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March 23: [Mitt]
Romney: Obama stopped missile defense shield 'as a gift to Russia' ...
... Obama,
explained he supported the missile shield ... during the 2008
campaign. He gave himself wiggle room, however,by saying, "I
want to make sure it works, which is actually one of the problems we've got."
"Our clear and consistent focus has been the threat posed by Iran's ballistic
missile program, and that continues to be our focus and the basis of the program
that we're announcing today," Obama said. "In confronting that threat, we
welcome Russians' cooperation to bring its missile defense capabilities into a
broader defense of our common strategic interests, even as ... we continue our
shared efforts to end Iran's illicit nuclear program."
Obama delegated explaining [his missile] decision to an
interesting source: Gates, the same official who recommended the missile defense
plan to Bush in 2006 to combat the growing threat of Iranian ballistic missiles.
March 28:
Toward the end of his presidency, George W. Bush, concerned about a possible
threat to Europe and the United States from Iranian missiles, proposed to
install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech
Republic. Administration officials at the time stressed repeatedly that the plan
had nothing to do with Russia — and everything to do with Iran.
Enter President Obama, who
announced in September 2009 that he was scrapping the Bush plan and
introducing an alternative, what he called a “European phased adaptive
approach.” The four-part plan would initially focus on threats posed by Iranian
short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Europe, and then eventually
would include a fourth phase that would target as-yet undeveloped Iranian
intercontinental missiles.
...
one key official described the shift as more effective, less costly and timelier
than the Bush plan — then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. He also happened to
be the guy who recommended the original plan to Bush. He defended the change at
the time in
an opinion article in the New York Times, noting that the Bush plan would
not have been deployed until at least 2017. He then expanded on his defense of
the shift in his recent memoir, “Duty.”
May 12: President Barack Obama scrapped the George W. Bush
administration's planned bilateral deployment of a different system to Poland
and the Czech Republic and has instead pursued a NATO-centric approach using
alternate technology.
The system is to be turned over to NATO command and will be housed at a U.S.
naval support facility in Deveselu, Romania, the site of a Romanian military
base. Construction will begin on an additional anti-missile platform in Poland
...
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/11/politics/nato-missile-defense-romania-poland/
May 12: The Romania [missile defense] installation is the first
land-based defensive missile launcher in Europe and will join other elements
of the NATO defensive shield, including a command-and-control center at
Ramstein Air Base, Germany, a radar installation in Turkey and four ships
capable of identifying enemy missiles and firing their own SM-3s based in
Rota, Spain.
The U.S. and NATO have continually stressed that the system is intended to
defend Europe from Iran and its expanding arsenal. Tehran has continued to
test-fire ballistic missiles following the internationally negotiated deal to
limit its nuclear program.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/11/politics/nato-missile-defense-romania-poland/
January 26: As a candidate
seeking Democratic nomination in 2008, Barack Obama appeared poised to continue
following his party’s proclivity toward curtailing missile defense as part of
national security policy. An early
campaign talking point called for cutting “tens of billions of dollars of
wasteful spending” including “investments in unproven missile defense systems.”
However, despite his initial apprehension, President Obama leaves behind a
significant missile defense legacy, having spurred the development and
deployment of missile defense systems in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East
during his presidency. Obama’s embrace of missile defense as a component of
foreign policy has led to bipartisan support of an issue that had largely been
championed by the Republican Party for decades. This paradigm reversal can
likely be attributed to the President’s confidence in today’s missile defense
capabilities as a tool to reassure and defend allies and the American homeland
from an increasing ballistic missile threat.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/01/27/the_presidents_missile_defense_embrace_110702.html
