OBAMA KILLS MISSILE DEFENSE FOR POLAND, CZECH

With a the ruckus around Israel, I bet it was a deal. Isreal, you have your green light. Everyone else, get ready for the fireworks.

[link to news.yahoo.com]
Obama expected to shelve missile defense plan

PRAGUE – President Barack Obama phoned the Czech prime minister to discuss a controversial missile defense system, a spokesman said Thursday, and Czech media reported that Obama told the premier he will shelve the plan that has so angered Russia.

Government spokesman Roman Prorok declined to report what Obama told Prime Minister Jan Fischer, saying only that Fischer later informed Czech President Vaclav Klaus.

The Czech national news agency CTK, citing a diplomatic source it didn't identify, reported that Obama indicated the U.S. intends to "withdraw from its missile defense project in the Czech Republic and Poland."

Prorok said Ellen Tauscher, a U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, would brief Czech officials in Prague and Polish officials in Warsaw later Thursday about Obama's decision.

Polish officials said they had no information on whether Obama also phoned that country's top leaders.

There have been signs that Obama's administration is preparing to shelve many of the components of the missile shield proposed by the Bush administration, which called for 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.

The Bush administration had said the missile shield was a strategic way to counter a threat from Iran or another rogue state in the Middle East, but Russia was deeply angered by the prospect of having U.S. interceptor rockets in countries so close to its territory.

Obama took office undecided about whether to continue to press for the European system and said he would study it. His administration never sounded enthusiastic about it, and European allies have been preparing for an announcement that the White House would not complete the shield as designed.

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Last Edited by LJS on 09/19/2014 07:34 AM