Latest missile crisis with Russia

President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia has brought this complex — and ominous — subject back to the headlines by flamboyantly announcing deployment of Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad, a forward area close to Western Europe. The Bush administration some time ago announced planned deployment of U.S. anti-ballistic missiles in Poland, with associated radar installations in the Czech Republic. The focus of this development is Europe but the implications are global, including direct bearing on Asia, given North Korea’s fitful and at times frightening nuclear moves.

Medvedev’s announcement was timed to coincide with Sen. Barack Obama’s election as the next president of the United States. Perhaps Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the others who rule Russia were interested only in upstaging the American elections and the president-elect. Perhaps this move is part of a much larger strategic plan, including the recent invasion of Georgia, to assert Russian military power.

In any case, Obama has not risen to the bait. The president-elect has stressed that our country has only one president at a time, and refuses to get drawn into policy debates about moves by either Moscow or Washington. His staff has described the topic of missiles in Europe as open for future consideration. Pentagon pressure for anti-ballistic missiles dates back to the 1950s and the Eisenhower administration. At that time, defense spending absorbed more than half the entire federal budget, and a much larger percentage of gross national product than today. Ike maintained control over the military primarily, though not exclusively, by putting an overall ceiling on the Pentagon budget, effectively setting the Air Force, Army and Navy against one another for available resources.

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