Dear Members and Friends,
As world news
noted, yesterday morning in Seoul, Korea while meeting Russian
President, Dmitry Medvedev, our President, Barack Obama was quoted off
the cuff at the end of their 90 minute conversation about
resolving missile defense issues with Russia.
President Obama
stated that he would have "more flexibility", after his re-election to
deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but to tell the
incoming Russian President, Vladimir Putin that
he needs to give him "space".
This morning in
Korea, President Obama deflected his previous remarks by making a joke
about it with President Medvedev and stating that missile defense is too
complex an issue as it couples with his arms control
vision with Russia to achieve bipartisan Congressional support in an
election year.
These sets of
remarks, one off the cuff and one planned, in regards to missile defense
would raise the single question of why the voice and vote of the
American public is not considered or relevant? The President
should be held accountable by the American public with the contrast of
the President's own words of assurances to Russia to wait until after
his re-election on missile defense, when he would no longer be
accountable by vote of the American public.
The President's
statements of "flexibility" and "space" brings to question if there are
concessions being made, about to be made or already have been made on
limiting our nations missile defense capability
as not to offend Russia in order to gain trust for further arms control
reductions by the President.
Russia has asked
this Administration for limits on United States missile defense to
include speed limits on our interceptors as well as for classified
information of the ranges of our missile defense systems.
Concerned with our Military's capability to defend itself and our
country's right to be defended against not just today's ballistic
missile threats but in the future, the United States Congress has denied
this Administration in legislation from limiting United
States missile defense and not allowing exchange of classified missile
defense speeds and ranges with Russia.
During the 10th
Annual United States Missile Defense Conference and Exhibit held in
Washington DC yesterday, the Director of the Missile Defense Agency, LTG
Patrick O'Reilly stated unequivocally that more than
6,000 ballistic missiles are deployed today from other countries
outside of our allies, China and Russia. That four years ago that figure
was around 4,000 and only four of these other countries were making
their own missiles, now 12 of these countries are
making and deploying their own ballistic missiles. These offensive
ballistic missile systems are proliferating, getting simpler to operate,
more accurate and with longer ranges. It is known that North Korea has
developed and tested nuclear weapons. That North
Korea is testing, for its 4th time, another long range ballistic
missile between April 14th and 16th of this year. It is also known that
Iran continues to proliferate, test and deploy its hundreds of ballistic
missiles and is still on track to attain an indigenous
nuclear weapon.
Millions of lives
from these real threats are at risk today including our citizens,
American Military Forces, allies and friends in the Middle East and Far
East regions.
We have to accept
that Russia has and will continue to oppose United States missile
defense particularly with President Obama's own "European Phased
Adaptive Approach" to protect Europe and the United States
from Iran in which Russia feels the United States system remains
threatening to its nuclear strategic ICBM forces both in a Geo Political
sense as well as in evitable future modernization of the system over
time.
We no longer live
in a binary world and the Russian's will never change their opposition
on United States missile defense no matter how much this Administration
or any Administration shall seek to compromise.
The American public will always have the right to hold our
Presidents accountable and our Presidents should always be accountable
to our American public.