Pat Dollard

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Financial Times:

Barack Obama’s decision to scrap Bush-era plans for a missile defence shield on Thursday triggered dismay in central Europe and among Republicans on Capitol Hill, amid claims that it amounted to a major security concession to Russia.

Unveiling one of the biggest reversals on national security since coming to office, the US president said that he would abandon predecessor George W. Bush’s plans for ground-based interceptors in Poland and a related radar site in the Czech Republic, deploying instead a new system that could hit shorter-range Iranian missiles.

“This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defences against the threat of missile attack,” Mr Obama said.

Obama’s speech

Strengthening US missile defence in Europe

In Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed the decision to drop the project, which had complicated US efforts to enlist Russian support on nuclear arms control. “We value the US president’s responsible approach towards implementing our agreements,” Mr Medvedev said in a TV address. “I am ready to continue the dialogue.”

Moscow had denounced the Bush-era missile defence plans as a threat to its security, while Poland and the Czech Republic, originally unenthusiastic about the scheme, have warned against giving in to pressure from the Kremlin.

But US officials deny the move is a quid pro quo for Russian support for tougher UN sanctions on Iran – an idea previously floated by Mr Obama’s advisers.

Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday denied that there was any private deal behind the US decision.

The Polish and Czech governments voiced no immediate concern, amid US reassurances that it would later deploy land-based defence systems in eastern Europe. But politicians in warned that the move would undermine US relations with Nato allies who fear a resurgent Russia.

Mirek Topolanek, a former Czech prime minister, said: “This is bad news. After 20 years of our path into Euro-Atlantic structures and our very active involvement there, the process is being halted.”

On the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, Lech Walesa, former president, said: “I can see what kind of policy the Obama administration is pursuing towards this part of Europe. The way we are being approached needs to change.’’

“It would be a defeat for the long-term thinking of the American administration regarding this part of Europe,” Aleksander Szczyglo, head of the Polish national security bureau, told Poland’s TVN television.

US Republicans, who identify missile defence as a key part of US national security, were also critical. John McCain, the presidential candidate who lost to Mr Obama, criticised the move as “seriously misguided”. John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, a leading Bush-era hawk, was scathing.

“I think this is a near catastrophe for American relations with Eastern European countries and many in NATO,” he said. “It was the kind of unilateral decision that the Bush administration was always criticised for and I think the clear winners are in Russia and Iran.”

Defending the decision on Thursday, Mr Obama said it was prompted by changing assessments of Iran’s missile capabilities – now more focused on short- and medium- rather than long-range missiles – as well as improvements in US technology.

The new system would use both airborne sensors and seaborne interceptors to track and destroy incoming missiles and would deploy earlier than the Bush plans. It would later involve land-based interceptors in Europe, which US officials said could still be based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Mr Obama called Russia’s concerns about the US’s previous plans “entirely unfounded”.

But he said he would welcome co-operation on missile defence with Moscow, while adding that he had underlined US commitments to Poland and the Czech Republic to the countries’ prime ministers.

In an allusion to long-standing Democratic doubts about the effectiveness and cost of the Bush-era plan, Mr Obama stressed the importance of using “technology that is both proven and cost-effective”.

Mr Obama emphasised he was following the unanimous advice of his secretary of defence and the joint chiefs of staff.

“Those who say we are scrapping missile defence in Europe are either misinformed or misrepresenting the reality of what we are doing in Europe,” said Robert Gates, US defence secretary. The new approach would be more effective than the previous plan, which he recommended to former President George W. Bush three years ago.

But many diplomats privately argue that if the US had pressed ahead with the Bush-era plan, it would have jeopardised the Obama administration’s attempt to “reset” relations with Moscow and reduced prospects for longer-term co-operation.

In a sign of shifting plans for missile defence, the US last week notified Congress of a potential $7.8bn sale of Patriot missiles to Turkey, which borders Iran.

The US and other world powers will meet Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator on October 1 to test the seriousness of Iran’s proposal for talks and gauge its willingness to discuss its nuclear ambitions. The Obama administration says it will judge the progress on any talks by the end of the year, opening the way to a push for heightened sanctions on Iran.

The Bush administration had originally proposed the European-based system to counter the perceived threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon that could be mounted on its increasingly sophisticated missiles. It had wanted to begin construction before leaving office in January 2009.

The Czech Republic and Poland saw the bases as a commitment by Washington to increase their security against Russia.

During negotiations with the Bush administration, Warsaw pushed hard for a missile defence agreement that would reward them with a Patriot short-range air defence unit supported by US troops. In the end, Poland agreed in principle to host the US base during last year’s war between Russia and Georgia, which sparked fears about Russian intentions towards central Europe.

Diary of a defense system

●1990s US starts developing missile system for shooting down incoming long-range missiles from rogue states after abandoning earlier more ambitious efforts to develop a “Star Wars”-style comprehensive shield

●2000George W. Bush accelerates development; aims for 2004 deployment

●2002 Washington starts talks with Warsaw and Prague on locating a missile base in Poland and tracker radar in the Czech Republic

●2007 US, Poland and the Czech Republic begin formal negotiations despite continuing technical problems, scepticism of Polish and Czech voters and growing hostility of Russia, which sees system as a threat to its security

●2008 Czech deal signed just before Georgia war, Polish deal just after.
Russia denounces project and pledges to deploy
short- range nuclear missiles in the Kaliningrad region. Washington promise to base a US-manned Patriot short-range missile unit in Poland

●Early 2009 Barack Obama announces system review out of concern at cost and effectiveness and hopes of easing tension with Russia

●September 17 2009
Mr Obama abandons plans for east European bases, promises more flexible system, with Nato members and Russia as potential partners. Poland still hopes to host the Patriot unit