Missile Defense Founders on Bush Missteps

Poles and Czechs underappreciated, Congress stiffens
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 2, 2007 11:27 AM CDT
Missile Defense Founders on Bush Missteps
and launching the SM-3 missile. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)   (Associated Press)

President Bush is looking for support for his missile shield in all the wrong places, the LA Times reports. While he dallies with president Putin, an increasingly underwhelmed Congress is readying to pull the plug. Meanwhile, Poland and the Czech Republic—the designated missile-defense bases—are increasingly skeptical of American designs.

Bush says the missile shield is critical for staving off a nuclear Iran. But the House has voted to pull funding from the project, and Bush's Eastern European partners feel they’ve offered endless support without compensation. A crucial Polish figure said "this will be the first pro-American decision that I believe the Polish public will simply not take.” (More Poland stories.)

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