Missile Threat Grows Against U.S. A new report by the National Air and Space Intelligence Center reveals that the missile threat to the U.S. from potentially hostile nations is growing. The report, "Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat," details the dangers posed by the missile programs of North Korea, Iran, China, Russia and other nations. It comes as the Obama administration is planning to reduce spending on missile defense systems, the Washington Times observes. The NASIC report discloses that since 2006, North Korea has deployed nearly 50 new missiles with a range of more than 2,000 miles. It has also tested the Taepodong-2 missile, which has a range of 3,400 miles. Both tests of the missile have been failures, but the report says they demonstrate North Korea's "determination to achieve long-range ballistic missile and space launch capabilities." It also warns that the Taepodong-2 could be exported to other countries in the future. The NASIC report cites Iran's April launch of a missile that "can serve as a testbed for long-range ballistic missile technologies." China, the report notes, has "the most active and diverse ballistic missile development program in the world," and the number of Chinese ICBM warheads capable of threatening the U.S. is expected to grow to "well over 100 in the next 15 years." Russia has increased its arsenal of warheads on its SS-18 ICBMs by 250 in recent years. Russia is also developing new technology "to allow Russian strategic missiles to penetrate missile defense systems," according to the NASIC report obtained by the Times. The Pentagon, meanwhile, recently announced that its next budget includes a $1.5 billion cut in missile defense funding.
And obama is 'making nice' while on an apology tour with these nuts!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
There is always a threat....always has been and always will be.......it's just like school only with bigger classrooms......now where is my spitball shooter?.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Russia reacts warmly to Obama's new missile defense plan
By Julian E. Barnes and Megan K. Stack
WASHINGTON and MOSCOW -- Having shifted the focus of its Iran policy from strategic missile deterrence to diplomacy, President Obama now faces the enormous challenge of turning a still-suspicious Russia into a partner in persuading Tehran to halt any moves toward building nuclear weapons and long-range missile capabilities.
On Friday, there were some positive signs that Obama's decision to scrap former President George W. Bush's European missile defense plans would yield some diplomatic rewards.
Russia had long objected to the missile defense plans, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin praised the shift Friday.
On Thursday, the Pentagon had said it would cancel a long-range radar that was to be installed in the Czech Republic and ground based interceptors planned for Poland. U.S. officials said instead they would boost defenses against short- and medium-range Iranian missiles.
The Obama administration was clearly betting that, despite having no public guarantees, Moscow would accept the overture on missile defense and as a result would increase pressure on Iran. The White House gamble suggests that senior administration officials hope that, strains with Moscow aside, the U.S. and Russia have interests in common.
But Moscow does not view Iran through the same lens as Washington does, and it is much less concerned that the Islamic Republic is a direct threat.
And some experts believe the U.S. is putting too much hope on its diplomatic abilities.
Obama administration officials justified the new missile defense stance in part on what they said was a new intelligence assessment that Iranian development of its long-range missiles was slowing.
But that assertion surprised some experts. Trey Obering III, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and the former head of the Missile Defense Agency, said Iran's satellite launch and solid rocket tests this year signaled to him that Iran was continuing to make progress on its long-range missiles.
"I am very surprised by the new intelligence assessment. It is dramatically different from what we were told last spring. To me it flies in the face of what is observable," Obering said.
Obering said he believes the Obama administration is counting on the decision to cancel the ground-based interceptors to give a boost to a diplomatic offensive. That strategy, he said, could be risky, as the nation learned through the Clinton administration's ultimately unsuccessful efforts to halt North Korean weapons programs.
"They are counting very heavily on Russia being able to influencing the Iranians to disarm or not pursue nuclear program. There are a lot of eggs in that basket," he said.
Administration officials insisted they were not abandoning missile defense, arguing the new system would better defend against immediate threats and that planned technological developments would allow the system to counter longer range rockets.
"None of what was decided on missile defense was predicated on the notion that you could solve the problem through diplomacy and therefore you could take a risk," said one official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak for the record.
The Obama administration has pushed to "reset" relations with Russia, and cancelling a project that Russia had repeatedly insisted it viewed as a direct threat was a dramatic gesture.
But it is not clear how much assistance Moscow is willing to offer the U.S. in pressuring Iran, particularly since the Kremlin has given signs of expecting wholesale policy shifts on the U.S. side--without any equivalent compromises from Moscow.
"The latest decision by President Obama has positive implications," Putin said in remarks carried on state media. "And I very much hope that this very right and brave decision will be followed by others."
Dimitri K. Simes, president of the Nixon Center and an expert on Russia, said senior Russian officials had made clear privately that if they believed a genuine partnership with the U.S. was in the offering, they could be "somewhat more accommodating" on Iran.
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are due to meet at the United Nations Wednesday, and Simes predicted that Russia would back some sanctions against Iran, even if it continued to oppose sweeping economic restrictions.
"We have the right signals coming from Moscow," he said.
But the administration official said that there had been no discussions with the Russians tying a tougher Iran stance to the missile defense shift.
Logged
Iran is going nuclear. N. Korea has gone nuclear and is improving missile delivery systems. Obama does nothing but talk a game.
