President Obama Announces "Stronger, Smarter, Swifter" European Missile Defense
September 17, 2009
President Obama Delivers Remarks on Missile Defense – Washington Post [link]
- The best way to responsibly advance our security and the security of our allies is to deploy a missile defense system that best responds to the threats that we face, and that utilizes technology that is both proven and cost effective.
- To put it simply, our new missile defense architecture in Europe will provide stronger, smarter and swifter defenses of American forces and America's allies.
- I'm confident that with the steps we've taken today we have strengthened America's national security and enhanced our capacity to confront 21st-century threats.
- Note: Click here to read the White House’s fact sheet on U.S. Missile Defense Policy: A “Phased, Adaptive Approach” for Missile Defense in Europe
Watch President Obama's statement on European missile defense below:
Following President Obama's statement, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also held a press conference on European missile defense:
Gates to Air Force: Want a New Bomber? Do It on the Cheap - Wired [link]
- In his speech, Gates emphasized his commitment to an “airborne long-range strike capability” — defense-speak for a future bomber. So what would this aircraft look like? Gates offered few details, but he did suggest that the next-generation bomber force might include robotic aircraft.
A View from the Dark Side
Why Europe Needs Star Wars - Wess Mitchell and Jamie Fly in Foreign Policy
- These costs are very real, and they stretch well beyond PR to involve primary, long-term U.S. strategic interests. Consider just these four:
- A destabilized eastern flank
- A more contentious NATO
- An emboldened Russia
- Cheapened alliances
- Like every other occasion in which the United States has forsaken Central Europe in pursuit of great-power bargains, such a move would set in motion geopolitical consequences that U.S. diplomats will still be working to undo a decade from now.
