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UPDATE SEPTEMBER 18! Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney’s explains that “Obama helps strengthen General Electric-Putin ties” here. Author Carney points to a Reuter’s post here “ANALYSIS-US firms, others may gain from shield pullback.”

A Defense-Addled White House: from Venezuela to Poland

“. . . [Y]ou can’t be in favor of assertive American foreign policy overseas and increasing Europeanization domestically; likewise, you can’t take a reductively libertarian view while the rest of the planet goes to pieces.”
- - Mark Steyn

Of course, we are all concerned with the imminent threat of intrusive Obamacare. And the current accelerated expansion of government has been enabled by a series of wrong-headed enactments — from last year’s Barney Frank Housing Bill right on through to last March’s mega-appropriations bill.

But the Obama Administration’s serious national-security missteps or failures to act jeopardize our own safety, and our world-wide interests as well.

Our Adversaries Hustle in Latin America

Last week Michael Ledeen sketched here a wider picture of what we face in his “The End of the World” - -

“There is a mounting body of evidence of a global alliance directed against the United States, running from Moscow to Tehran, Damascus and Caracas.  United by hatred of America, funded by oil and narcotics revenues (including our own), and unanimous in their contempt for free societies, the leaders of Russia, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Bolivia publicly declare their intentions and demonstrate their resolve.”

. . . . .

“As usual, nobody really cares to add up all this information, because their sum comes quite close to a potential ‘end of the world’ scenario.  Russia and Venezuela and several other countries are now in cahoots to strengthen Iran (and its regional colony, Syria) in the Middle East and radical Marxist regimes in Latin America.  The target of this conspiracy is the United States.

It’s a serious threat, and any sensible person would have to take it seriously, but we do not have sensible people in charge of our policies.  When the president is not tied up lecturing school children on the importance of taking the high road, he’s ‘making history’ by embracing the United Nations, or actively catering to our enemies, from sending back-channel messages to Tehran, to slapping sanctions on the legitimate government of Honduras in favor of a Chavez and Castro buddy.”

Last Sunday, investigator and author Ken Timmerman revealed in his “U.S. May Face 9/11-Scale Threat from Venezuela” here - -

“In a separate case, [Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau] indicted a company called Limmt and its manager, Li Fang Wei, who used aliases and shell companies to purchased banned missile, nuclear, and dual use materials for Iranian military entities.

Morgenthau predicted this week that Iran and Venezuela, ‘two of the world’s most dangerous regimes… will be acting together in our backyard on the development of nuclear and missile technology.’”

We Abandon Our Friends in Central and Eastern Europe

Scott Johnson “The gathering storm, part 168″ concludes here in Power Line today - -

“The Obama administration must be setting some kind of record for comprehensive error in foreign policy. Today comes word that it will abandon plans to build the missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. An announcement from the White House is expected about 10:30 a.m. (Eastern). Nile Gardiner comments:

‘This is bad news for all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defence of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. A deal with the Russians to cancel missile defence installations sends a clear message that even Washington can be intimidated by the Russian bear.

What signal does this send to Ukraine, Georgia and a host of other former Soviet satellites who look to America and NATO for protection from their powerful neighbour? The impending cancellation of Third Site is a shameful abandonment of America’s friends in eastern and central Europe, and a slap in the face for those who actually believed a key agreement with Washington was worth the paper it was written on.’

Gardiner could go further. What signal does this send to the mullahs in Iran? The impending cancellation tells them nothing they didn’t already know, but it confirms their perception of Obama as a clueless doofus who has done much to merit their utmost contempt? What signal does this send to our ally Israel? You are on your own, buddy, and you’d better get cracking.”

National Review on Line’s (NRO) Rich Lowry quotes John Bolton on the president’s grave error with Poland and the Czech Republic here - -

‘Pre-emptive capitulation’

Just talked to John Bolton. Here’s his take. ‘This is just pre-emptive capitulation, although like everything else, the rhetoric is that we’re doing the opposite.’ It doesn’t make sense that we should only be concerned with the short-and-medium-range threat and not also with ‘the long-range threat 2 or 3 years from now.’ And our intelligence on Iran is manifestly ‘inadequate.’ I wouldn’t ‘bet a lot of money on it being right,’ and in any case, ‘there’s this concept called ‘break-out,’ where they achieve a quantum leap in their capability. It’s a ‘bet against the future’ that leaves ‘us and the Europeans in a more risky situation.’ All the talk of the intelligence changing and an enhanced short-and-medium-range capability is ‘blue smoke and mirrors’ because they never believed in missile defense. ‘It’s a convenient smoke-screen to do what they wanted to do anyway, which is to give up on missile defense in the hope the Russians will be nice to us.’ Secretary Gates’s comments were the ‘most disingenuous.’ Yes, we want a defense against the short-and-medium-range threat, but the whole idea of missile defense is based on a ‘layered defense.’ ‘Gates was a problem in the Bush administration on missile defense. He was always weak on this.’”

Heritage’s Mackenzie Eaglen asks here - -

“So President Obama has axed the agreement with America’s allies in eastern Europe and abandoned the so-called ‘third site’ missile-defense plan. 

It’s hard to determine which is worse: 

• the lame excuse that Iran’s nuclear program isn’t progressing as rapidly as before (Just this week the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA said Iran now has ‘possible breakout capacity’ to enrich and convert its uranium stockpile to bomb-grade material) or,
• that U.S. leaders would sell out our friends for Russia whose own leaders just said they won’t push for tougher sanctions against Iran. 

This betrayal of allies comes as America continues to press NATO allies to do more in Afghanistan. Earlier this year Poland sent even more troops to Afghanistan to help with the recent election. So too, the Czech Republic is running a large Provincial Reconstruction Team and advising the Afghanistan Air Corps today.” (Underscoring Forum’s.)

(NRO’s Andrew Stuttaford points out that today is the 70th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Poland.)

So what can Maryland and Virginia grass-roots conservatives do?

• Raise questions about “provid[ing] for the common defense” in future TEA Parties and Recess Rallies. 

• Ask Blue Dog members who declare “a deep commitment to the . . . national security of the United States” what they are doing to bring the Obama Administration to a better mind on protecting all Americans from our adversaries. 

And start to learn about the very dangerous EMP threat through this video.

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