Friday, September 18, 2009

Obama scraps Bush's European Missile Defence Plan

President Obama is overhauling President Bush's plan for a missile defense shield in Europe, based partly on an "updated intelligence assessment" of Iran's offensive capabilities and replaced it with a new system. Obama said "new missile defense architecture in Europe ... will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack" than the program that Bush proposed. The Islamic republic's "short- and medium-range" missiles pose the most current threat, he said, and "this new ballistic missile defense will best address" that threat.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking from the Pentagon immediately after the president's announcement, denied the United States was "scrapping" missile defense. "This new approach provides a better missile defense capability for our forces in Europe, for our European allies and eventually for our homeland than the program I recommended almost three years ago." Gates said. The new system will have "hundreds" of missile interceptors.

Left: SECDEF Robert Gates. Right: General James Cartwright, VCJCOS

It also will have mobile radars, including some in space, "that can move to wherever the threat actually emanates and wherever we feel we need to defend ourselves," said Gen. James Cartwright, deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He contrasted the new sensor technology with the radar systems envisioned in the old plan, which he called "basically left over from the Cold War." The new plan includes three types of missiles to shoot down incoming threats -- Patriot missiles, which defend a single location; SM-3 interceptors, which he said could protect "a general area like the area from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C."; and large ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California. The first phase of the system is due to be in place in 2011, with the subsequent phases rolling out around 2015, 2018 and 2020. "It's a more advanced system, more cost-effective and efficient," the Marine general said.

Elements of the new plan are extremely familiar to those that were made aware of the United Nations Extra-Terrestrial Invasion Defence Agency's 2005 "Alien Mothership Deterrent Initiative" proposed by Colonel "Whopper" Creedon who was then the Extra-Terrestial Encounters Advisor to the Bush White House, now UNETIDA's Special Operations Commander who was unavailable for comment today. Other UNETIDA personnel were on hand however:

"A volley of multi-kinetic neutronic mines will solve most of your hostile encounter problems" said Captain "Harpoon" Dutton KBE, Commander, UNETIDA Naval Tactical Support (CUNTS) "but I'm a big fan of serious missile power too. It pleases me that we'll be getting more of them."

Brigadier General “Ballista” Jackson, UNETIDA Missile Defence Commander [Northern] said "The system that President Bush proposed would have deployed interceptors that had yet to be tested in real conditions to defend against ICBMs that Iran has yet to develop. They'd have been useless against the technology that we know Iran does have. The new plan make more sense short term, then we worry about long term threats once that's in place." When asked if Obama's plan was in fact related to Creedon's 2005 proposal he responded. "It's a more advanced system, more cost-effective and efficient plus we will now have hundreds of missiles at our command rather than just 10! Does that sound like a Colonel Creedon plan to you?"

Sources: Fox News, US DoD, CNN

5 comments:

Master Guns said...

Soooooo. The Colonel becomes an avocate of Obama policy against every right-winger on the planet on this issue?

Intriguing...

Polishing those stars yet sir?

Constance said...

I'll be sure to put in a good word for the future General "Whooper" Creedon when I see President and Mrs. Obama next week.

Civilian Overseer said...

More Bang for less Buck?, certainly sounds like a Whopper plan to me, I endorse this plan.

P.S. Colonel, Connie as a potential carrier of the Zombie plague must not be allowed to come into contact with the POTUS or the FLOTUS. You know what must be done.

Constance said...

As long as "what must be done" includes a manicure, pedicure, facial and hot stone massage, I am okay with that. Maybe throw in a jacuzzi overlooking something majestic. That ought to get the zombie plague right out of me.

Civilian Overseer said...

Connie, I'd seriously recommend not using the "F" word around the Colonel, I suspect that he has a very different definition for its meaning. ;)