U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE UMBRELLA FOR U.S AND EUROPE FIZZLES AND NEO-CONS LAMENT

                                                                          By

                                                                   Joseph Chez

 September 17, 2009

Today, President Obama announced that the missile defense umbrella that was to be set up for the protection of our European allies and for the homeland will not be put into place due to cost-saving measures and the understanding that present U.S. capability is enough to deter the threat of any missile attack from Iran. 

Yet, a fundamental questioned remains; whether the Bush Administration's assertion of an imminent missile attack on Europe or the US, by a crazed-nuclear Iran, was a credible threat or deserving a U.S. missile defense system for Europe, even when European nations were skeptical of the need for such missile defense umbrella?   

First, Iran has no real beef with Europe other than being seen as a follower of the US in its attempt to have the UN further impose economic sanctions.  So, does it make sense that Iran would threaten Europe or the US with a nuclear missile attack, and would that be prudent and/or a proportional response to economic sanctions?  Many experts believed not, as supported by the (IC) intelligence community and the consistent European skepticism of the Iranian threat.  Second, the Iranian missile technology is limited in range and rather imprecise.  Their indigenous technology is based on scud missile technology provided by the North Koreans and at present, it still lacks precision strike capabilities.  In fact, just recently, the Pentagon acknowledged that Iran's capability was previously overrated and that even though Iran is making progress, it does not pose a significant threat to our nation.   

However, the untold story of this foreign policy folly is that neo-cons in the Bush Administration wanted the missile defense shield in Europe for reasons totally unrelated to the security of the United States or Europe.  It is no secret that Israel wanted the Iranian nuclear threat to be seen as imminent and real in order to rally sympathy or support for an impending Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.  It is also not a secret that the neo-con soaked Bush Administration also wanted to beef-up our strike capabilities around the world - and this was widely supported by the military industrial complex. But it does not end there; what still remains under the cover of classified information, is that neo-cons from the Vice President's office of the Bush Administration, then put in place a policy of containment of Russia, in the event Russia was to decide to pose a threat to American oil interest in the former Soviet break-away provinces located in the Caspian Sea, such as Kazakhstan, or Azerbaijan. 

But a foot note to history: in 1983 then student at Columbia, Barack Obama, wrote for his campus newspaper in his article, "Breaking the War Mentality" decrying the "military industrial interest."   In the same article, young Barack proposed for the elimination of all global nuclear arsenals.  Today President Obama took us one step closer to such desirable dream and RESETING our foreign policy.  Regrettably, neo-cons in Congress lamented the termination of the missile umbrella program, but immediately sounded the alarm from the threat of Iran's potential terror against our nation.  Of course, the expected Republican response was piggy-backed by Fox News broadcasting breaking news that Iran had now become capable of building atomic weapons.   

Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. once wrote: "He (Richard Nixon) is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation."  Today, Nixon's spirit lives in the Republican mantra.  

Bewail ye neo-cons.