"Suitably handled by Obama, with the right timing...We are now right-sizing according to the threat, and moving faster instead of slower with proven technology instead of hoped-for."
--Uber security analyst Tom Barnett on the Obama BMD change
TW: The usual suspects amongst the conservatives came out shrieking last week when SecDef Gates and POTUS came out with a revised approach to BMD relative to Iran. Just remember many of these critics were the same fools who led us into the morass of Iraq whilst simultaneously taking their eye off the Afghan ball. These sames folks would also have us increase our defense spending even further towards the stratosphere. The knee jerk on the right is to call "pussy/wimp" any move by a Dem on national security. This not only is insulting it is just bad and destructive policy.
We need smarter policy making not louder, harder chest pounding.
From Jamie McIntyre at Line of Departure blog:
"...I’ve...have concluded this is NOT a “shelving” or “scuttling” of European missile defenses, as was widely characterized in reports this morning.
This is more of a recalibration of the plan, which appears designed to downplay, the future land-based system, and possibly fool the Russians into thinking the U.S. has pulled back.
Defense Secretary Gates is as crafty as they come, and the plan he outlined at the Pentagon today sounds like he wants to have his cake and east it, too.
Here’s how he described it:
“In the initial stage we will deploy Aegis ships equipped with SM- 3 interceptors [Standard Missiles], which provide the flexibility to move interceptors from one region to another if needed. The second phase, about 2015, will involve fielding upgraded land based SM-3s. Consultations have begun with allies, starting with Poland and the Czech Republic, about hosting a land-based version of the SM-3 and other components of the system. Basing some interceptors on land will provide additional coverage and save costs compared to a purely sea-based approach.”
Later Gates says, “I would also note that plans to cover most of Europe and add to the defense of the U.S. homeland will continue on about the same schedule as before.”
So while there is an effort to appease the Russians, it looks more like smoke and mirrors, and so I guess Moscow really won’t be all that reassured.
Because while the debate ranges in the U.S. about whether missiles defenses really work, the Russian are area convinced they do, and could potentially someday, neutralize the threat from their vast nuclear arsenal. So to answer my own question, this looks more like a calculation than a capitulation."
http://www.thelineofdeparture.com/2009/09/17/scuttling-the-shield-calculation-or-capitulation/
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