In his speech at the National Archives today, President Obama touted his administration’s efforts to defend the United States, saying “We are investing in the 21st century military and intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy.” The events of recent days lead one to wonder what “nimble enemy” the President believes he is equipping our military to defeat. Just as his April 5 Prague speech on nuclear disarmament was overshadowed by North Korea’s launch of a Taepodong-2 missile, the administration’s plan to slash spending on missile defense has in recent days run up against an unfortunate reality: Iran and other “nimble enemies” of the United States are rapidly making progress on the development of long-range ballistic missiles — the very missiles that missile defense is intended to counter. On Wednesday, Iran tested a Sejjil-2 missile capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe. Gary Samore, the administration’s top counterproliferation and arms control official, told the New York Times that Iran’s move from liquid fueled missiles such as the Shahab-3 to solid fueled missiles such as the Sejjil-2 which are more mobile and can be launched on shorter notice, was “a significant technical development.” The Iranian missile launch came on the same day that Secretary Gates was in front of a House subcommittee defending the administration’s 15 percent cut to the budget of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, including the cancellation or downsizing of key programs such as the Airborne Laser, Multiple Kill Vehicle and Kinetic Energy Interceptor, which are exactly the sort of “21st century military capabilities” the president touted today. Even more alarming is the fact that the administration has only allocated $51 million ($416 million less than Congress appropriated last year) for the planned missile defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland. These are sites that would defend the U.S. homeland and our European allies from Iranian missiles. Instead of making construction of the sites a priority, the administration seems to be flirting with the possibility of giving up the sites in an effort to strike an arms control deal with Moscow. The unfortunate timing of these cuts is such that even Rep. David Obey (D-WI), fresh from pandering to the Get out of Afghanistan caucus, expressed some concern, citing “continuing [Iranian] rhetoric about threats to our friends and allies in the region.” Congressional Democrats have a long history of slashing missile defense, so something is seriously wrong when people like David Obey begin to look like national security hawks in comparison to the Obama administration. Before the president delivers his next big speech or rolls out his next big national security initiative, he may want to “engage” Pyongyang and Tehran first to make sure they don’t make him look foolish in front of his own party as well as the American people.
