NATO Backs Bush's Missile Defense System

[Tigermike 3,673]

Obama still plans to capitulate to Iran, Syria and Al Qaeda. Oops I didn't mean capitulate, I meant negotiate with no preconditions. In reality Obama plans to pull out of Iraq immediately and hope Iran makes the changes needed for peace.

NATO Backs Bush's Missile Defense System

Apr 3, 8:15 AM (ET)

By MATTHEW LEE

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - President Bush won NATO's endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. The proposal also advanced with Czech officials announcing an agreement to install a missile tracking site for the system in their country.

Bush also was undaunted in his drive to see the military alliance expanded further eastward, despite facing an immediate setback.

Fellow NATO leaders rejected his appeal to allow former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia to get on a path toward membership. But Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said the president will not drop the issue and plans to make a new pitch before he leaves office in January. The United States expects to raise the matter at a meeting of NATO foreign minister in December, Hadley said.

"NATO's door must remain open to other nations in Europe that share our love for liberty and demonstrate a commitment to reform and seek to strengthen their ties with the trans-Atlantic community," Bush said in brief remarks at an alliance meeting. "We must give other nations seeking membership a full and fair hearing."

The president expressed regret that NATO also declined to offer full membership at this meeting to Macedonia. The invitation was blocked by Greece, which says the country's name implies a territorial claim to its northern region, also called Macedonia.

"Macedonia's made difficult reforms at home," Bush said. "It is making major contributions to NATO missions abroad. The name issue needs to be resolved quickly so that Macedonia can be welcomed into NATO as soon as possible."

Albania and Croatia were invited to join the alliance, now currently at 26 members.

Progress on missile defense, though, represented a boon to Bush from the summit. Russia has strongly opposed the plan.

NATO leaders were adopting a communique stating that "ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allied forces, territory and populations." It also will recognize "the substantial contribution to the protection of allies ... to be provided by the U.S.-led system," according to senior American officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the statement's release.

The statement calls on all NATO members to explore ways in which the planned U.S. project, to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, can be linked with future missile shields elsewhere. It says leaders should come up with recommendations to be considered at their next meeting in 2009, the officials said.

Significantly, the document also calls on Russia to drop its objections to the system and to accept U.S. and NATO offers to cooperate on building it, the officials said.

The plan calls for 10 interceptor missiles based in Poland and a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic.

At a news conference in Bucharest on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwartzenberg announced that negotiations with the Americans have been successfully completed and that a deal would be signed in early May. No U.S. official was in attendance, but the Czechs distributed a joint U.S.-Czech statement that said, "This agreement is an important step in our efforts to protect our nations and our NATO allies from the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction."

The Poles have yet to agree to the plan.

The backing from NATO and the announcement with the Czechs provides Bush with a powerful leg up in his negotiations with Moscow over the issue.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080403/D8VQCM180.html

[Tigermike 3,673]

Ohhhhh BTW, that would be the same Missile Defense system that Obama has pledged to cut.

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs

February 29, 2008 :: News

A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.

The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:

Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.

First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.

Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.

I will not weaponize space.

I will slow our development of future combat systems.

And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals. (I wonder how he expects to get the Iranians to go along with this?)

You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.

http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp

Video of Senator Obama discussing strategic issues, from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o84PE871BE

It's easy to see why Jimmy Carter would be on the verge of endorsing BO isn't it?

[AUTiger1 0]

Ohhhhh BTW, that would be the same Missile Defense system that Obama has pledged to cut.

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs

February 29, 2008 :: News

A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.

The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:

Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.

First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.

Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.

I will not weaponize space.

I will slow our development of future combat systems.

And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals. (I wonder how he expects to get the Iranians to go along with this?)

You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.

http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp

Video of Senator Obama discussing strategic issues, from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o84PE871BE

It's easy to see why Jimmy Carter would be on the verge of endorsing BO isn't it?

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't every missile defense system unproven unless a little R&D is done? I am glad that we didn't take this approach with the Space Program while JFK(aka:Obama Sr, he must be, I have heard him called JFK II so much) was President.

See this is where it gets personal for me. I work in Huntsville and unless you are not from here or you were born and lived your whole life under a rock then you know that Huntsville has two things going for it. NASA and the Redstone Arsenal. I happen to work on a missile defense program and that kills me to no end that he wants to cut, as he so eloquently put it "unproven missile defense systems". So yeah maybe I am a little selfish for not wanting to see the contract I work on to not get cut, or maybe, just maybe, I don't want to see a lot of programs close to home get cut and people lose their jobs.

He will slow our development of future combat systems, but yet on his website it states "Obama will make the investments we need so that the finest military in the world is best-prepared to meet 21st-century threats." So which is he going to do? Do you think that China, Russia, or anyone else for that matter will stop developing future combat systems? I don't. They will try and continue to develop anything that will give them the advantage. Once again this hits home. This would cover several of my family members that work on these contracts.

I don't know his stance on the Space Program other than he doesn't want to weaponize it, as I have never seen it on his site nor have I heard him talk about it. But I bet it would be safe to assume that it would be about the same as he would do with missile.

So for all the Obama supporters that want to think that I don't like the guy b/c he is brilliant, or b/c he is the new politics or whatever, and as I have said before I have plenty of issues with him and this happens to be one of them.

[AUTiger1 0]

Hey Tigermike: Thanks for posting that. Now I am fuming and I want get a bit of sleep tonight!

[AURaptor 1,137]

This is surprising, and good news. I remember Europe and their protest against Reagan for his position in putting missiles ( nukes ) in Europe. Different issue, granted, but still. More good news is that I heard Sarkosy from France saying he'll authorize more troops be sent to help fight the war on terror.

FRANCE for pete's sake! Will wonders never cease?

[Tigermike 3,673]

This is surprising, and good news. I remember Europe and their protest against Reagan for his position in putting missiles ( nukes ) in Europe. Different issue, granted, but still. More good news is that I heard Sarkosy from France saying he'll authorize more troops be sent to help fight the war on terror.

FRANCE for pete's sake! Will wonders never cease?

Democrats = Last years France