Good morning, Sdgrrl. Once you realize I’m always right, you’ll stop disagreeing with me. Kidding. I think.
I’ll read that Bloomberg article this morning, but I do want to point out that Obama’s abandonment of the missile program won’t likely be replaced with something else. Why? Because its a sop to the Russians. The Kremlin (and, God it chills me to use that term) made it abundantly clear that the missile defense system would undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent capability and had to go. And go it did, immediately followed by a Russian communique stating that this policy was in line with the new US/Russian stance on Eastern Europe. Ask the Poles or Czechs how they feel about this.
From a Times UK article: “This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence,” said Mirek Topolanek, the former Czech Prime Minister. “It puts us in a position where we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that’s a certain threat.”
From Russia to Latin America to Iran, Obama is mistaking appeasement for diplomacy. This is going to cost us dearly over the long run. Neville Chamberlain was a very capable diplomat and there is a wonderful picture of a beaming Chamberlain deplaning from Munich in 1938 proclaiming “peace in our time”. We all know how that turned out.
