Israel’s new “Iron Dome” defense system intercepted its first rocket from Gaza today and blasted it out of the sky. The Iron Dome system is still in its testing phase, but was rushed to deployment in light of fresh rocket attacks from Hamas in the Gaza Strip. There were concerns that the system may not work, but so far it has.

Residents in Ashkelon reported Thursday seeing Israel’s new Iron Dome defense system intercept a Grad rocket fired towards the southern city from the Gaza Strip. IDF officials called the interception a “historical moment”, saying it was the first of its kind in the world.

Two intercepting missiles were fired at the rocket, but the first succeeded in hitting it, an army official said.

That’s great news. Hopefully, this new system will prevent the barbarians in Gaza from murdering anymore innocent Israelis with their unguided rockets.

It was only a couple of days ago that President Obama was waxing poetic in Moscow about “resetting” relations with Russia, blah, blah, blah.

The U.S. and Russia must leave "behind the suspicion and the rivalry of the past so that we can advance the interests that we hold in common," Obama said.

"We must lead by example, and that’s what we are doing here today. We resolve to reset U.S.-Russian relations so that we can co-operate more effectively in areas of common interest," he said.

Obama assured Russian President Medvedev that he was willing to negotiate on the planned missile defense system in Poland.

As always, the president was heavy on the pandering:

The U.S. president repeated Washington’s position that the planned system is aimed at intercepting missiles from Iran and has nothing to do with countering "a mighty Russian arsenal."

The problem with Obama’s foreign policy approach is that after the flash bulbs die down, the hand pumping and back slapping finished, reality once again sets in:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned the United States on Friday that if it did not reach agreement with Russia on plans for missile defence systems, Moscow would deploy rockets in an enclave near Poland.

In sharp contrast to his positive words during President Barack Obama’s visit to Moscow earlier this week when the two reached broad agreement on nuclear arms cuts, Medvedev used a news conference at the G8 summit to return to Russia’s earlier tough rhetoric on arms control.

Referring to an order he gave earlier this year to prepare deployment of short-range Russian missiles in the western enclave of Kaliningrad to answer to any U.S. deployment of a missile shield in central Europe, Medvedev said:

"If we don’t manage to agree on the issues, you know the consequences. What I said during my state of the nation address has not been revoked."

…But in Italy on Friday, Medvedev returned to the Kremlin’s traditional posture on the system, describing it as "harmful" and "threatening to Russia".

Obama just doesn’t understand Russia. The Soviet Empire may be over, but the same Commie assholes that were in charge then are in charge now.

Vladimir Putin is an icy KGB boss completely immune to Obama’s charms. It’s true that America doesn’t look at Russia as much of a rival anymore, but that feeling is not mutual.

The Russians don’t view missile defense as a danger to Russia itself, but rather to its “sphere of influence.” In other words, if the USA has a missile defense system in Poland then Russia can no longer threaten its democratic neighbors with missiles.

Russia does everything it can to undermine the young democracies in former Soviet states like Georgia, Ukraine, and Poland. A missile shield protecting those countries would basically de-fang the Russians.

Putin has compared the U.S. missile defense plan in Poland to the Cuban Missile Crisis and vowed to take military action to prevent it.

That argument is laughable on its face. The Soviet’s tried to put nuclear cruise missiles 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

The U.S. missile defense system in Poland will be armed with missiles that contain no warhead or explosives of any kind.

The missile defense works by sending a high-speed projectile to impact the incoming warhead to destroy it.

It would be a disaster for Obama to fold on missile defense and give in to the Russians.

Our allies in the region depend on a strong America to keep the Russians at bay while they attempt to build their democracies and rid themselves of Communism once and for all.