Republicans rage over Star Wars Holy Grail
Published: 19 September, 2009, 04:40
Edited: 01 October, 2009, 12:00
United States, New York : An animated elephant, the symbol of the Republican Party, trumpets during the roll call of states at the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City 30 August 2004. (AFP Photo)
(22.0Mb) embed videoTAGS: Arms, NATO, Obama, Politics
Actually, Democrats never liked the anti-missile defense system, an idea that goes back to the Ronald Reagan era, believes Ivan Elland, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute.
The Republicans are outraged while the Democrats are largely supporting the latest initiative of the Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, that the U.S., NATO and Russia should, together, link their defense systems to protect themselves from potential threats.
Both the West and Russia should reassess their relationship because there is much more room for co-operation, says Elland.
The statement by NATO’s head is directly linked with the latest statement by Barack Obama on the decision to withdraw plans for deployment of the anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe.
“I think Obama is reaching out to Russia, even if it is causing problems with some of the allies, like Poland and the Czech Republic, it’s a major step,” states Ivan Elland.
As for Vladimir Putin’s call for abandoning some of the old trade policies between the U.S. and Russia, Ivan Elland notes that “countries are less likely to go to war if they have trade and investments – no guarantee, but there is always a peace lobby in every country.”
18.09.2009, 23:38
1 comment
“Russia-Japan: towards reaching a compromise”It would be optimal to develop Russian-Japanese relations and search for mutually acceptable solutions for a peace agreement, said Andrey Nesterenko, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, at a regular media briefing. |
20.09.2009, 15:01
“The moment of truth” for Medvedev and Obama“If our partners take our concerns into consideration then, surely, we will be more attentive to the concerns that they have,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said during an interview with Swiss media. |
Fully agree, MEJennsen; while the politicians know for sure that scientists do not put much faith in the efficacy of the system, it became a political sacred cow, so the only way to get out of it, is to arrange a gentle climb-down. So, those that scream at Obama will just have one more thing to scream about. In fact, Obama is on to something. Just give Rush Limbaugh more topics to scream about, and his followers will get very confused. Polish health care, or no, shield for swine flu, or no, the new missile virus... The Republicans themselves admit that when in hole, they tend to dig deeper. And we as a country are in a deep, deep hole. So, anything that will remove some financial strain, would be of help. The liquidity is sucked out of the economy as the government needs are balooning. And if they think that some tinkering with Social Security, health care or education will do it ---- better think twice. Nobody is in the mood for games.
From what I have heard, the Republicans appear to be split over this issue. There are some who still insist that the USA should put missile installations to protect our allies against "the evil Russians", and there are others who argue they are tired of paying for all the defense of the ungrateful Europeans, who are probably richer than we are, anyway. Democrats are split the same way, but they won't say anything bad about Obama. So, it looks like he will not get too much backlash - apart from the talk radio hosts who already hate anything Obama does, just on principle.
The Republican party is drifting along like a ship that has lost its engine and rudder. These politicians did it to themselves. They lost the confidence of the American people.by serving the lobbysts instead of the people who put them in office. Now the Democrats are following the same pattern. Currently there is very little if any difference between the Republicans and Democrats. It is all about special interests {the money}. Voting is becoming a perfunctory exercise for almost identical choices. We need to restore honesty in government by voting out all incumbents.