With missile move, Obama hands Russia a gift

By Steve Holland - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama essentially handed Russia a gift on Thursday with his decision to roll back a planned U.S. missile defense in eastern Europe.

The Russian government had loudly protested U.S. plans begun by Obama's predecessor, Republican George W. Bush, to deploy an anti-missile system in eastern Europe that the United States insisted had been aimed at defending against a potential missile attack from Iran.

Obama's decision to shift the focus to defending against Iran's short and medium-term missile capabilities instead meant there would be no need to deploy the missile shield systems in the Czech Republic and Poland that so alarmed Russia.

His move drew praise from fellow Democrats and some arms control advocates who saw the Bush plan as aimed at a Iranian missile threat that did not yet exist.

"The Obama administration is restoring American credibility while protecting our national security and that of our allies by canceling a failed, ideologically driven program," said the pro-Obama National Security Network.

But Republicans and missile-defense advocates called the move misguided and short-sighted and said it could weaken U.S. and European security.

Senator John McCain, ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Obama's move an abrogation of an agreement between the United States and its allies.

"What signal to we send to our friends in eastern Europe, and what signal do we send to (Russian Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin, who most vociferously announced on numerous occasions his opposition to this plan?" McCain told Reuters.

"It seems to me that the Russians could not feel anything but satisfaction about the threats they made concerning the consequences of this agreement being implemented," he said.

Obama's announcement came days before he attends the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where he is expected to see Russian President Dimitry Medvedev.

'WEAKNESS AND NAIVETE'

The president has been seeking Russian help in stiffening U.N. sanctions against Iran over a nuclear weapons program Tehran denies having, but so far Moscow has shown no signs of softening its resistance to more sanctions.

The administration stressed that its decision was not based on any anticipated concession from Moscow. "This is not about Russia," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

In rejecting U.S. appeals for more Iran sanctions last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow did not view the anticipated change in the U.S. missile defense posture as a concession but simply fixing a Bush mistake.

John Bolton, a defense hawk who was Bush's U.N. ambassador, said Obama's decision showed "weakness and naivete."