The Appalling Timing of Obama’s Missile Defense Decision
Pragmatist:
You’ve got some evidence to back that up? And how is it relevant?
Paul of Alexandria:
“Iran can threaten Europe too – or have you forgotten the various terrorist attacks there recently”
They’re not threatening europe with missiles.
“The first is the issue of missile defense itself. The system in question was intended to protect US allies against middle-east ICBM’s”
There aren’t any middle-eastern ICBMs. Iran can reach western europe and that’s about it. We’ve discussed that already. When iran CAN reach the US then they’ll find themselves being a retaliation target, and that’ll be that (I wonder if you get a certificate or something when you’re in the cross-hairs, just so you know?)
“this capability is now seriously compromised, if not totally nullified”
The system they’re removing doesn’t work. It’s pre-nullified.
“The second is the keeping of long-standing promises to those US allies … which would provide a dis-incentive for Russia to pull the same thing there as it did in Georgia.”
Then stick a marine barracks in poland and be done with it. The trick is – you want to make sure you aren’t walking face-first into trouble – NATO’s decision NOT to back georgia until it sorted out its border issues being a case in point.
“The long-term political consequences of this action will be much worse than merely lack of protection against ICBM’s”
Nah. I reckon this whole thing was a watered-down version of krushchev’s cuban missiles. Stick something worrying on your enemy’s border so you can bargain. Trouble is – bush was in no domestic position to bargain.
