McCain: Restart Missile Defense In Czech Republic, Poland

by JASmius

Or, "the thing that, had it not been undone in the first place, might have deterred Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine in the first place":

The United States should respond to the Russian invasion of Crimea by restarting a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland that President Barack Obama canceled in 2009, said Senator John McCain.

"Restart the missile defense system that Obama canceled in order to placate Putin in the Czech Republic and Poland," the Arizona Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" on Monday.

McCain said he had predicted the Russian takeover of Crimea, and explained he was now worried about eastern Ukraine, since Russian President Vladimir Putin "has been so successful." He suggested other ways for the United States to respond to the Russian threat.

"Have military exercises with our Baltic friends. They're under enormous pressure from Putin. Bring Georgia and Moldova, both parts of which are occupied by Russia today, into NATO. And do it quickly," he said.

Yes indeedy.  Precisely the sort of "move other pieces on the chessboard" strategy that I've been flogging for the past two weeks.  Even to pre-emptively coming to the aid of the Baltic States.

But then, if Barack Obama were going to take any of these steps, he would already have done so long before Russian troops rolled across the Ukrainian border.  I'd say that these measures will have to wait for President Walker to order, but it'll be kind of way too late by then.

Of course, Maverick also urged cutting off Putin's tourism budget, so take that as however big a grain of salt you like.