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Deuceistheman
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Because it was a boondoggle and we have an exisiting deterrent and smarter people understand that no one is going to fire any missiles at Europe.
The title of this thread is a bit disingenuous. While we may be pulling land based missile defense from Czech and Polish lands we will still have a mobile missile defense system in place in the Mediterranean. This system is reported to be for intercepting short and medium range missiles.
So stating we are ditching all missile defense is not accurate.
Nonetheless, irrational as it may be, the system somehow became an indicator for the Eastern Europeans of just how much America loved them. (The defensive capability was years away, but the hope that it would deter Russian aggression was real.) By the same token, the Kremlin saw it as an indicator of Washington's intent to expand its influence across the former Soviet Union, which was a real Bush-era strategy. But neither point of view had any relationship to the specifics of the missile system that became its symbol.
In fact, the irony of Obama's announcement is that Europe (and, for that matter, European Russia) will probably end up much better defended against an Iranian missile. Instead of bogus Polish interceptors, Obama is going to fund smaller missile-defense systems designed to knock out rockets during the boost, or takeoff phase, when the rocket is slower, hotter, and easier to hit. That's best done from somewhere much closer than Poland—for instance from the territory of NATO-member Turkey or U.S. allies Iraqi Kurdistan or Kuwait.
Poland and the Czechs are members of NATO, so their security really isn't a concern. The message sent here is to Ukrain and Georgia...your on your own. Figure out a way to deal with Russia, because the United States under the Obama administration is not going to stand up to them on your behalf.
From a technical and monetary standpoint, it might have been a logical decision (though with Iran having the ability to launch a satilite in orbit that can be disputed), but from a forgien policy position, it was a complete disaster. Obama is not a world player...Putin is.
Why should any eastern European country form alliances with the United States now, knowing that if Russia barks, the US will back down?