U.S. abandons missile shield in Europe

By Jana Mlcochova and Gabriela Baczynska Jana Mlcochova And Gabriela Baczynska – 23 mins ago
PRAGUE/WARSAW (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama has told east European states he is abandoning plans for an anti-missile shield there, in a move that may ease Russian- U.S. ties but fuel fears of resurgent Kremlin influence.

Russia said it would welcome cancellation of the program, promoted by Obama's predecessor George W. Bush and now a source of tension overshadowing U.S. efforts to enlist Kremlin support over Afghanistan, Iran and nuclear arms control.

The Pentagon said the White House would be making a 'major announcement' on Thursday about the project, that had raised the prospect of multi-billion dollar contracts for U.S. defense giants.

The shield, involving interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar complex in the Czech republic, was intended to defend against any long-range missile launches from "rogue" states such as Iran and North Korea. Russia saw it as a threat to its missile defenses and its overall security.

"Today, shortly after midnight, Barack Obama telephoned me to announce that his government is backing away from the intention of building a missile defense radar on Czech territory," Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer told reporters.

A senior Polish source close to the negotiations told Reuters Warsaw had received a similar message.

A U.S. defense official said Washington was now examining an alternative to the "large, fixed system" of the shield. He gave no details.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the planned shield been based on the concern that Iran was determined to develop long-range intercontinental missile capability. Recent intelligence showed, however, that the Iranians were much more focused on developing short- and medium-range missiles.

I never saw much sense in this Bush/Cheney saber rattling idea.

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You are correct. The "sense" is that stupid is as stupid does

Obama seems to be doing a good job of dismantling and/or fixing some of the more problematic policies from the Bush administration. He is being deliberate about it and not completely abandoning controversial policies simply because they were used by Bush/Cheney. He is keeping the good and throwing out the bad. His missile shield decision looks like an example of that.

Ask the Europeans who rely on the U.S. what they think about it.

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Ask the Europeans why they should rely on us. Time for us to stop being a nanny. Further more the Bush program didn't work and it addressed a problem that didn't exist.

Playing World Policeman is just one of the reasons America is hated in many countries. Let someone else do it for a change.

The above is an abridged article of the situation. The complete coverage tells us that while the leaders of the Czech Republic & Poland don't want the US pull-out, the PEOPLE welcome it. And since the people of any country are more in touch with reality than its politicians, I think we are finally doing something right with regard to our foreign policy. Good for Obama!

I welcome the day US travelers don't have to read on US embassy websites, "keep a low profile."

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Don't Chrome them; polish them

September 16, 2009
Many Americans Doubt Costs, Benefits of Healthcare Reform
Most center on how to pay for plan or hold down costs
by Jeffrey M. Jones
PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are skeptical that President Obama's healthcare plan will be able to accomplish all he intends -- to expand coverage to nearly all Americans without raising taxes on middle-class Americans or affecting the quality of care. Thirty-eight percent believe his plan will achieve all of these goals, while 60% do not think it will.

Republicans are nearly united in thinking the plan will not accomplish these stated goals (90% believe it will not), and most independents (64%) agree. Two in three Democrats (66%), on the other hand, express optimism that the plan will achieve these aims.
"The poll suggests that support could drop if Americans come to believe the middle class will be asked to bear an increased burden in terms of higher taxes, higher medical costs, or diminished quality in order to expand healthcare coverage to those who currently lack it."
These results are based on a Sept. 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted in the days after Obama's prime-time address to Congress last Wednesday. The speech served as a renewed call to action for the American public and legislators to support healthcare reform. However, it does not appear to have materially increased support for the plan, and the poll reveals that Americans have doubts that the plan, as Obama described it, will work.
For example, less than a majority (43%) say they are confident that Obama's plan can be paid for mostly through cost savings in Medicare and other parts of the healthcare system, as Obama has proposed. Eleven percent are very confident of this.

On a more basic level, Americans do not expect healthcare legislation to improve the U.S. healthcare system in a number of areas -- including quality, coverage, cost, and insurance-company requirements they would have to meet in order to get procedures covered. Although the public stops short of saying reform will make these things worse -- given that about one in five expect the reforms not to make a difference either way -- in three of the four areas, more predict healthcare legislation would make the situation worse rather than better.

These are key considerations given that support for a healthcare plan -- currently 50%, including "soft" support -- could drop considerably if Americans were convinced that reform would have a harmful effect on the middle class through higher taxes, higher costs for healthcare, or reduced coverage or quality of care.
For example, the poll finds 26% of Americans saying they would support expanding health insurance coverage if it would result in higher taxes on the middle class; 13% would support expanded coverage if it would reduce the quality of care middle-class Americans receive.

Bottom Line
Despite the fact that half of Americans support the idea of new healthcare legislation, many fewer are convinced that President Obama's healthcare reform plan can expand coverage and maintain quality while not increasing middle-class taxes, and that the plan can be paid for mostly through cost savings in the existing healthcare system.
The poll suggests that support could drop if Americans come to believe the middle class will be asked to bear an increased burden in terms of higher taxes, higher medical costs, or diminished quality in order to expand healthcare coverage to those who currently lack it.
With 50% of Americans backing healthcare reform in principle, it is unclear whether the president has enough of a public mandate at this point to convince reluctant members of Congress to vote for healthcare reform. Equally unclear is whether public support for healthcare reform will grow or decrease in the coming weeks as more details of the plan are hammered out in Congress. But as Congress continues to do its work, the president and other supporters of healthcare reform have an opportunity to continue making their case to Americans, and to allay some of the public's doubts about what their vision of reform would accomplish and at what cost.
Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,030 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Sept. 11-13, 2009. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.
Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones (for respondents with a land-line telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell-phone only).
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/122969/Many-Americans-Doubt-Costs-Benefits-Healthcare-Reform.aspx

Umm. Billybob, I know health care is a big issue but I think this thread was sorta about missile defense.

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Maybe we ought to ask them to build their own damned missles while we are at it.

And it created another problem by pissing off the Russians.

That guy's on a lot of people's top ten ignore lists.

Who are now so happy that they are not doing anything for us. Thought I saw a report that say they were NOT going to do the sanction thing with Iran. In the meantime, the Poles and Czechs are probably not going to help us out should the need arise. So we have pissed off a some allies for a whole lot of nothing Sounds like a great plan.

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Either you do it or you let someone else do it as you suggested. HOWEVER, do note that whomever does it, should anyone do it, will do it so that it benefits them. If you are at a disadvantage over it, sucks to be you.

You do realize that whatever the people wants is immaterial if it doesn't get us squat, don't you? It will be the leaders that get us things or deny us things not the people.

You will always have to keep a low profile wherever you are if you are not at home anyways. That is unless you have absolutely no value.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Time will tell if the Russians choose to cooperate with us or just decide that we are weak and d***less (and I'm not talking about Cheney). I am guessing that it will be the latter.

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