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Russia To a WEAK Obama – No “HAGGLING” Over Missile Defense and Our Friend Iran
Just like in Poker, Russia has called Baracack Obama’s bluff regarding missile defense and Iran.Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Tuesday showed willingness to discuss the US-planned missile defence system opposed by Moscow, but without “haggling” linking it to Iran. Medvedev was commenting during a visit to Spain on an alleged offer by US President Barack Obama to halt the defence system if Iran could be convinced to give up nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The New York Times earlier reported that Obama had sent a secret letter to Medvedev.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in Madrid, Medvedev welcomed the “positive signals” coming from the Obama administration with which he hoped to reach “agreements.”
“Haggling,” however, was not “productive,” Medvedev said.
If the Obama administration showed “common sense” in proposing a “common shield against all types of threats” and reconsidered its plans of a missile defence system which could target Russia, Moscow would be prepared to negotiate, Medvedev said.
The New York Times reported earlier on its website that Obama last month offered a halt to the US-planned missile defence system opposed by Moscow if Iran could be convinced to relinquish nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Citing US officials speaking on condition of anonymity, the Times reported that Obama sent a secret letter three weeks ago to Medvedev.
The offer was described as offering Russia an incentive to help the US and other Western powers achieve a halt to any Iranian programmes that could lead to military nuclear capabilities and long- range delivery systems for warheads.
If the Iranian threat were removed, the US could forego the missile defence system, the letter was described as saying.
Does the United States look WEAK or what?
Barack Obama is a ROOKIE and the Russians know it and are playing him like a fiddle. Now, will Hillary who will meet with the Russians on Friday be able to save some face for America?
Exit question: Wonder if Obama will NOW change his negotiations with American enemies without preconditions APPEASEMENT policy?
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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Iran, Missile Defense, Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin
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Obama To Appease Russia on Missle Defense Plans?
Say what?President Obama is writing Russia to bargain away missile defense plans in Poland and the Czech Republic for what?
Talking to Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Mullahs?
Washington has told Moscow that Russian help in resolving Iran’s nuclear program would make its missile shield plans for Europe unnecessary, a Russian daily said on Monday, citing White House sources.
U.S. President Barack Obama made the proposal on Iran in a letter to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, Kommersant said, referring to unidentified U.S. officials.
Iran’s controversial nuclear program was cited by the U.S. as one of the reasons behind its plans to deploy a missile base in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic. The missile shield has been strongly opposed by Russia, which views it as a threat to its national security. The dispute has strained relations between the former Cold War rivals, already tense over a host of other differences.
The leaders have exchanged letters and had a telephone conversation since Obama was sworn into office in January, Kommersant said. The first high-level Russia-U.S. meeting will take place later this week, when Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Geneva.
Moscow has not yet responded to the proposal by Obama, the paper said, adding that a decision was unlikely to be made during Lavrov and Clinton’s meeting.
Frak, the USA and Europe have been talking to the Iranians forever – to no result.
This is crazy nutsoid policy by the Obama administration. It drives a wedge between our NATO European allies and the Eastern Block nations of the former Soviet Union who want no part of Russia or missile threats from Iran.
Divide and conquer is the OBVIOUS Russian ploy here. No wonder Vladimir Putin is winking to Dmitry Medvedev above.
To think the Far LEFT actually thought President George W. Bush was stupid.
If the shoe fits Obama.
Flap certainly does not feel safer tonight.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Missile Defense, Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin
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Video: Missile Defense Agency Announces Successful Intercept By Ground-Based Interceptor Missile
Here is the Missile Defense Agency video from yesterday’s successful test:
A threat-representative target missile was launched from Kodiak, Alaska at 3:04pm (EST). This long-range ballistic target was tracked by several land- and sea-based radars, which sent targeting information to the interceptor missile. At 3:23pm (EST) the Ground-Based Interceptor was launched from the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The interceptor’s exoatmospheric kill vehicle was carried into the target’s predicted trajectory in space, maneuvered to the target, performed discrimination, and intercepted the threat warhead.Should YouTube take the video down, it can be viewed at the Missile Defense Agency website here.
Enjoy!
Now, back to college football.
Technorati Tags: Missile Defense Agency, Vandenberg Air Force Base
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Missile Defense Agency Announces Successful Intercept By Ground-Based Interceptor Missile
A Missile Defense Agency interceptor missile being successfully launched, Friday Dec. 5, 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch was part of an exercise and flight test involving the intercept of an intercontinental ballistic missile by a ground-based interceptor missile designed to protect the United States against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack
Flap will sleep a little better tonight after the Missile Defense Agency announced a successful test of an interceptor missile fired up the road from Flap at Vandenberg Air Force Base.Here is the press release from the Missile Defense Agency:
The Missile Defense Agency announced today it has completed an important exercise and flight test involving a successful intercept by a ground-based interceptor missile designed to protect the United States against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack. The flight test results will help to further refine the performance of numerous Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) elements able to provide a defense against the type of long-range ballistic missile that could be used to attack the nation with a weapon of mass destruction.
