US Anti-Missile Defence Will Also Suffer From New Obama Policy

Closing down the anti-ballistic missile shield for Europe by the Obama administration has raised hackles in Central and Eastern Europe, and in Republican circles in the US. What is forgotten is the missile shield was also part of the defence of the United States.

The deep-penetration X-Band radar in the Czech Republic and the 10 anti-ballistic missiles scheduled for Poland were also part of the defence of the US eastern seaboard against a nuclear attack, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The article pointed out that ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California counter threats to the US West coast, such as that posed by North Korea. Such interceptors are not installed on the East Coast and the Central European sites were to have been the “third leg” of the new anti-ballistic defence system, adding an additional layer to defending such US cities as Washington and New York against attacks by a nuclear-armed Iran.

President Barack ObamaBarack Obama’s new plan, that of stationing Aegis missile-carrying ships off Europe is only aimed at protected the continent from medium-range missiles fired from Iran. Should either Iran or, at some stage, Russia, fire Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) at America, their chance of striking key East Coast cities would be greatly enhanced.

Meanwhile, the New York Times revealed why Russia was so dead-set against the missile shield. The X-Band radar in the Czech Republic could have covered large areas of European Russia, thus preventing Russia from moving troops or missiles around unnoticed. The newspaper also wondered whether the climbdown by President Obama would be enough to satisfy the Russians? Russia has not agreed to any quid pro quo for the removal of the system, and has reserved the right to criticise the new one.

The Wall Street Journal raised expressed another concern about the perceived betrayal of America’s allies. If the US could promise to keep Poland and the Czech Republic covered by a missile shield today and break that promise tomorrow, perhaps it would not be wise to trust it by other US allies, the article said.

Japan has already said it could build nuclear missiles in a short time, and some analysts believe Obama’s new policy will create a new nuclear arms race involving Japan (against North Korea), Egypt and Saudi Arabia (against Iran) and of course, Israel reportedly already has nuclear arms.

Perhaps today’s headline “Obama Has Betrayed Central Europe” in the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Hírlap was not so far off, after all.

It could be he has betrayed more than that.