September 21, 2009

Gates: I’m a hawk on missile defense

By: AF Editors

Cheers went up from the liberal side when Obama canceled Bush-era plans for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. But is there a hawkish logic for the decision as well? Bob Gates was selling that line yesterday’s NY Times:

The future of missile defense in Europe is secure…Russia’s attitude and possible reaction played no part in my recommendation to the president on this issue.

Which is very different from saying that Russia’s attitude played no part in the President’s decision.

In any case the facts are clear: American missile defense on the continent will continue, and not just in Central Europe, the most likely location for future SM-3 sites, but, we hope, in other NATO countries as well.

Is that a hope or a commitment?

I have been a strong supporter of missile defense ever since President Ronald Reagan first proposed it in 1983. But I want to have real capacity as soon as possible, and to take maximum advantage of new technologies to combat future threats.

The bottom line is that there will be American missile defense in Europe to protect our troops there and our NATO allies.

Is that a prediction or is it a commitment made on behalf of the Pentagon and the White House? Gates says there will be missile defenses in southern and Central Europe by 2015. One gets the sense that he will have to make war on his dovish colleagues for that reality to come to pass.