According to the Polish ^[1] daily ^[2], Gazeta Wyborcza, sources in the United States have confirmed that the Obama administration has made the decision to abandon our anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Unfortunately this news is not surprising at all. In March of this year it was revealed ^[3] that President Obama “secretly” offered Moscow a grand bargain whereby it would sacrifice missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic in exchange for Moscow’s help discouraging Iran’s nuclear program ^[4]. Then in his July summit ^[5] with Moscow, Obama reinforced his message that missile defense remains a bargaining chip that can exchanged for his college dream of a nuclear free world. ^[6]

This is a grave mistake for several reasons:

• The decision to abandon the “third site” deployment of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic violates President Obama’s pledge ^[7] to support missile defense that is “pragmatic and cost-effective.” Ground based missile defense is effective, affordable, and available now. ^[5]
• According to the Congressional Budget Office ^[8], alternatives to the third site do not provide a comparable level of defense. The CBO concluded that the estimated $9-14 billion 20-year cost of the third site was half of the estimated costs of a sea-based alternative.
• Reneging on our promise ^[9] to Poland and the Czech Republic sends a terrible signal to our allies in the region.

Abandoning our best missile defense option in Europe only encourages Iran to speed up their ballistic missile program ^[10] so that they can get their threat in place before a European missile defense system is available. We are in a depserate race to beat the clock on Iran’s nuclear program. Why on earth are we stopping now to let the Iranians catch up?