The Politics of Missile Defense

Posted by: Jason | August 20th, 2008 · 3:47 PM

Beyond its national security implications, today’s security agreement with Poland on missile defense presents a political opening for John McCain.

WARSAW, Poland (AP)—Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite.

Rice dismissed blustery comments from Russian leaders who say Warsaw’s hosting of 10 U.S. interceptor missiles just 115 miles from Russia’s westernmost frontier opens the country up to attack.

Such comments “border on the bizarre frankly,” Rice said, speaking to reporters traveling with her in Warsaw.

“When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988,” Rice said. “It’s 2008 and the United States has a … firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland’s territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it’s probably not wise to throw these threats around.”

Things are heating up in Eastern Europe, an area of expertise for the long-term Arizona senator, and McCain has profited handsomely from his performance last Saturday night at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. This week, McCain’s challenge will be to take those gains and further them by minimizing the coverage Barack Obama receives for his selection of a vice presidential running mate.

What better way than to reinstate the debate over foreign policy, a major weakness for Obama? McCain should overly-publicize his backing of the Polish missile agreement, showing his strength in the Russian standoff, and forcing Obama to reissue his hesitations over installing defense shields against Russian aggression (both Obama and his Democrat colleagues have expresses resistance to the agreement today). This forces Obama to either make a statement of weakness, or do what he’s always done with unpopular positions, switch them.

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