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Looks like a rumor at this point but the LEFT has never been a proponent of any type of missile defense.

According to reliable sources, Obama administration officials are on their way to Poland and the Czech Republic to deliver very bad news. The administration intends to cancel completely the missile defense sites that had been promised to these governments by the previous administration. This represents a complete capitulation to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who had demanded that the proposed deployments be halted as a price for improved relations. Ironically, the Obama administration, which is appeasing Russia in the hopes that Moscow will help put pressure on Iran, has made this mammoth concession just a few days after Moscow declared that it had no intention of supporting sanctions against Iran.

The consequences of this action in Eastern Europe, especially in Ukraine and in other countries that feel vulnerable to Russian power, will be disastrous. It is a major American retreat in the face of Russian bullying. And we will get absolutely nothing for it.

So, now wait a minute. Iran is developing a nuclear weapon and has advanced missile technology to soon be able to deliver a nuclear warhead.

Thus, because of Obama’s RESET of Russia relations he imperils American cities from nuclear attack or blackmail from Iran?

Looks like a one term President to this observer.

These missile defense successes are becoming routine.

The latest US missile defence test, conducted last night in Hawaii waters, was deemed a success as tensions continue with North Korea over that country’s missile programme.

A short-range ballistic missile was fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai and then was shot down by a three-stage interceptor missile from a destroyer, the USS Hopper.

The test, conducted by the Navy and the Department of Defense’s Missile Defence Agency, marked the 23rd firing by ships equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system.

With the latest test, there have been 19 successes, including the shooting down of a dead US spy satellite last year.

Remember when the Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senators John Kerry, Joe Biden (now the Vice President) and Ted Kennedy wanted to kill the missile defense program – as unworkable?

DEADLY wrong, now weren’t they?

The ONLY question I have since it is apparent that President Obama has given the order to OK a kill of the missile if it appears headed towards the United States, is which missile defense system will get the kill?

U.S. missile defenses are prepared to try to knock down the last stage of a Taepodong-2 missile that North Korea is expected soon to launch if sensors detect the weapon threatens U.S. territory, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command told The Washington Times.

“The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defense capability. Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, I’m very comfortable, give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICBM that I’ve got high confidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any U.S. territory,” said Air Force Gen. Victor E. “Gene” Renuart, Northcom commander.

The general said the United States won’t activate its missile defenses if the North Korean missile appears it will fall safely into the water as the country’s last test missile did.

My bet is on the Aegis System based on a United States ship. Second, a Ground-based interceptor from Alaska.

Stay tuned…….

Shocking?

Not Really.

The Pentagon’s second-in-command says North Korea’s missiles could threaten the continental United States if the reclusive rogue nation continues to develop its weapons.

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn agreed with an assessment by Sen. John McCain that the U.S. should be prepared for a “worst-case scenario” with North Korea.

Pentagon officials also told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that North Korea is working with other nations, including Iran and potentially Syria, to develop ballistic missiles.

In the meantime, President Obama is spending money without regard on dubious economic stimulus projects, while cutting national missile defense.

Repairs for rural bridges, an under-highway safe crossing for turtles and efforts to protect the sage grouse population are among 100 projects a Republican senator pointed to Monday as questionable federal stimulus spending.

The list by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., includes projects others would identify as ideal for creating jobs and benefiting generations of Americans: skateboard parks, streetscapes, upgrades of park facilities, bike trails and parking garages.

I don’t think the Congress will allow the cuts and the President will be held accountable for his folly.

North Korea is continuing its tests of long-range missiles which potentially might target the United States.

North Korea has positioned its most sophisticated long-range ballistic missile at a launch site for a test firing that could come within weeks, a newspaper here reported Monday.

Pyongyang, which last month raised tensions worldwide by conducting a nuclear test, could even fire its missile when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak meets President Obama in Washington on June 16, according to the report.

The Dong-a Ilbo newspaper in Seoul reported that the newest missile set for launch from the Dongchang-ni launch site on North Korea’s west coast may be a version of the Taepodong-2 rocket that Pyongyang fired in April.

The report, citing unnamed sources, said the missile has a range of up to 4,000 miles and could reach Alaska. Both South Korea and Japan acknowledged today that a new North Korean long-range missile test could come within weeks.

What is the United States response?

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who has submitted a budget that cuts national missile defense programs said, “at this point, it’s not clear what they’re going to do.”

And, then downplays the entire affair.

Gates spoke in Manila before boarding a U.S. military jet for Alaska, where he was scheduled to view a key part of the missile defense system, the ground based interceptor silos.

In the 2010 budget, Gates proposed cutting more than a billion dollars from missile defense, halting the planned expansion of the interceptors from 30 to 44. In the wake of the North Korea test some experts, including former Defense Secretary William Cohen, have suggested rethinking those cuts.

But in an earlier roundtable with reporters, Gates said his budget will robustly fund missile defense, cutting only parts of the program, like the airborne laser, that had little chance of success. Gates said the interceptor program will get $750 million to continue its development and $200 million to sustain the existing 30 missiles.

“The 30 interceptors we have are adequate for years to come to deal with the North Korean threat as we see it developing,” Gates said.

Gates said North Korea will not be able to deploy a significant number of long range missiles in a short period of time. If they were to expand their capabilities, the U.S. would have “ample time” to build additional interceptors.

