I don't know if I am misreading him but Robert Gates seems to be the good soldier who publicly will support the President whoever he/she might be. I do not recall any publically expressed dissent from him when serving under Bush who was a proponent of the land-based missle defense system in Eastern Europe. Neither does he seem particularly bothered by Obama's decision to scrap it in the near term. So, unless Defense has some sort of amazing defensive system in the works that Putin doesn't know about then this does seem like a slap in the face to our loyal allies in Eastern Europe. I forget where I read this the other day but I recall that although the leadership in Eastern Europe is dismayed, the average guy on the street in those countries didn't think it was a big deal. I guess it's OK for the President to listen to the man on the street SOMEWHERE if it's too much trouble to do so in the country he was elected to serve. Barry is a weird dude.

Obama is right to scrap the plans for missile defense.

I appreciate that Eastern European countries are scared of Russia, but Russia is scared too.

Placing missile defense in Poland / Czech Republic is rightly seen by the Kremlin as confrontational: the escalation of defensive systems between nuclear powers destabilises the balance of power and is tantamount to an act of war.

The new policy will lead to a safer Europe in the future.

You can figure that the Poles and Czechs will give us the finger if we ask them for anything in the future. So much for better world relations, unless you mean with murderous thugocracies. If you wonder why the Dems are constantly viewed as idiots on national security, look no further. mpw

Hey Poles and Czechs...Obama is betraying American us well....you know how you feel!

"The new policy will lead to a safer Europe in the future."

Funny, that's what Hitler and Stalin said in 1939.

Dan -

Your statement re defensive systems doesn't make much sense. It's about on the order of 'You shouldn't have sprinkler systems in buildings because it causes fires.'

If Russia were truely peaceful, it'd not have any real problems with a missile DEFENSE system. (Of course, if they as a culture weren't actively paranoid then they could have avoided about three centuries worth of problems, but that's another matter, another discussion.) I'm thinking they still see Eastern Europe as 'theirs', as China views Taiwan. It's just a matter of when they serve the eviction notice...

Obama says the missile defense system is untested and does not function. If true, there is no reason for the Soviets, pardon, I mean Russians to fear it. If you do not plan to threaten, what difference does an ineffective defense make? My dislike for Obama is not because he is black, it is because he is red.

Dan,
The missles were placed in Eastern Europe for defense. I am sorry that Putin has a problem with this but these are independent countries now and are free to arrange for their defense accordingly. It has been United States policy to support our allies in this regard, at least up to the conclusion of the previous administration. This is a bunch of crap that the Russians should feel threatened by missle defense. Eastern Europe (and Europe in general) has no interest in mounting any threat to Russian sovereignty. Any problems Russia has are self-created. Putin, on the other hand, would love I'm sure to have Eastern Europe back in Russia's direct sphere of influence. It is interesting that despite all the tensions of the Cold War there were no major wars fought. This defensive missle system does not upset the balance of power, it strengthens it.

The Poles and Czechs know that Russia is now emboldened by what they see as a weak President. Obama has now sown the seeds for his administration's ultimate foreign policy failure. However, he's still working on his administration's ultimate domestic policy failure. The majority of Americans will ready for more hope and change by 2012. That is, hoping to change who the President is.

...wondering how long it will be before we have a web site to post pictures saying "I'm Sorry" to the Poles and Czechs...

Of course 65% of Poles favored Hussein, 20% McCain. Poland better HOPE Russia CHANGES its mind about an invasion!

...wondering if we should start a pool on which country Russia will "liberate" and when.

We could also do an over/under on how many.

Lawson / Dave D.

You are viewing things from a western perspective:

Nuclear powers generally avoid war beacause of the threat of retaliation which would be "mutually destructive." From a Russian perspective, placing a defense system in between Russia and Europe suggests that an attack might be coming because the defense is placed there to prevent retaliation.

Now, I don't think that anyone intends to attack Russia, but you have to appreciate that their concerns are legitimate.

More importantly, the Bush administration would have known about these norms of conducting nuclear weapons policy and hence also known how antagonistic the defense would be to Russia.

Read: 'The Spread of Nuclear Weapons' by Sagan & Waltz.

