Obama vows to go ahead with missile shield: Polish president

[tekisui]

WARSAW (AFP) — US president-elect Barack Obama has told Polish President Lech Kaczynski he will go ahead with plans to build a missile defence shield in eastern Europe despite threats from Russia, Warsaw said on Saturday.

"Barack Obama has underlined the importance of the strategic partnership between Poland and the United States, he expressed his hope of continuing the political and military cooperation between our two countries.

"He also said the anti-missile shield project would go ahead," said a statement issued by Kaczynski after the two men spoke by telephone.

Warsaw and Washington signed a deal on August 14 to base part of a US missile shield in Poland, amid Moscow's vehement opposition and mounting East-West tensions over Georgia.

The US wants to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland plus a radar facility in the neighbouring Czech Republic by 2011-2013 to complete a system already in place in the United States, Greenland and Britain.

Washington says the shield -- endorsed by NATO in February -- is aimed at fending off potential attacks by so-called "rogue states" such as Iran, and is in no way aimed at Russia.

more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8uvlFL1xJlpcGiBAlk5w_P3xhCg

[JohnnyCougar]

1. Good.

The absolute worst thing Obama could do is to give in to international pressure with his first foreign policy move.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

3. Putting missiles in Poland is rightly seen by Russia as an...

...act of provocation -- and BushCo meant it to be.

This is NOT good.

[JohnnyCougar]

4. Fine, but Obama still shouldn't be seen as backing down with his first foreign policy move.

If Obama wants to negotiate a compromise once he takes office, it's a lot better if he does so from a position of power and leverage. If he immediately says he's going to take the missile shield away, he has no more power to negotiate.

Russia's not exactly an angel, there's no reason for us to put their interests high on our priority list.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

7. He doesn't have to commit one way or the other at this point.

All he would have to say is that they will review this and other foreign policy matters once they're in office. He could have, and I think should have, credibly said it's simply premature at this point to make any such declarative commitments.

[BlueMTexpat]

8. Obama may indeed have said something more noncommital.

And I hope very much that he did. Frankly, this missile shield project is a terrible idea and the Polish people themselves don't want it.

According to the AFP report, Obama may not himself have committed to anything; this report comes from the Polish President who is a RW nutcase. Given that the PP is likely to put his own spin on Obama's words, Obama may have said something more along your lines. He should be very careful of making any pronouncements that commit him to any BushCo policies.

OTOH, one of Obama's chief foreign policy advisors has been Zbigniew Brezinski, and Zbig may still be living in the Cold War days. He was always too hawkish for me.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

12. We should probably assume this may very well be a misquote.

It really doesn't sound like him.

I was never a Zbig fan either. What ever happened to basic Diplomacy 101 where you learn that deescalating tensions should be among the primary considerations in virtually everything you say and do concerning foreign policy? BushCo has purposefully done just the opposite for eight long years.

[gateley]

10. Agree. I hated the idea of it when Bush was at the helm, and will hate it if

Obama does carry through with it.

We're supposed to begin engaging in diplomacy, not furthering Bushco's aggressive 'foreign policy.'

I hope this isn't accurate - we'll have to wait and see. I can't believe Obama wants to piss Russia off.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

11. I hope he was misquoted here too -- the more I think about it...

...the more I suspect he was.

[hollowdweller]

16. SDI is a huge wast of money and goodwill

That said knowing that there is a perception that Obama will not be tough enough in foreign relations I know why he says that.

Let's hope that once he's been in office for a few years and that perception is put to rest he sets down with congress and quietly cuts it's nuts off.

[Submariner]

2. Obama should reverse and rebuke 100% of Bush initiatives

and start from scratch. Bush went rogue and pissed off the planet, and ALL of his defense measures should be reviewed, modified, and eliminated where feasible. Are we going to put a missile shield in Iraq also to block the idiots in rogue Israel frothing at the mouth to attack Iran?

[rug]

5. Oh good, I really enjoyed the 1980s.

[cali]

6. I call bullshit.

I doubt this very much indeed. Obama isn't president yet, and this would be utterly out of character for him to make such promises before he's been sworn in. Not saying he won't do this, but I doubt he made such a committment at this time.

[stillcool]

9. One President at a time..

[Kdillard]

13. Exactly which is why I am skeptical that Obama said that to

the Polish President.

[thenam]

14. Obama = Clinton II?

Sigh... I really hope not.

[ej510]

15. Let's flood Obama with emails.

[rockymountaindem]

17. That's fine n/t

[Azathoth]

18. Medvedev purposely provoked this

If he was serious about de-escalating tensions, he would have given Obama some space and let him make the first move. Instead, he announces the night of the election that he is going to start deploying missile batteries right next door to Poland.

[cali]

19. Interesting how many DUers buy any garbage that's negative about Obama

this isn't true.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Obama-Missile-Defense.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[tekisui]

20. Thanks, cali.

I didn't know, just putting up what I found. Honestly, I wasn't too worried about it.