a host of other former Soviet satellites who look to America and NATO for protection from their powerful neighbour? The impending cancellation of Third Site is a shameful abandonment of America’s friends in eastern and central Europe, and a slap in the face for those who actually believed a key agreement with Washington was worth the paper it was written on.

This is good news in my opinion! One of the very few things that I feel Obama has done right thus far in office, as all this missile shield was going to accomplish was putting a big "F U!" in Russia's face and ratchet up tensions between the two nations. Plus, what a colossal waste of money.....wait a second, Obama actually SAVED us some money!??!

reply to post by mpriebe81


At the same time though this is a slap in the face to the Ukraine.

This is one of those times where he should have used that great speaking ability and tried to resolve the problem.

Instead he pissed off one country to try and repair another.

Thats like trading in a dollar bill for three quarters and thinking you came out ahead.

Found a news story that gives a slightly different approach to what will happen tomorrow:

AP sources: US to reveal Euro missile defense plan

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration appears likely to adopt a compromise European missile defense plan that shelves many of the components that have been a major irritant in relations with Russia, with an announcement expected Thursday.

Obama's top military adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the administration was "very close" to the end of a seven-month review of a missile defense shield proposal, an idea that was promoted by the George W. Bush administration. Mullen would not divulge its results.

President Barack Obama faces the dilemma of either setting back the gradual progress toward repairing relations with Russia or disappointing two key NATO allies that agreed to host components of the planned system.
Administration officials were expected to brief lawmakers and government officials in Poland and the Czech Republic on results of the review on Thursday, according to an administration official and a congressional aide. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates scheduled a news conference Thursday with a top military leader, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, who has been a point man on the technical challenge of arraying missiles and interceptors to defend against long-range missiles that an aggressor such as Iran might lob at the U.S. or its allies. Two military officials said the news conference would concern the missile defense plans.

I guess we'll find out soon enough whether it's being cancelled altogether.

reply to post by john124


Wonder which one is correct.

Hope its the one where they say they may have found a comprimise.

And another Democrat President craps on more of our friends.

Every single time we get a panty-waist liberal President, not only do they bend us over for a good rooting, but they make the US out to be one fickle "ally."

Then we have to have a Conservative come in and play "catch up."

What a damn mess this guy is making.

Amateur hour. And he's the star.

reply to post by dooper


Come on dooper you should know by now that the main goal is making those who don't like us our friends.

The ones who are already our friends should be happy they are our friends and keep quite.

im from Poland and i think this is awesome news.
what is first target when war starts?
yes defenses

i bet its due to usa internal problems ($$$) not that im happy about this part .

reply to post by dooper




Sheesh.

I dunno dooper, that ABM defense shield in Ploand/Czech is the worst idea ever anyway. To me it appears it served the dual purpose of primarily protecting the UK against a rogue Iran/North Korea launch, as well as antagonizing the Russians.

If you look at a map of Europe, you will soon see that if the US was really concerned about Iran reaching the eastern US seaboard at some 7,000+ miles away, installations in any number of other countries would make a lot more sense. First of all, that range is at the far extreme of what Iran can accomplish anyway, so even if they could, it would most definitely have to be in the straightest line possible to maximize the range.

And that would make installations in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, or any number of Northern African nations a lot more effective against such a direct bee line attack. Because simply, they are right in the direct path. An installation in Saudi would also help protect the coveted Israel, too.

And for that matter, the US could comfortably put ABM's in Bermuda or any other number of Atlantic Islands, and still accomplish a shield to protect itself. That would be in the direct path of any such missile as well, and not be so close to Russia as to really piss them off. Russia understands that missile installations like these can be outfitted for offense if need be, and that is their primary beef. They'd be just too close for comfort in Poland/Czech.

And they also put Russia at a strategic disadvantage with ABMs right there on their doorstep.

Russia even offered up its sharing of the rented early warning radar in Azerbaijan, but of course that ain't gonna fly:

Along with threatening to aim missiles at Europe, the Russian side came up with another proposal to the US. At the G-8 Summit in Germany in June 2007 President Putin has offered Russian-rented radar in Azerbaijan to be jointly used by Russia and the US. The radar station was a part of an early-warning system, designed to detect possible missile attack on the Soviet Union. The government of Azerbaijan has been leasing the radar to Russia after the dissolution of Soviet Union and in 2002 two governments have agreed on another 10-year period lease. Vladimir Putin has offered Gabala Radar Station to be jointly used by the US and Russia. At the same time, Russian government has also tried to assure the Iranian side that joint use would be of no harm to Iran. Later, the Iranian ambassador to Baku expressed his confidence that Russia and Azerbaijan would never use Gabala against his state. Reportedly, official Iran has had little doubt that the Americans would accept the Russian initiative.

cria-online.org...

