BAMWATCH - DAY 2

Posted at 8:19 p.m. ET

When Samantha Power came down from the fifth floor of a Harvard academic building carrying the Tablets of the Left, Commandment VI was, as it is written, "Thou shalt not build missile defense nor do stuff that will offend our misunderstood Russia friends."  The King Barack version differs slightly, stating "build" as "rush," scholars believing that McGovern, blessed be he, meant to give his flock some flexibility, and appear to have an interest in national security.'

Now we are met at a crossroads, testing whether that Commandment, or any so stated, can long endure. 

The president-elect had a phone chat with the president of Poland last week, and chat turned to flap.  The gentleman from Poland said after the talk that Mr. Obama had endorsed missile defense for Poland, as agreed to by President Bush.  But Mr. Obama's team issued a statement denying the president-elect had made such a commitment.  Thus the way in which strong alliances are maintained.  Right.

Now our missile-defense czar weighs in, publicly urging Mr. Obama not to abandon the field.  He'll be leaving his post imminently.  If his departure hadn't already been planned, this public statement would have guaranteed it: 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force general who runs the Pentagon's missile defense projects said Wednesday that American interests would be "severely hurt" if President-elect Obama decided to halt plans developed by the Bush administration to install missile interceptors in Eastern Europe.

Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told a group of reporters that he is awaiting word from Obama's transition team on their interest in receiving briefings.

They haven't asked?  Shame, shame.

"What we have discovered is that a lot of the folks that have not been in this administration seem to be dated, in terms of the program," he said. "They are kind of calibrated back in the 2000 time frame and we have come a hell of a long way since 2000. Our primary objective is going to be just, frankly, educating them on what we have accomplished, what we have been able to do and why we have confidence in what we are doing."

Asked whether he meant that Obama or his advisers had an outdated view of missile defense, Obering said he was speaking more generally about people who have not closely followed developments in this highly technical field.

General, forget that dream of a fourth star.

Obering said he is confident in the technology needed to make the European leg of the missile defense system work.

"In terms of any recommendations for the future, I would say that if we were to walk away from these proposed deployments to Europe, that it would severely hurt, number one, our ability to protect our deployed forces in that region and our allies and friends from what we see as an emerging threat. Number two, I think it would severely undermine U.S. leadership in NATO."

Good statement.  Technology moves ahead.  Our capabilities expand with each day.  (So do the capabilities of countries like Iran.) 

We'll be intrigued to see what Mr. Obama does - whether he maintains American leadership on this, or succumbs to the demands and threats of leftists, including Congressional leftists.  It may be one of his first tests.  If he doesn't pass it, we'll be loud and clear.

November 12, 2008.