Obama's Missile Defense Flip-Flop

Question: Where does Barack Obama Stand on Missile Defense?
Answer: Where would you like him to Stand?

Time magazine indicates that He Supports it

According to Obama.com

He has called for continuing U.S. cooperation with Israel in the development of missile defense systems.

But as Jim Gergaghty points out on his blog today:

Once again, this is an issue in which Obama's view tends to change depending on which audience in front of him.

In the Video Below he says:

"Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems. I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development of future combat systems." This is the video where Obama pledges to "seek a global ban on the production of fissile material," which would effectively ban nuclear power around the world.

Last year when he was welcoming Polish President Lech Kaczynski to the United States he gave a Tepid "well, if it works" response:

“The Bush Administration has been developing plans to deploy interceptors and radar systems in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of a missile defense system designed to protect against the potential threat of Iranian nuclear armed missiles. If we can responsibly deploy missile defenses that would protect us and our allies we should – but only when the system works. We need to make sure any missile defense system would be effective before deployment. The Bush Administration has in the past exaggerated missile defense capabilities and rushed deployments for political purposes. The Bush Administration has also done a poor job of consulting its NATO allies about the deployment of a missile defense system that has major implications for all of them. We must not allow this issue to divide “new Europe” and “old Europe,” as the Bush Administration tried to do over Iraq.”

Liberal fans of Obama like Katrina Vanden Heuvel interpreted that as a sign that Obama would stop any deployment.

look at a side-by-side comparison between Senators Obama and McCain shows that the stakes are high when it comes to missile defense and the new arms race. Senator McCain will — at best — stay the course with Bush-like lunacy. Senator Obama’s opposition to missile defense isn’t as strong as it should be, and his campaign e-mailed me this statement:

“If we can responsibly deploy missile defenses that would protect us and our allies we should — but only when the system works. We need to make sure any missile defense system would be effective before deployment. The Bush Administration has in the past exaggerated missile defense capabilities and rushed deployments for political purposes. The Bush Administration has also done a poor job of consulting its NATO allies about the deployment of a missile defense system that has major implications for all of them. We must not allow this issue to divide ‘new Europe’ and ‘old Europe,’ as the Bush Administration tried to do over Iraq.”

But Senator Obama’s statement does open the door to stopping deployment — the fact is that the system hasn’t proven effective in the least — even against the most basic countermeasures. On that basis alone a President Obama would need to stop any deployment.

You aren't supposed to be able to fool all of the people all of the time, but Senator Obama is certainly giving it his very best shot