Of course the "western perspective" is to not invade your neighbors to begin with and actively promote peace and prosperity. Such a terrible way of looking at things, isn't it? Certainly something that should be rejected because more aggressive nations 'don't like it'.

"The new policy will lead to a safer Europe in the future."

Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Stop Comrade! Yer killin' me! And since when did a SHIELD become and OFFENSIVE weapon?

Take a couple more hits off that bong and give us a rendition of "Tiptoe thru the Tulips".

Hey Dan, what did Barry GET in return? NOTHING!

Dan,
I do not know much about missle technology but forgetting baout Iran and looking at Russia alone, I thought the Topol missle they developed was the fastest, most maneuverable missle in the world. It would seem with that advanced technology a defense system would be welcome. By the way, it's not thinking from a western perspective per se, I hope it is more thinking along the best interests of the West. I think that is fair. I would expect the Russian's to favor their perspective.

He has betrayed everybody when soon can this trecerous scoundrel be impeached?

Shortly after Obama's election, I posted this comment on many blogs...
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On Election Day, the Ace of Spades website posted a picture of two Iraqi women, with purple-stained fingers showing they had voted in an election.

It was a "Get Out The Vote" message, noting that whatever inconveniences YOU may experience by voting, "These women literally risked their lives to vote".

My first reaction was, "And THE ONE can hardly wait to sell them out".

Obama's rhetoric on Iraq, and comments about Israel, showed a casual willingness to sell out allies when convenient.

A commenter asked, "Who appointed us to be their guardians? Why is it America's job to make sure they are safe?"

Perhaps we'd rather not have the entire world as a nuclear-armed camp, figuring that the more countries with these things, the more risk that some will eventually be used.

Our alliances with these countries ain't out of the goodness of our heart, but for our own best interests. Sell one out, and I'll bet you the others will sure take notice.

The commenter seemed to be saying, "To hell with them; let them take care of themselves!"

Ok! But, they might do exactly that, and we might be less than thrilled with the results.

If countries under threat (Taiwan, South Korea, Japan) think that our word is no longer any good, they'll almost certainly feel the need for nuclear arms as the only real deterrent to someone like China. And note, those countries ALL have the necessary economic, industrial and technical wherewithal to go nuclear. All they need do is make the decision.

Others, in the Middle East, will want them to deter Iran. How about Saudi Arabia and Egypt? Maybe Libya decides that abandoning their efforts was a mistake. THOSE countries may lack the technology, but they can certainly afford to finance it.

It could just go on and on.

THAT could be a very likely consequence of us deciding to just disengage ourselves from these countries.

We've tried, for a long time, to convince others that they didn't need them, because WE would provide the nuclear umbrella.

When they figure they can't count on us, the whole thing unravels.

If the commenter gets his wish, and they DO take care of themselves, it could get real interesting for us as well.

As we also reside on the same planet, I think it almost impossible we would remain unaffected.

So, standing up for our allies is not just a nice thing to do; it makes the hardest kind of common sense.

Simply put, we protect others in order to protect ourselves.

Abandoning them, selling them out, would be an unbelievably short-sighted (as in STUPID) thing to do, and would hurt us more in the long run. No one would trust an agreement with us; and why should they, given such a record?

Instead of being worth a damn, our word would only be noise.

And that would be tragic, because WE set its' value, by our actions.
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Sadly, I see absolutely nothing in that comment that needs amending.

:(

From a Russian perspective, placing a defense system in between Russia and Europe suggests that an attack might be coming because the defense is placed there to prevent retaliation.

Why on earth would we attack Russia? They don't have a stinking thing that we would want. The assertion that Russia is fearful of an attack is ludicrously implausible. How can you even say that in the face of clear Russian aggression in the area, e.g. the Georgia invasion and cutting off of the natural gas supply?

Russia was angry because the missile defense system put a kink in their own plans for hegemony, pure and simple. They want to reclaim that which they lost in the collapse of the USSR. It is not rocket science.

