Final Word from Wednesday, May 21, 2008
John McCain is sending mixed signals on missile defense. His campaign states that he strongly supports the development and deployment of theater and national missile defenses to protect against rogue or outlaw states such as Iran and North Korea, as well as to hedge against potential threats from possible strategic competitors such as Russia and China. In a foreign-policy speech last week, though, he stated that if he becomes president, "concerted action by the great democracies of the world [will have] persuaded a reluctant Russia and China to cooperate in pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, and North Korea to discontinue its own" by 2013. The single greatest threat facing the West, he added, will have been vastly diminished. Why, then, would the Czech radar be necessary? Mainly as a hedge against Russia and China? This is not what the Czechs are being told.[Czech Republic United States of America Republican Party ]
Glossary of difficult words
mixed signals - conflicting messages;
theater missile defenses - defenses for protecting against medium-range ballistic missiles;
to hedge - to secure oneself against a future unknown;
concerted - jointly arranged, planned or carried out;
reluctant - unwilling and hesitant, disinclined;
single greatest threat - defined by McCain as "the prospect of nuclear materials in the hands of terrorists";
vastly - to a great extent.