UNBELIEVABLE – AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  It's the same old story with the Obama brigades.  They talk tough one day, then you look at the fine print and see Neville Chamberlain at work, with the umbrella hanging in the corner.

The great defense reporter, Bill Gertz, reports on the latest outrage:

A draft U.N. resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran, including limits on global arms transfers, will not block the controversial transfer of Russian S-300 missiles to the Iranian military, according to U.S. and Russian officials.

And the S-300 is the ball game.  With that in place in Iran, it would essentially checkmate any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, and would make an American strike vastly more costly. 

The Obama administration had opposed the S-300 sale because the system is highly effective against aircraft and some missiles. The CIA has said the S-300 missiles, which have been contracted by Tehran but not delivered, will be used to defend Iranian nuclear facilities.

A key provision in the resolution made public this week states that all U.N. member states will agree to block sales or transfers of weapons. It lists tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft, warships and "missiles or missile systems as defined for the purpose of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms."

A close reading of the missile section of the register defines those included in the ban as missiles and launchers for guided rockets, and ballistic and cruise missiles, and missile-equipped remotely piloted vehicles. However, the register states that the missile system category "does not include ground-to-air missiles," such as anti-aircraft missiles and anti-missile interceptors like the S-300.

The State Department conceded the point:

Asked about S-300s, a senior State Department official said the draft "would not impose a legally binding obligation not to transfer S-300 to Iran" since the register does not cover defensive missiles.

State said that the Russians had shown restraint in not transferring the S-300 to Iran.  In other words, we're depending on continued Russian good will.

On this the safety of the nation depends.  Once again, our "diplomacy" has fallen way short.

And get this, reported by Andrew Malcolm in the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket blog today:

President Obama has decided to pre-announce to the world once-secret American ballistic missile tests and satellite launches.

The Democratic administration's goal is to show a friendlier face to other countries and to coax Russia to do the same.

It's part of a confidence-boosting initiative launched, so to speak, last fall when Obama suddenly abandoned the U.S. missile-defense system in Eastern Europe that had exercised the Russians, though it was aimed at potential future missiles from Iran.

Obama hoped such a unilateral U.S. forfeiture would encourage Russia to put pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear weapons development. So far no good on that.

COMMENT:  Don't you feel noble and clean?  Don't you just feel so good about yourself?  Why, you're part of Obama nation.

Recently, in another "gesture," the United States announced in detail how many nuclear warheads we have.  Please note that no other country has responded by doing the same.  Moscow essentially ignored our announcement.

May 21, 2010