Barack Obama has suddenly realized how valuable our missile defense systems are.

Or has he?

During the campaign last year, Obama repeatedly said that he would make missile defense cuts because our missile shields were “untested” and “unproven”. And it appears he’s keeping that promise, because he has plans to cut $1.2 billion from our missile defense next year, as well as providing no new funds to our missile shields in Europe. Last year, President Bush, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Condoleezza Rice had agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic to base interceptors and radar there, but Obama is backtracking. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn admits that there are no plans to move forward with the European missile shield at the moment. We’re already making massive defense cuts as it is, with $900 million being slashed from Homeland Security, the production of F-22 fighter jets being halted, and benefits for families of fallen police and safety officers being halved. Spending everywhere else is skyrocketing, but the one area of government where we can’t afford to be stingy is getting ripped off.

This might not ordinarily be a pressing issue, but the timing couldn’t be worse. Iran and North Korea have both gone rogue, with both countries defying U.N. Sanctions with nuclear missile testing. Last month, Iran tested a long-range missile. North Korea has tested several, one of which allegedly is comparable to the nuclear weapons that obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Worst of all, North Korea has made a threat to shoot a long-range nuclear missile at Hawaii for the 4th of July. It would launch from the northwestern coast of North Korea, from their Dongchang-ni site. The missile itself is believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile, with a range of up to 4,000 miles. The missile would probably not be able to actually reach the Hawaiian islands, but that seems irrelevant. It would still be an act of war, and we need to be ready to intercept that missile if our intelligence is wrong. Joe Biden had warned during the campaign last year that the world would be waiting to test Barack Obama, and apparently Kim Jong Il is rising to the occasion. So far, the Pentagon has ordered missile defense systems to be bolstered around Hawaii, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Obama still has plans to make cuts to our missile defense. On top of that, the Obama administration refused to allow the Navy to test our missile tracking radar during Kim Jong Il’s last launch, allowing Obama to keep repeating that our missile defense systems are “untested” and “unproven”.

And despite the fact that both Iran and North Korea are getting bolder and bolder with their nuclear tests, Obama’s still planning on cutting missile defense. His $1.2 billion in cuts will shrink the number of interceptor missiles in Alaska from 44… to 30. And this has both Republicans and Democrats worried. With all of the uncertainty about what the next threat from Iran or North Korea will be, an added layer of protection would not be unwise. The National Endowment for the Arts recently received $50 million in stimulus dollars. Amtrak received $1 billion dollars. Couldn’t we perhaps have taken some of that wasted money and put it towards something that the country actually needs?

President Bush is no longer in office. Does that mean that we can no longer preemptively defend ourselves? And this isn’t even an issue of invading or attacking North Korea – at the very least, couldn’t Obama make sure that we are protected from attack? The fact that he’s considering cutting our missile defenses when there’s an upcoming threat shows how clueless he is. But of course, when our president invites a potential enemy like Iran to celebrate the 4th of July with us, what else can be expected? Iran is killing protesters fighting for freedom and testing long-range nuclear missiles, but Obama can’t recognize the threat or even stand in solidarity with freedom fighters. Should we really be surprised that he can’t understand why we need to be strengthening our missile defenses and not weakening them?

Barack Obama talked often about using smart diplomacy during his campaign, but this is not smart diplomacy. Looking the other way when rogue nations run by evil dictators start testing nuclear weapons is not smart diplomacy. Letting tyrannical regimes celebrate independence and freedom with us on the 4th of July with no concern for the cruelty imposed upon their people is not smart diplomacy.

And cutting missile defenses when we’re being threatened with nuclear weapons is not smart diplomacy, either.