Missile Defense Redirected

President Obama recently decided to change tactics on missile defense. The Bush administration had pushed for the placement of missile defense batteries in Eastern Europe to counter Iranian missile development efforts. The Obama administration seems to favor smaller, cheaper systems that utilize existing Aegis and Patriot systems.

Though the President denies it -some suggest that the change in policy was an effort to save money and gain political capital with Russia (who never liked the idea of American missile defense batteries in Eastern Europe - I think we should be asking why). Somehow when Obama was elected I just felt less secure and this change in policy doesn't make me feel much better. Saving taxpayer money is always a good thing and a system that is complex and expensive must always be carefully considered when there exist cheaper second best options.

There are a couple of things that I take issue with here. First, it is not clear to me that the decision really makes America just as safe as the option originally put in place by the Bush administration. Second, I find it extremely misguided that the current President would move to scrap a defense project to save some money when he is spending hand over fist elsewhere on arguably less important things. This also is not the first time he has done this though - remember the F-22?

You can read a little more about this at Fox News.