Nor has Russia moderated its aggressive stance toward Georgia, Ukraine and other neighbors that it claims should be subject to its dominion. In Central Europe, its aim is to weaken the ties of such countries as Poland and the Czech Republic to NATO and eventually convert them to buffer states. In this, there are worrisome signs that it is making progress. Whatever the intentions of the Obama administration, much of the public and the political elites of those countries believe they have been let down by the alliance -- and in particular by the United States -- in the face of mounting Russian belligerence. WaPo

The Russians are shaking in their boots, fearful of an attack from their neighbors? For the love of Obama, what do liberals have for brains?

Cmon folks, give Dan a break. It's not like Russia has ever conquered their neighbors. It's not like they every held the Czech and Polish people under their thumb in a repressive regime.
It's not like Putin ever had ties to the KGB.

Poles and Czechs: Obama Betrayed Us!

Yes, he has. Get use to it! And welcome to the Ones free under the bus World tour.

Wonder how the Japanese, Taiwanese and South Koreans are feeling about now? After all "Barry got their back!"

Pretty soon Barry's going to want to 'forge alliances' with other countries. Image the look on his face when they reply "er...no thanks!"

danm parker - "Placing missile defense in Poland / Czech Republic is rightly seen by the Kremlin as confrontational: the escalation of defensive systems between nuclear powers destabilises the balance of power and is tantamount to an act of war."

Bush's system was a defensive system, NOT an offensive system.

Go ahead parker explain to us peons how a defensive system is a threat to rootin' tootin' putin. It's NOT he was just spouting BS.

You may also explain why putin was so concerned with the system that he'd cooperate on a proposed missile defense system in Europe if it used a Soviet-era radar system stationed in Azerbaijan instead of a U.S.-built one in the Czech Republic.

GransFan - "Pretty soon Barry's going to want to 'forge alliances' with other countries."

Already tried, unfortunately the pres. of Honduras is in exile now.

How's that workin' fer ya berry o?

Had an interesting conversation with a couple of old gents in the neighborhood today. One's a ex-pat Brit who was captured by the Germans at Tobruk, the other a naturalized citizen who came here as a teenager (displaced person) from Poland in the late 40's. The old Polish guy was PISSED at Barry. Went on and on about back stabbing...what really pissed him off was that he voted for Barry! Don't know how it will play out with his extended family of kids, grand and great-grand kid, but I don't think he'll be voting for Barry in the future.

Obama is a waste as a 1)a president 2)a diplomat!

He and PELOSI should get nuked!

I wrote an article commemorating this grandiose event:

http://www.powderroomgraffiti.com/shout-it/obama-blows-off-eastern-europe.html

And thus we see the brilliance of Obaman foreign policy; alienate our friends and reward our enemies. Brilliant!! Why can't that stupid Bush ever have thought of anything so nuanced and genius.
Maybe Obama IS as smart as he thinks we is, truly he will next solve world hunger and New York Times crossword puzzles with ease. Be forwarned; The Chosen One Walks Among us this day and I have seen the light of his excellence, and it is wonderful.

The RNC should start running adds.
Were you safer 9 months ago than you were today.
Then head lines of korean Missile test.
Pulling the Shield from Eastern Europe
and witch hunts at the CIA

OMG! From the ... get this .... ASSOCIATED PRESS (Obama's BIGGEST fans):

"MOSCOW - Russia said Saturday it will scrap a plan to deploy missiles near Poland since Washington has dumped a planned missile shield in Eastern Europe. It also harshly criticized Iran's president for new comments denying the Holocaust.

Neither move, however, represented ceding any significant ground. A plan to place Iskander missiles close to the Polish border was merely a threat. And while the Kremlin has previously criticized Tehran for questioning the reality of the Holocaust, Russian leaders have refused to back Western push for tougher sanctions against Iran.

It still remains unclear whether Moscow will make any significant concessions on Iran and other issues in response to President Barack Obama's move to scrap the Bush-era plan for U.S. missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic."

"It still remains unclear" That's as far as AP will go with their RACIST! comments about our beloved president.

So Moscow will not place OFFENSIVE missiles next to the border. A move they only THREATEN to do in response to DEFENSIVE missiles being placed on the Polish border.

God! That Barry Obama sure does some great shit in the area of foreign policy!