Obama will continue Star Wars

Posted by mcm

November 18, 2008

Why Obama Will Continue Star Wars
By MARK THOMPSON / WASHINGTON Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008

Missile-defense skeptics yearning for a fresh look at the wisdom of pumping $10 billion annually into missile defense aren’t going to get it from Barack Obama when he moves into the Oval Office. The Russians - along with the two men most likely to end up running the Pentagon for the President-elect - have already made sure of that. It’s a bracing reminder of just how difficult it is to counter momentum once a big-league defense program achieves what aerodynamicists call “escape velocity” - that synergy of speed and gravity that lets a vehicle soar smoothly into the skies.

President George W. Bush promised to build a “Star Wars” missile shield, and he has kept that promise - even if there is no guarantee if the shield works or that it increases security. There has indeed been much Democratic derision focused on what has mostly been seen as a Republican program, one that has been lavished with $100 billion since Ronald Reagan called for such a shield at the height of the Cold War in 1983.

But even in a Democratic-run Pentagon the push for missile defense is going to continue. If Obama keepsDefense Secretary Robert Gates on, as some advisers are arguing he should, that would come as no surprise. “Russia has nothing to fear from a defensive missile shield,” Gates said Thursday as he argued for extending the system to Europe. The current plan is to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic by 2014. It’s strongly opposed by Russia, which views it as an unwelcome military threat in a region where it has always been pre-eminent. The other leading contender for the Pentagon post is Richard Danzig, a Clinton Navy secretary, who recently told reporters that the Obama team has “a strong view that national missile defense is a rewarding area and should be invested in.”

Comments

Comment by woody on November 18, 2008 @ 4:47 pm

“Russia has nothing to fear from a defensive missile shield,” Gates said Thursday as he argued for extending the system to Europe.

nothing except the end of mutually assured destruction as deterrence, that is, cuz if we can shoot theirs down (no mean feat, still), then we can launch ours with impunity…

Obama’s NEVER gonna reduce military spending. 2 reasons: first, he’s a bought and paid-for member of the militarist establishment, and second, he’d be impeached for a commie if he tried…

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