From Poland’s Daily News Fakt
Gateway Pundit reports on the reactions of Poles and Czechs, today:
Strategic ally? Mainstay of our security? End of illusions. United States of America, for which we have for each call, turned his back to us. U.S. President lightly tossed into the trash heap construction of the Poland and the Czech anti-missile shield. The massive military installation was to give special meaning to us in NATO and to strengthen our position towards Russia. But America, instead of Warsaw, he prefers dialogue with Moscow. Yesterday the whole world went round decision Barack Obama Kremlin triumphs, and the Poles have been exposed to the wind.
The Washington Times in an oped, this morning :
Obama’s anniversary gift to Russia
The Kremlin is delighted. The United States unilaterally backed down in face of a Russian demand with no promise of reciprocity. This move decidedly strengthens Moscow’s hand without any appreciable gain for the United States. There is no reason to expect any gratitude. The Russian line will be that Mr. Obama made a pragmatic choice based on the faltering economy and his unwillingness to challenge mighty Moscow. It is a huge win for the Kremlin that adds to Russia’s current momentum and reinforces the president’s growing appearance of international impotence.
As usual, Moscow’s gain is Eastern Europe’s loss. Poland and the Czech Republic have a difficult recent history with Russia, by which we mean 40 years of communist military occupation and political repression. They knew Moscow would object to them hosting an American missile-defense system but decided to take the risk. Warsaw and Prague are good allies to America and have sent troops to assist the coalition efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. They deserved better than a midnight call telling them “thanks, but no thanks.”
The White House picked an auspicious day to wave the white flag on missile defense. The president’s national-security team may say they didn’t notice that the announcement came on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, but everyone in Eastern Europe did. For an administration whose claims of heightened cultural sensitivity border on sanctimony, the timing was an unforgivable faux pas. The anniversary gift compounds the message that Washington is bent on courting Moscow regardless of the broader implications for global security.
You’re Welcome.
Closing velocity has more on the betrayal, here, here, and here, making the case that Obama’s decision has also made the United States less safe:
An unnamed Senate aide makes the same point I’ve always made here: European missile defense was never exclusively about defending Europe — it was about defending OUR largest east coast cities:
A senior GOP Senate aide said that the effect of the administration’s switch to short- range systems, such as the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), was that the program would no longer have any capability to defend the U.S. homeland and would only be able to protect parts of Europe.
“The important fact here is that if you go with the land-based SM-3s, you don’t protect the United States,” said the aide.
“It changes the nature of the debate,” the aide continued. “Why should the U.S. spend 6 or 7 billion dollars just to protect Europe? That’s going to be a completely different argument.”
Jules Crittenden has more:
Reuters: For Poland, the timing of the announcement is particularly sensitive. Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland following a pact between Moscow and Nazi Germany, an event seen by Poles as “a stab in the back.”
“I hope this is just a coincidence,” said Waszczykowski.
Actually, it probably is. The Obama administration doesn’t study history. It reimagines it. If there is any purposefulness to this date, then its because the Ivans proposed it: “Hey there, my yankee imperialist capitalist lackey fellow traveling tovarich. OK, we’ll make this deal. One thing, could you announce it on Sept. 17? Works better for us. (Muffled giggle).”
Ed Morrissey made the gaffe Hot Air’s Obamateurism of the day.
Makes you almost yearn for the Jimmy Carter days.
