Missile defense in Europe is a requirement for national security. Iran is hell bent on building an ICBM program to strike its enemies in Israel and the West. The Cold War may be over but Russia has a long way to go before we can consider it a friend. Last year's incursion into Georgia and other actions against the Ukraine are evidence of this. How we go about it is the question.
George W. Bush implemented a missile defense shield that would put land-based missile sites in Poland and an advanced radar station in the Czech Republic. The intent was good, but the execution was shoddy.
The selection of former Eastern Bloc nations was as much symbolic (with enough Texas swagger that seemed to accompany all of Bush's foreign policy) as it was strategic. It infuriated Russia, who felt threatened by an American missile presence so close to Moscow.
The program was also time costly. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who proposed the original plan to Bush, admitted the plan would not be completed until 2015. Delays to ratify the treaties in Poland and Czech Republic pushed that back to 2017.
In yet another break with the previous administration, President Barack Obama has scrapped Bush's plan for a land-based missile defense shield but he is not doing away with missile defense altogether. Last week, Obama announced he was going to shift the plan from a land-based operation to a sea-based one with a second phase that would put land-based missiles in South and Central Europe.
This is a far better plan for a couple of reasons.
1. Moscow can relax some. Russia is a proud nation that felt humiliated after losing the Cold War. It is also quick to show that it still has a strong military presence, not as great as that of the USSR era but still potent. This weekend, Moscow announced that it would not deploy missiles to its border with Poland. Now that Russia can stop being paranoid about the Americans' presence and intentions in its backyard, maybe it can shift its attention to curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions.
2. As of this moment, we are still without a missile defense shield. Iran has tested long-range missiles capable of hitting Europe with varying degrees of success. But by moving to a sea-based operation, although temporary but still highly effective, the United States can have a missile defense shield capable of protecting its allies in the Middle East and in Europe by 2011.
Security hawks like Sen. John McCain and former Governor Mitt Romney claim Obama is bending to the Russians, and that America is abandoning its allies in Eastern Europe. But Iran's threat to the West is increasing every day. It won't be long until the Islamic Republic has a missile capable of reaching targets from Tel Aviv to London. A missile defense shield in 2017 could be too late.
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