Newt Gingrich Statement on Obama’s “Flexibility” In Defending America and Her Allies

The President’s remark to his Russian counterpart that he would have more “flexibility” on ballistic missile defense after the election underscores how dangerous an Obama re-election would be. The President promised the Senate during the ratification debate on the New START Treaty he would not compromise on the Russian demand to limit US ballistic missile defense. Now we find out that promise was nothing more than empty words. The Russian demands, including ballistic missile deployment restrictions, limits on the technological capabilities of our missiles, and joint control over launch decisions, if agreed to by the US government; constitute a clear-and-present danger to American security.

Background: The Russians are seeking the following:

1. A legally binding agreement to limit future US ballistic missile defense;
2. The Russians seek to impose deployment restrictions on US sea-based ballistic missile defense systems including the deployment of Aegis-class missile defense ships from the Black Sea – the path over which Iranian ICBMs would have to travel to reach the US;
3. The Russians seek joint control of a decision to launch ballistic missile defense interceptors – effectively “outsourcing” life-or-death” decisions about American security to the Kremlin;
4. Restrictions on the capability of US defensive missiles to prevent them from being able to shoot down ICBMs. This would be implemented by imposing performance limitations on US interceptors – the velocity (at burnout, Vbo) may not exceed 4-km/sec. This figure reinstates the limitation derived from the now defunct ABM Treaty of 1972. The Obama administration would use these agreements with Russia to effectively recreate the constraints of the ABM Treaty. Source