Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

by Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) expressed concern Thursday that the recent decision by the Obama administration to scrap a long-range missile defense system in Eastern Europe could signal that the U.S. is willing to concede to Russian interests.

"There is very little doubt, that in most of the world, that this is viewed as an attempt to gain Russian concessions on the Iranian nuclear issue," McCain said during a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. "That's the interpretation. It was Machiavelli that said 'It's not what you do, it's what you appear to do.'"

During the hearing, McCain questioned the Defense Department's motives for changing the 2007 long-range missile plan in Poland and the Czech Republic. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates originally created the Bush administration's plan, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy said that she personally saw the deliberation Gates put into the Obama administration's new short-range missile plan.

At the hearing, McCain said some of the newspaper accounts he's read lead him to believe the international community doesn't buy the Department of Defense's arguments about the technological benefits of short-range missiles in Europe, noting that the time it will take to implement new technologies will be time the United States and European allies will be left with weakened military defenses.

McCain added that he's curious about how new U.S. missile policies will affect Polish and Czech policies.

"I think it's worth noting the Czech Republic currently have NATO forces deployed, as well as 100 personal deployed in Kandahar," he said. "The Polish currently have 2, 000 troops in Afghanistan. I would be very interested in the future to see how firmly the Poles and the Czechs stand behind those commitments."

McCain went on to argue that he agrees building and using defenses against short-range missiles are needed, but not because of the "belligerent threats the Iranian regime continues to pose to the United States and the rest of the world."

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said he believed the new short-range missile approach is positive because it "addresses more directly and effectively Iran's missile threat, it maintains and expands our security commitment to Europe, including Poland and the Czech Republic, [and] it opens the door to working cooperatively with Russia on a missile defense system that could not only provide greater protection to Europe, but also make a strong statement to Iran, that Europe, including Russia will take unified action against Iran's threat."

Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) shared many of Sen. McCain's views, with Lieberman asking why the U.S. cannot adopt a dual system with short and long-range missiles.