For this exercise, a threat-representative target missile was launched from Kodiak, Alaska at 3:04pm (EST). This long-range ballistic target was tracked by several land- and sea-based radars, which sent targeting information to the interceptor missile. At 3:23pm (EST)the Ground-Based Interceptor was launched from the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The interceptor’s exoatmospheric kill vehicle was carried into the target’s predicted trajectory in space, maneuvered to the target, performed discrimination, and intercepted the threat warhead.
This was the first time an operational crew located at the alternate fire control center at Ft. Greely, Alaska remotely launched the interceptor from Vandenberg AFB. In previous interceptor launches from Vandenberg, military crews at the fire control center at Schriever AFB, Colo. remotely launched the interceptor.
The target was successfully tracked by a transportable AN/TPY-2 radar located in Juneau, Alaska, a U.S. Navy Aegis BMD ship with SPY-1 radar, the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and the Sea-Based X-band radar. Each sensor sent information to the fire control system, which integrated the data together to provide the most accurate target trajectory for the interceptor.The interceptor’s exoatmospheric kill vehicle is the component that collides directly with a target warhead in space to perform a “hit to kill†intercept using only the force of the collision to totally destroy the target warhead.
Initial indications are that all components performed as designed. Program officials will evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.
This was the 37th successful hit-to-kill intercept out of 47 attempts against missiles of all ranges since 2001. Operational Ground-Based Interceptors are currently deployed at Ft. Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg AFB, protecting the nation, our friends, and allies against ballistic missile attack.
Flap will have video of the test intercept when it is available.
Now, what were the Democrats in the Congress saying about the failure of the missile defense system ever working?
Flap leaves you with Michael Ramirez’s famous cartoon about how President Reagan was ridiculed about “Star Wars.”
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Technorati Tags: Missile Defense Agency, Vandenberg Air Force Base
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The American Airborne Laser to Protect Israel from Iranian Missiles?
Boeings Airborne Laser (ABL) will locate and track missiles in the boost phase of their flight, then accurately point and fire the high-energy laser, destroying enemy missiles near their launch areas.Flap was thinking this morning about Israel’s pronouncement about the possibility of attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and wondering what would protect Israel or other American allies in the Middle East from Iran’s missile retaliation?
The controversy regarding Poland and land-based missile defense has been discussed previously. But, this program is to protect the United States and will be limited in scope.
Then, Captain Ed pointed Flap to the Airborne Laser Program which recently accomplished another successful test.
Unlike its fixed-site cousins, the ground-based interceptors deployed in California and Alaska and (hopefully) Europe, ABL aircraft can be deployed where needed and are reusable.
Not only can they patrol off unfriendly nations, they would be quite useful patrolling our shores.
We have pointed out the dangers of an Iranian freighter launching a Shahab that would detonate its warhead high over the United States, unleashing an electromagnetic pulse that would send our high-tech economy back to the days of the covered wagons.
Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency, in announcing the flight testing of the ABL system in late 2005, said he welcomed critics’ comparison to the “Star Wars” movies.
He said at the rollout ceremony, in words that will make the Democratic opponents of missile defense cringe: “I believe we are building the forces of good to beat the forces of evil. . . . We are taking a major step in giving the American people their first light saber.”
Now, does the reader see the urgency to slow down the Iranian nuclear program while accelerating the testing and early deployment of such an airborne anti-missile system?
This system would deter Iran or any other nation, like North Korea from launching a surprise or retaliatory missile attack against the United States or any friend. It buys the attacked nation time to marshall resources for an effective counter-attack and creates uncertainty as to the effectiveness of the initial attack.
How many of these ABL systems do you think Israel will purchase from the United States?
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Video: 33 Minutes – America’s Missile Defense in a New Missile Age
The HD film will be released February 2009, and will outline what immediate steps need to be taken to protect America and its citizensComing from The Heritage Foundation – 33 minutes and why it is important in this new missile age.
In the Winter of 2009, The Heritage Foundation will release a high-definition documentary that tells the story of the very real threat that hostile nations and rogue dictators now pose to every one of us. In 33 minutes or less, life as we know it in America could end. That’s the time it would take for an enemy’s ballistic missile to hit the United States.
Aptly named, “33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age”, our documentary will be a key component in exposing our vulnerability to moms, dads and citizens across the country. The time has come to revive the strategic missile defense system that America uniquely can develop, maintain and employ for its own defense and the peace-loving world’s security. Stay tuned for a complete site launch within the next few weeks which will include much more detailed information related to the film and why 33 Minutes is so important.
