Israeli official: Obama's missile defense move good for us

Mon, 09/21/2009 - 1:31pm

This angle hadn't occurred to me: The head of the Israeli Space Agency says that the Obama's decision to scrap the deployment of land-based missile defense systems to Eastern Europe is good for Israel. He explains that Israel benefits when U.S.-Russian relations improve:

"Thus far, American attempts to stop the development of an Iranian nuclear bomb have not succeeded -- partially because the Russians have not cooperated with their efforts," he explained. "It is possible that because of this concession -- and it is a concession, even if the Americans said that it was not -- the Russians will be more helpful on Iran and will more support the American initiative." 

I also wonder if he believes that having Europe feel a pang of the vulnerability Israel feels about Iran might improve Israel's international position.

AFP/Getty Images

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The neocon response

by seanmcbride on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 3:29pm

The neoconservative wing of the Israel lobby, in their blog network, seems to be treating this policy as an act of outrageous perfidy.

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Pang of vulnerability?

by timrcarpenter on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 10:26pm

Can a NATO power really feel vulnerable to nuclear attack by Iran? Perhaps if Iran passes it on to a terrorist network, but not the kind shot into the air with a return address that missile defense could prevent.

The missile defense system was always about neutralizing Russia's stockpile, no matter what any president says. If Iran shot a nuclear missile in any direction beyond its borders, there is a zero percent chance that the regime would survive. Self-preservation is too strong a force to allow any Iranian leader to do something that dumb.

This is an interesting spin

by Sam Ferguson on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 2:40am

This is an interesting spin on a concession that many Americans will not agree with. I am not an expert on any of this but it sure looks like a cave-in by the Obama administration. We are leaving Poland in the lurch after making promises to them some time ago. Russia has been active in this area (remember Georgia?). Is this a good time to be doing this? casino