oyuki

Saturday, September 19, 2009

History Applied to Missile Defense

Back during Operation Iceberg, the US Navy found itself bedeviled by an aerial buzz-saw called the kamikaze threat. Now a fast carrier task force was something pretty formidable but it was not doing enough to protect the carriers themselves. F6F Hellcats and F4U Corsairs provided a very good aerial umbrella while the destroyers, cruisers, and battleships provided a curtain of lead to ward off the kamikaze; but they were still getting through to damage. So the US Navy started to place destroyers with a few lighter escorts further out along expected axises of threat. The mission of these ships was to give even more advance warning of a kamikaze attack and to allow those Hellcats and Corsairs more time to slash at the attackers' numbers. As a result the amount of damage the carriers suffered decreased, along with damage to escorting ships. These picket ships extended the task force's defensive perimeter which allowed more kamikazes to be destroyed, thus saving more American lives.

By having the radar and interceptor missiles stationed in the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic, America's defensive aegis would be similarly extended. The satellites in 23,000 mile orbits would still provide launch warning, but that radar in Eastern Europe would provide the US with early tracking data while the missiles would give the US a chance to take out some more missiles. Thus reducing the workload of the ABL[if its aloft and in area once developed] and the terminal defense missile interceptors[Patriot for now]. And to boot, to protect allies from a nuclear oblivion from Iran. An Iran that the IAEA now says can build an atomic weapon.

Okay, I will take out a canard that is now being trotted out to defend Obama's decision in regards to missile defense. The talking heads say it will be several years before Iran can develop a missile to carry a nuclear warhead. These pundits forget that Iran has already launched into orbit a satellite. And more telling they omit the ugly truth it will take the US several years, working with Poland and the Czech Republic, to install that radar and those missiles. So to wait for Iran to develop the missile and then respond be deploying, makes all of Europe vulnerable to Iranian blackmail.

Assuming Europe would let the US deploy such a system in the future. The Obama administration has once again betrayed a country that thought the US was an ally. Israel and Honduras spring to mind as aggrieved parties. Now add Poland and the Czech Republic to the list of countries the US has broken its word with.

And what gain has the Obama Administration garnered for abandoning European missile defense? A promise by Russia not to deploy any missiles near Eastern Europe and some chastising of Iran and its nuclear program. A Russia who's history includes an invasion of Poland by the USSR, acting under the secret codicils of its Non-Aggression Pact with Nazi Germany. And Obama informs Poland of this betrayal on the 70th anniversary of that invasion. Naturally the Poles and Czechs are bouncing off the walls in indignation as they remember the last time the Western powers under Britain and France abandoned them to cruel fates.

President Obama and his administration may think they are making the world safer by making the US and the West less dangerous, in fact they have helped the world become more dangerous with their actions of disarmament and appeasement.

3 comments:

pat said...

In addition, the naval option is tactical, not strategic interception, unlike the land based plan which was both. Add to that that there is in fact no intent to have a permanent presence of naval intercept cruisers in the Baltic and Obama's position is reduced to absurdity.

Legion said...

More is better. Common sense. Stinky b.o. must be impeached.

Anna said...

Pat, it is a lie of Obama's unless he tells Congress we need more money to build more Aegis capable ships.

Legios, when has Obama let common sense get in the way of his cause?