It is reported that Barack Obama will continue national missile defense “if it works.” Well, it works but will Obama succumb to many members of his Democrat Party like Senators Carl Levin and John Kerry, plus vice President Joe Biden who have voted to gut the program over the years?
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Will Barack Obama Continue Missile Defense?
Technorati Tags: Missile Defense, Barack Obama
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Will Barack Obama Continue Missile Defense?
Will newly elected President Barack Obama continue with the missile defense system first proposed during the Reagan Administration but flourished under President George W. Bush?Likely says this piece in Time Magazine.
President George W. Bush promised to build a “Star Wars” missile shield, and he has kept that promise — even if there is no guarantee if the shield works or that it increases security. There has indeed been much Democratic derision focused on what has mostly been seen as a Republican program, one that has been lavished with $100 billion since Ronald Reagan called for such a shield at the height of the Cold War in 1983.
But even in a Democratic-run Pentagon the push for missile defense is going to continue. If Obama keeps Defense Secretary Robert Gates on, as some advisers are arguing he should, that would come as no surprise. “Russia has nothing to fear from a defensive missile shield,” Gates said Thursday as he argued for extending the system to Europe. The current plan is to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic by 2014. It’s strongly opposed by Russia, which views it as an unwelcome military threat in a region where it has always been pre-eminent. The other leading contender for the Pentagon post is Richard Danzig, a Clinton Navy secretary, who recently told reporters that the Obama team has “a strong view that national missile defense is a rewarding area and should be invested in.”
With Iran and North Korea beating the drums of a nefarious missile offense, it would be foolish for an Obama Administration to scale back a “DEFENSIVE” system which would discourage hostilities from these rogue states.
Plus, there are the issues of a resurgent, bellicose Russia with their large contingent of land based nuclear tipped missiles and an emerging China which has already demonstrated hostility towards the United States in space.
Now, whether Obama extends the misslie shield to Europe, may be one of his first national security calls. And, should Obama change direction, acquiesces to Russian demands and then Europe is blackmailed by Iran and/or Russia, the Bay of Pigs of John Kennedy may translate over to “The One.”
Flap bets he makes some pronouncements and superficial cuts to mollify some lefty Democrats and then supplements the apporpriation in his “BLACK” (Secret) budget.
Stay tuned…..
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Missile Defense
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Day By Day by Chris Muir August 16, 2008
Poland and the United States have made a wise decision on national missile defense and joint military aid pacts.Now, the United States must push a NATO, Ukraine and Georgia mutual defense pact.
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Technorati Tags: Day By Day, Missile Defense, Russia, Poland
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United States and Poland Agree on Missile Defense Deal – The Russian Response
Yesterday the United States and Poland signed a preliminary missile defense deal and in typical reactionary mode Russia has responded.A top Russian general said Friday that Poland’s agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.
The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.
“Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent,” Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying.
He added, in clear reference to the agreement, that Russia’s military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons “against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them.” Nogovitsyn that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems, he said, according to Interfax.
As if Poland would be “safe” from Russian expansionism or a nuclear strike anyway.
The bloom is off the Putin rose in a resurgence of “Cold War” Russia. Typical Russian threats and why the United States and Europe need to strengthen NATO.
Do you think the EU will get the message or will they appease again?
Technorati Tags: Missile Defense, Poland, Russia
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United States and Poland Agree on Missile Defense Deal
In a shocker the United States and Poland signed a preliminary missile defense deal today. The Russians invade Georgia and move in the tanks and suddenly in what was an impasse, an agreement occurs.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the agreement on national television shortly before it was signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer and US chief negotiator John Rood.
Mr Tusk said Washington had agreed to meet Warsaw’s main demands in exchange for hosting the 10 interceptor missiles in a former military base near Poland’s Baltic Sea coast.
In return, the US has agreed to help modernise the Polish armed forces and locate Patriot missiles and a garrison of US servicemen in Poland to beef up its air defences, Mr Tusk said.
Poland is reported to have demanded the extra security help as part of the deal after Moscow threatened to target its missiles at any eventual bases.
The US signed an agreement with the Czech Republic in July to base tracking radars there as part of the missile defence system.
The US wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012.
Flap is being facetious, of course.
What are the repercussions?
Russia will remain pissed off at the United States and Poland and target the ten interceptors with nuclear weapons. Big deal. This might worry other European countries but not the Poles.
And, Russia may try to base bombers in Cuba.
The latter would lead to a direct military confrontation with the United States.
Stay tuned….
Technorati Tags: Poland, Missile Defense, Russia, Georgia