Obama: New Missile Defense Plan 'Stronger, Smarter And Swifter' President Obama spoke this morning on the administration's change to a planned European missile defense system, saying the new strategy "will provide stronger, smarter and swifter defenses of American's forces and American allies." Obama said he made the change after an assessment of the missile defense strategy and unanimous recommendations from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said the new plan is based around changing intelligence about the threat from Iran's ballistic missile program and developing defense technology. The new architecture "best responds to the threats we face and utilizes technology that is both proven and cost-effective," Obama said in brief remarks in the White House. Gates also spoke from the Pentagon, along with Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The system will "enhance our ability to respond to the most immediate threats to the Continent as well as future threats," Gates said. He said the plan would be implemented in phases. The first will involve missile defense systems placed on ships; the second, starting around 2015, will move to land-based versions in the Czech Republic and Poland.
There are rumours that Obama is sending those missiles to Israel instead to protect against iran and Hizballa, There are speculations in the local news in Israel that says that Obama is trying to convince Putin to turn against Iran.
Unanimous recommendation of his top military advisors? Definitely reeks of brimstone here. Just doesn't smell right.
Good posts. For me, Iran is a huge key to the matter. Even if you argue Obama's plan is the right thing to do (which it is), it's important to get a strategic benefit from Russia regarding Iran. Getting Putin to morph Russia's position over the next few months would a major coup. We will see. To the naysayers, please understand that Russia isn't going to suddenly (publicly) fall in line with us. They will do everything possible to avoid the appearance of quid pro quo and will deny it when asked. I'm very hopeful about this. Let the right-wing kooks whine about "caving".
So you're saying that Obama took recommendations from the most educated authorities on this matter before making a decision? I'm still not used to that sort of leadership in the White House.
hmmmm, there couldn't be anything symbolic about the date of the announcement, to the Poles or Russia?
I love how wingers argue when we should cater to other countries and when we should be pro nationals as it fits their agenda
what's our agenda, other than safe-guarding our country, and those of our allies? oh, and Happy Molotov-Ribbentrop Day!
Didn't want to create a new thread, but I thought this was interesting........China is now in the league of North Korea and Iran? Really? http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090915/usa/us_attacks_intelligence_russia_china US lists China, Russia as its main challengers In a report outlining the major priorities for the US intelligence community, China was singled out for its "increasing natural resource-focused diplomacy and military modernization." "Russia is a US partner in important initiatives such as securing fissile material and combating nuclear terrorism, but it may continue to seek avenues for reasserting power and influence in ways that complicate US interests," said the report, which is released every four years. The report stressed that there may be opportunities to work with China and Russia and was far harsher in its criticism of Iran and North Korea, whose nuclear weapons programs are a top concern in the West. "Iran poses an array of challenges to US security objectives in the Middle East and beyond because of its nuclear and missile programs, support of terrorism, and provision of lethal aid to US and coalition adversaries. WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday put emerging superpower China and former Cold War foe Russia alongside Iran and North Korea on a list of the four main nations challenging American interests. "North Korea continues to threaten peace and security in East Asia because of its sustained pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, its transfer of these capabilities to third parties, its erratic behavior, and its large conventional military capability," it said. The report, which lays out the priorities for the US intelligence community for the next four years, said Al-Qaeda "will continue to pose a grave threat to US persons and interests at home and abroad." Listed at the top of its "mission objectives" were combating violent extremism and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
Thanks for link. Is this new strategy going to work? The fact that the military brass support the new architecture is promising, but I'm under the impression that the technology isn't really there yet. If we spend billions, and it's about as effective as the Patriot missile was at intercepting Scuds, we'll be much poorer and not much safer. Of course if we need a testing ground, the Northern Pacific loks like a good spot. North Korea will give us a chance to practice every couple of months or so.
That would be a mistake. We should continue to listen to the Neocon nutcases who have been wrong on every major military and strategic issue.
I guess I don't see what the controversy is about here...The President made a decision to change the defense plane based on NEW intelligence, NEW scientific advances, and the unanimous reccomendations from the JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF. I'm sure if McCain were President, he'd make the same decision. Both ends of the political spectrum need to get over themselves sometimes.