I dunno man, this might be one of the smarter moves Obama has made, or will make, even if he is .... a ..... oh nvm...

[edit on Thu Sep 17th 2009 by TrueAmerican]

Originally posted by dooper
And another Democrat President craps on more of our friends.

Every single time we get a panty-waist liberal President, not only do they bend us over for a good rooting, but they make the US out to be one fickle "ally."

Then we have to have a Conservative come in and play "catch up."

Face it, if he had approved putting up the missile shield, you guys would just be bitching about him spending money.

Oh well, at least you don't even try to hide the fact that you're blinded by the partisan game, unlike some people here.

Why do some people hate, hate, HATE government spending of any form, but then as soon as it's the military they can't wait to spend more than we have? Is it a globalist, imperialist mindset? Or is it just stupidity?


I think this is a rare win for Obama, we need to be spending less, and this is exactly what he is doing. You supposed 'conservatives' should love this move, as he's taken the fiscally conservative position.

I guess sometimes you have to smack your friends to gets hugs from your family.

Originally posted by mpriebe81
This is good news in my opinion! One of the very few things that I feel Obama has done right thus far in office, as all this missile shield was going to accomplish was putting a big "F U!" in Russia's face and ratchet up tensions between the two nations. Plus, what a colossal waste of money.....wait a second, Obama actually SAVED us some money!??!

You took the words from my mouth mpriebe !! I'm stumped as to why but that'sok, it was a thoughtful decision and I'm darn glad for it!

Originally posted by drwizardphd

Face it, if he had approved putting up the missile shield, you guys would just be bitching about him spending money.

Nah, he had an easy out, he could have blamed it on Bush like he does with every thing else.

What was it that Hans Solo said?

"It's not my fault!!!"


Edit Add:

Other stuff rolling out of Washington also dealing with ballistic missile defense:

ARLINGTON, Va., April 6, 2009 -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is recommending that a second Airborne Laser (ABL) prototype aircraft be scrapped and the program be shifted to a research and development effort as part of a plan to reduce the Missile Defense Agency budget by $1.4 billion. Gates made the announcement Monday as he outlined his recommendations to the president regarding the 2010 defense budget.

www.photonics.com...


This latest is just another step in some sort of long range plan, and puts us in the position of returning to a MAD concept of defense... only this time we will do it with our weapons systems disassembled.

Yeah... smart man there....





[edit on 17-9-2009 by RoofMonkey]

Originally posted by dooper
And another Democrat President craps on more of our friends.

I think you overplay our "friends" contributions to overall US security and prosperity. I personally want the US dollars invested here, instead of propping up Polish or Czech economy. Further, it's preposterous to assume that said Poles and Czechs are scared sh!tless by Iran. I couldn't care less if they want to play the US vs Russia. It's their business and not ours.

How myopic some people are. The whole ABM thing was a major irritant, a massive financial boondogle and a generally bad idea. If those countries feel they need to be protected let thme deal with it. We have enough problems here at home. The naive here can't seem to grasp that this is only about someone making a great deal of money. Does nothing about defense for anyone. Ronnie Reagan's Star Wars redux.

Well... they are probably thinking... Why give someone something for free... instead, let's send the war profiteers over there and make a little money on this venture. Hell, we have trillions in deficit that we have to pay. Oh yeah doesn't China own most of our debt? Gotta get the money from somewhere.

Sounds like we are more and more like the Mafia!

i dont doubt it was a bad idea and actually aimed at russia... but what if there was a reason for that ? what about the polish and czech leadership that stuck thier necks out ? what about the ukraine and georgia who r on the frontlines of any russian onslaught..? good idea... eh! we'll have to wait and see what the proposed alternative is...

I can't help but wonder if this is a concession the US is making to Russia to appease them so we can take a shot at Iran.

Just my 2-cents

Originally posted by Aggie Man
I can't help but wonder if this is a concession the US is making to Russia to appease them so we can take a shot at Iran.

I don't think the US is too concerned with appeasing Russia.

He picked a hell of a day to announce it. Today is the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland. I bet Poland's government appreciates that, especially given the fact that the agreement was canned due to Russia's objections.

Nice