The Obama administration has unveiled its plan to replace the Bush administration’s so-called “missile-defense” system in Eastern Europe. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the US would deploy missile interceptors aboard naval ships instead of at bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “We have now the opportunity to deploy new sensors and interceptors in northern and southern Europe that, near term, can provide missile defense coverage against more immediate threats from Iran or others.”

The move marks one of the Obama administration’s sharpest reversals of a major Bush administration foreign policy to date. The Bush White House claimed the missile system was intended to thwart a potential Iranian attack. But critics widely denounced it as a first-strike weapon for hitting Iran or other targets. In announcing its new plan, the Obama administration rejected calls to abandon proposals for a so-called “missile-defense” system outright. Gates said the US could also still use the Eastern European sites at a later date.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “Those who say we are scrapping missile defense in Europe are either misinformed or misrepresenting the reality of what we are doing. The security of Europe has been a vital national interest of the United States for my entire career. The circumstances, borders and threats may have changed, but that commitment continues.”

Gates went on to say the US hopes the plan will curb Israeli moves to attack Iranian nuclear sites — for now. Gates said, “We hope it will reassure them that perhaps there’s a little more time here.” Meanwhile, the vice-chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Cartwright, said the new missile system would entail a larger naval deployment.

General James Cartwright: “Three ships at any given time, in and around the Mediterranean and the North Sea, etc., to protect areas of interest, and then we would surge additional ships. And part of what’s in the budget is to get us a sufficient number of ships to allow us to have a global deployment of this capability on a constant basis with a surge capacity to any one theater at a time.”

Peace activists in the Czech Republic welcomed the news but said their work would continue.

Anti-missile activist Jan Majicek: “More than 70 percent of Czechs were against this plan, which was happening against their will. For us activists, it doesn’t mean we finished our work, because already now there is information about possible new American bases. We will analyze the situation and think about our further steps.”