Scrapping a missile shield

last updated 8 January 2015

President Obama has just provided fresh confirmation that he is a "clueless doofus," said Scott Johnson in Power Line. His decision to scrap the missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic is not only naked appeasement of Russian aggression, it sends the mullahs in Iran the message that Obama doesn't know how to stand up to his enemies.

"Here’s the problem with that analysis," said Doug Mataconis in Below the Beltway. "First, given the size of Russia’s missile force and it’s military, the relatively small defense system we’re talking about here wouldn’t have been a deterrent at all." And second, the missile shield was intended to defend against an "Iranian missile threat" that is probably farther off than once believed.

The reduced threat from Iran is indeed the reason administration officials are citing for Obama's decision, said Peter Siegel in The Wall Street Journal. But shelving the shield in Eastern Europe is sure to "cheer Moscow," which was "infuriated" by George W. Bush's plan to put a radar site in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland. But even though abandoning the system will "raise alarms" in Europe, the Obama administration says that focusing on regional defenses against Iran's short- and medium-range missiles will make the Continent safer.