Yet, Bill Clinton’s former Secretary of Defense, William Cohen advises Gates to NOT cut the missile defense budget.

With the increasing billigerence of North Korea and Iran, why would the Obama Administration considering placing the United States at risk while it is wasting $ Billions in bailing out failed automobile companies.

Mr President, how about some priorities here.

By the way, do you think Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will give Secretary Gates an earful today about Alaska job losses as a result of Obama cuts in missile defense?

William Cohen, Bill Clinton’s former Secretary of Defense and Republican Senator from Maine says that President Obama is sending the wrong signal to rogue regimes.

Writing the Washington Times, William Cohen, a Republican senator from Maine who served as President Bill Clinton’s defense secretary from 1997 through 2001, says that President Obama’s decision to reduce the funding commitment to the US missile-defense system by $1.4 billion “sends the signal that we do not take the threats of rogue regimes seriously, and are willing to take the risk that current technologies are sufficient to prevent devastating accidents or miscalculations.”

Given North Korean actions, Cohen says, this is a big mistake.

“Given the disturbing geopolitical events that are now unfolding, it is imperative that we err on the side of safety,” he says. “The consequences are too grave to allow our leadership to claim at some future time that they were taken by surprise.”

Cutting this commitment will “embolden North Korea, Iran and other rogue states to pursue missiles of increasing range. It would also confuse our allies and undermine their trust in America’s security guarantees. If the United States is vulnerable to the threat of a missile attack by a rogue state, allies could lose confidence in America’s nuclear deterrent – which could lead nations such as Japan to pursue a nuclear deterrent of their own.”

Of course, Obama is wrong. But he, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, plus other Senate Democrats have never been fans of missile defense even after the technology has been proven.

“This premise, that one day Kim Jong Il or someone will wake up one morning and say ‘Aha, San Francisco!’ is specious,” Senator Joe Biden told AP in May 2001.

Meanwhile in the Senate, Carl Levin (D., Mich.) offered in June to cut off funds for the ground-based interceptor program that Mr. Bush recently activated in Alaska in anticipation of the North Korean launch. Mr. Levin wants to stop new interceptors from being built, but Senate Republicans wouldn’t bring his proposal up for a vote. Mr. Levin has been waging his own private war against missile defenses for a generation, to the point of outflanking Russian objections on the political left.

In May 2001 the Boston Herald’s Woodlief wrote that John Kerry “wants to croak the hugely costly nuclear missile defense system.” And just one day before the 9/11 attacks Joe Biden (D., Del.) gave a National Press Club speech outlining Democrat opposition to national missile defense.

Cohen makes his point and is the conventional wisdom in defense circles.

But, will Obama stop the DOUBLESPEAK and do what is right?

Previous:

The Partisan Divide on Missile Defense – What is Obama Cutting?

Poll Watch: Strong Support for Missile Defense by Americans Across the Political Spectrum

Obama Dodges And Plays Word Games With America’s National Missile Defense

Folly of the Day: Obama Cuts Missile Defense

The Missile Defense Archive

There is a good piece about the Obama Administration’s attempt to cut defense costs by reducing the Missile Defense Agency in Congressional Quarterly.

So, what is Obama cutting?

Obama’s budget plan would reduce the planned number of deployed ground-based missile interceptors in Alaska
and California from 44 to 30, keeping the remainder as backups ortesting devices.

Many GOP lawmakers are angered at the move.

“This is the one system that protects the homeland from ICBMs that’s completely on our land, our territory, that’s under our control without having to ask permission to place it in a foreign nation,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions , R-Ala.

The president’s budget also would kill two problem-plagued futuristic technology programs: the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI), which was meant to hit missiles in their earliest stage, and the Multiple Kill Vehicle program, which was conceived to hit multiple incoming warheads at once.

Sen. Richard C. Shelby , R-Ala., wrote to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on May 13 calling on them not to halt the KEI project just yet. “Stopping work on the program now is irresponsible,” he wrote.

The new MDA complex is in Huntsville, Ala., as is the Army’s Aviation and Missile Command. Boeing, a major MDA contractor, also is moving its missile defense headquarters to Huntsville.

The budget would cancel plans for a second prototype airplane for the Airborne Laser program, which envisions shooting down missiles with lasers from 747airplanes. House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Vice-Chairman Norm Dicks , D-Wash., is a staunch defender of the program. The planes would be built by Boeing Co. in his state.

No funding is suggested in the budget request to build two planned missile defense sites in Europe, following Obama’s promise not to move forward until more testing is completed and agreements with the host nations
Poland and the Czech Republic are signed.

Republicans say stalling work on the European sites risks damaging diplomatic outreach to the two countries.

“It leaves the Poles and Czechs and all of those who have been courageous in this effort fundamentally and objectively betrayed,” said Rep. Trent Franks , R-Ariz.

In the meantime, Iran and North Korea develop and test new missiles which can carry nuclear warheads.

And, the Obama Administration proposes saving money in its budget by cutting vital missile defense programs, including the deployment of missiles to protect the United States from an actual attack – making America less safe.

The wrong move and it will be up to Congress to correct Obama’s misplaced priorities.

Previous:

Poll Watch: Strong Support for Missile Defense by Americans Across the Political Spectrum

Obama Dodges And Plays Word Games With America’s National Missile Defense

Folly of the Day: Obama Cuts Missile Defense

The Missile Defense Archive

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