Dismantling missile defense in Eastern Europe shows weakness
By Thaddeus McCotter
At a time when recession still wreaks havoc upon our families' prosperity, it is often difficult to focus on our national security. But focus we must.
President John F. Kennedy warned: "The surest path to war is the path of weakness and disunity." Ignoring his counsel, President Barack Obama now treads this path.
On Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, Obama announced the unilateral dismantling of our joint missile defense program with Poland and the Czech Republic. The Polish Ministry of Defense spokeswoman was brutally frank: "This is catastrophic for Poland."
And it is catastrophic for us.
First, this administration has inexplicably asserted this strategic defense system is not presently needed given the threats we and our allies face; and, therefore, it is perpetually unnecessary. Yet, shortly after the president's announced cancellation of the missile defense system, the International Atomic Energy Agency senior officials confirmed Iran has the ability to produce a nuclear bomb and is developing the means to deliver a nuclear warhead. Further, North Korea already possesses several nuclear weapons, continues refining its offensive delivery capabilities, and remains one of the most devious and determined proliferators of weapons of mass destruction technology.
Second, our alliance with Poland and the Czech Republic is based upon our shared, unbreakable bond of liberty, one forged through shared suffering, sacrifice and triumph over tyranny. This administration's inexplicable miscalculation signals American apathy toward our allies and the threats they face; and constitutes our appeasing Russia and acceding to its demand Central and Eastern European countries are within its "sphere of influence."
For while we may remain an ocean away from the threat of Russian neo-imperialism, our allies in Central and Eastern Europe do not. For example, last year, the Russian Army invaded the sovereign democracy of Georgia. Presently, Russia aids our enemies, such as Iran; uses energy as a weapon against smaller nations; practices cyber warfare against its neighbors; and refuses to withdraw its soldiers from their occupation of Moldova. The president's unilateral abandonment of European missile defense evinces an unwillingness to ensure the defense and territorial integrity of our Central and Eastern European allies; and jeopardizes the safety of Americans and all free peoples.
Finally, the administration has undermined our nation's role as a beacon of freedom for the world's oppressed. Heartbreakingly for Americans devoted to our role as a beacon of liberty, this is the judgment of former Polish President and champion of human freedom, Lech Walesa: "The Americans only cared about their interests. They used everybody else."
Yes, we in Michigan most painfully know of our economic straits. But learning from the Greatest Generation before us, our Global Generation must remember how, if in a time of economic insecurity America ignores national security, we may soon find our recession matched with an even graver tribulation.
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Thaddeus McCotter is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the Michigan's 11th congressional district
Detroit News
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