Iran Placing Medium-Range Missiles in Venezuela; Can Reach the U.S.

From Hudson NY:


Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources[1], according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010. According to the article, an agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit o Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October19, 2010. The previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly operated military base in Venezuela, and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles....

According to Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers, soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Venezuelan missile officers. In addition, Iran has given permission for the missiles to be used in case of an "emergency". In return, the agreement states that Venezuela can use these facilities for "national needs" – radically increasing the threat to neighbors like Colombia. The German daily claims that according to the agreement, Iranian Shahab 3 (range 1300-1500 km), Scud-B (285-330 km) and Scud-C (300, 500 and 700 km) will be deployed in the proposed base. It says that Iran also pledged to help Venezuela in rocket technology expertise, including intensive training of officers...

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Poor Choices

Taking a page out of the health care debate the Obama Administration makes some broad assertions to defend its dismantling of the missile defence shield that difficult to validate.

Heritage has done an excellent analysis on some of the problems. I've included an excerpt below. I cannot help but be reminded of an earlier posting at MereComments titled, "Our War on Poland." The article describes the snubbing we gave Poland on the 60th anniversary of the start of WWII:

The the 60th anniversary of the start of World War II--the invasion of Poland-- on September 1, 1939, was just observed in Poland. So what's with the U.S sending to the ceremony, not the President, or Vice-President, or Secretary of State, or Under-Secretary of State, but National Security Adviser Gen. James L. Jones, to stand alongside Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown? This article in the Washington Times notes the humiliation and neglect felt by the Poles. No wonder:

The Polish government sent out the invitation three months ago to the White House, but an answer was received only on Wednesday, a mere five days before the ceremony. Repeated attempts over the summer by the Poles to contact the White House and the State Department met with a long period of silence. One White House aide actually replied that everyone was on vacation until after Labor Day, which caused a Polish official to say he apologized that Adolf Hitler had invaded his country on Sept. 1.

The article notes the difficulty we are giving Poles about visas as well. I thought this President was about mending our relations overseas? No wonder the Polish Prime Minister wouldn't take the midnight call. Nevermind the decision was taken without consulting our allies affected (Poland and Czech Republic). What a bunch of amateurs. Next thing you know they'll be giving the Queen of England an I-Pod....oh wait.

From Heritage:

In an attempt to justify its decision to terminate America’s commitment to field missile defense interceptors and radar in the Czech Republic and Poland, the Obama Administration has released a fact sheet. The questionable validity of the fact sheet’s assertions, however, serves only to highlight the shortcomings of the Obama Administration’s decision.

Congress should not let the Obama Administration go unchallenged regarding this matter.

Assertion #1: The Iranian Ballistic Missile Development Program Is More Focused on Short- and Medium-Range Missiles. Specifically, the fact sheet states: “The intelligence community now assesses that the threat from Iran’s short- and medium-range ballistic missiles is developing more rapidly than previously projected, while the threat of potential Iranian intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capabilities has been slower to develop than previously estimated.”[3]

Leaving aside the fact that intelligence estimates of foreign ballistic missile developments is an inexact science and that the U.S. is often taken by surprise regarding these developments, the reality is that the Iran is developing its ballistic missile capabilities holistically. (more)

Its an important read and worth visiting the link for the whole article.