Obama’s Rookie Blunder on Missile Defense Concessions

Ariel Cohen / September 18, 2009

MOSCOW – President Barak Obama’s decision to abandon ballistic missile defense in Central Europe will encourage Iranian truculence and will not generate Russian good will or support for the US on Iran sanctions.

This is the main take-home lesson from my meetings with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and President Dmitry Medvedev over the last week.

It looks like President Obama will abandon ballistic missile deployment against Iran in Poland the Czech Republic, and adopt a different, sea-based system, which has limited application against the Iranian threat. The proposed deployment is shorter range in comparison with what the Bush Administration planned to deploy in Central Europe.

More unrequited concessions to come: The Administration promised to listen to Russian ideas about reshaping European security architecture; ignores Russian military deployment in South Ossetia and Abkhazia; and is indefinitely delaying a push for Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO. (more…)