Obama scraps Bush-era missile defense for new plan WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is overhauling Bush-era plans for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, based partly on the latest analysis of Iran's offensive capabilities, President Obama said Thursday. The "new missile defense architecture in Europe ... will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the... program" that former President George W. Bush proposed, Obama said. Obama said the change of gears was based on an "updated intelligence assessment" about Iran's ability to hit Europe with missiles. The Islamic republic's "short- and medium-range" missiles pose the most current threat, he said, and "this new ballistic missile defense will best address" that threat. Gates, speaking from the Pentagon immediately after the president's announcement, denied the United States was "scrapping" missile defense. "This new approach provides a better missile defense capability for our forces in Europe, for our European allies and eventually for our homeland than the program I recommended almost three years ago," said Gates, who was defense chief in the last two years of the Bush administration and stayed on when Obama took office. The Bush-era proposal called for the U.S. to set up a radar site in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland to counter the threat of Iran launching long-range missiles at America's allies in Europe. The new system will have "hundreds" of missile interceptors, said Gen. James Cartwright, deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Pentagon's point man on the issue. It also will have mobile radars, including some in space, "that can move to wherever the threat actually emanates and wherever we feel we need to defend ourselves," Cartwright said. He contrasted the new sensor technology with the radar systems envisioned in the old plan, which he called "basically left over from the Cold War." The new plan includes three types of missiles to shoot down incoming threats -- Patriot missiles, which defend a single location; SM-3 interceptors, which he said could protect "a general area like the area from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C."; and large ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California. The first phase of the system is due to be in place in 2011, with the subsequent phases rolling out around 2015, 2018 and 2020, he said. "It's a more advanced system, more cost-effective and efficient," a senior administration official said before the president and Gates spoke. "The technology has evolved in a way that allows you to deploy a system that is more effective in countering both short-, medium- and long-range missiles," said the official, contrasting the types of missiles that Iran, for example, is believed to have with intercontinental ballistic missiles of the kind feared during the Cold War. The Bush administration had cited the perceived nuclear threat from Iran as one of the key reasons it wanted to install the missile shield in Eastern Europe. But a 60-day review mandated by Congress and ordered by Obama recommended the new approach that was unveiled Thursday. American officials from Obama on down insisted Thursday's announcement does not reflect any lesser commitment to European defense. But the U.S. reversal is likely to please Russia, which had fiercely opposed the plan. Obama has been seeking a stronger relationship with Russia and better cooperation from the Kremlin to support tough U.N. economic sanctions against Iran if it continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions. There was no immediate comment Thursday morning from Russian officials, although Russia's ambassador to the United Nations grinned when asked if he had heard the announcement. "Oh, yes," the Russian envoy, Vitaly Churkin, said with a smile. Missile defense has been a sore point in relations between Washington and Moscow, with Russia believing the shield would ultimately erode its strategic nuclear deterrent. The missile shield issue came up in July during a meeting between Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. Obama maintained that Russia had nothing to fear from such a system, which would be designed to intercept a solitary missile from Iran or North Korea, as opposed to "a mighty Russian arsenal." But the senior administration official denied a diplomatic motive to scrapping the missile defense program. "This has nothing to do with Russia," he said. "The notion that we're abandoning missile defense is completely false. It's evolving into a different system." A U.S. delegation held high-level meetings Thursday in Poland and the Czech Republic to discuss the missile defense system. Officials in both countries confirmed the system would be scrapped. In a statement, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said that Obama told him in a Wednesday phone call that the United States was shelving its plans. Fischer did not say what reason Obama gave him for reconsidering. A spokeswoman at the Polish Ministry of Defense also said the program had been suspended. "This is catastrophic for Poland," said the spokeswoman, who declined to be named in line with ministry policy. Poland and the Czech Republic had based much of their future security policy on getting the missile defenses from the United States. The countries share deep concerns of a future military threat from the east -- namely, Russia -- and may look for other defense assurances from their NATO allies. "At the NATO summit in April, we adopted a resolution focusing on building a defense system against real, existing threats, i.e. short-range and medium-range missiles," Fischer said. "We expect that the United States will continue cooperating with the Czech Republic on concluding the relevant agreements on our mutual [research and development] and military collaboration, including the financing of specific projects." http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/17/missile.defense.shield/index.html
Why are people saying he's scrapping the missile defense plans? According to Gates, they'll have missile defense on boats and later on land... in Czech and Poland! It seems to me not much is actually changing.
President Barack Obama speaks about the U.S. missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland, that had deeply angered Russia, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, and gets instant feedback. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak/minor edit, TheVIMH )
