Another one of George W Bush's mistakes during his time in charge has been laid to rest with the cancellation of the proposed missile defence system in eastern Europe.
Billed as a defensive measure aimed at stopping any Iranian intercontinental missiles which it doesn't have, it was always really a political maneuver concerned with America parking its missiles on Russia's doorstep in a move of brinkmanship.
The only supporters for the missiles in Europe were the leaders of Poland and the Czech Republic who made no secret that they saw it as a way to provide a boost to their economies and gain leverage in European politics even though it wasn't even popular with there own citizens, 70% of Czechs said they didn't want it in their nation. They obviously didn't like the idea of a big red target being painted across their country.
I expect Obama will be hauled across the coals for this decision which could well be economical rather than out of any sense of a sane policy, but i say if America is that worried about Iranian missiles raining down on their heads, then they could build a thousand of these sites up and down their own country and leave us to worry about missiles coming over from Tehran.
5 comments:
lucy,
first: if america's goal was to get a missile shield in russia's backyard, then it wasn't a mistake, it was a success
second: i'm always amazed at the insight you have into decisions (you must have connections at the highest levels in the white house) - how else could you know that it was just "billed as a defensive measure" when it was really something else... i'm honored that a person with such connections would spend their time interacting with the likes of me...
third: if you are concerned about someone having missiles, then you wait until they have them before you do something, then you have waited too long... duh...
fourth: i though the Czech Rep and Pol were democracies... if the leaders were elected and re-elected then apparently someone besides the leaders supported the missiles...
fifth: i agree with you about letting europe defend itself... i'm tired of paying to defend yawl... but if we don't you have proven to be very susceptible to bad guys (remember it was tried twice in the 1900's - bad germany, bad italy, bad turkey) and america may not be able to survive if europe as we know it today falls
sixth: will obama get raked over the coals, no more so than any other president gets raked by the opposing parties... i say he will be raked less
q
lucy,
good post...
illogical, ideological, and a sense a hint of that old angst against W...
Q
first - America didn't get a missile shield in Russias backyard which was the whole point of the post really.
second - I didn't need to pick up the phone to the White House this time, just listen to the bods telling us that it was a defensive measure against anything coming over from Iran. If that wasn't enough of a clue, they stuck it in the name.
third - If you are happy to spend billions on a system designed to stop something that doesn't exist, the it's your tax dollars. Enjoy.
fourth - News of the Polish Governments thumping loss at the 2007 election or the collapse of the 2008 Czech coalition government didn't reach your shores?
I do guess they want us bury alive? Or, what??? We need all the protection we can get due to the hate they have for us and our "Freedom"!!! Help!!!
I guess you mean the Iranians hate us rob. Apart from us trying to overthrow their government, imposing sanctions and threatening to drop massive bombs on them from a great height, they have no reason to dislike us. So touchy these Iranians.
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