U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday said he would shelve the missile defense system pushed by his predecessor George W. Bush. The system was planned to consist of 10 long-range interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar unit in the Czech Republic. Both countries had already given a green light to the U.S. plans despite significant domestic opposition.

Obama said he decided to scrap the missile defense system because new intelligence indicated that the biggest threat comes from Iranian short- and medium-range missiles instead of long-range ones. He added that improvements in missile defense technology enabled better systems.

Washington's new approach on missile defense, he said, "will provide capability sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defense program."

While NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the decision a "positive step," leaders in Poland and the Czech Republic were not amused.

Former Polish President Lech Walesa, a prominent figure of the 1989 anti-Communist revolution, said he was disappointed by the move.

"The Americans always cared only about their own interests and have used everybody else," Walesa Thursday told Polish TV station TVN24. "Not that the shield was that important, but it's about the way, the way of treating us."

Obama said he spoke to leaders of both countries about the reasons behind the decision and "reaffirmed our deep and close ties."

But that may not be enough for Poland and the Czech Republic, experts say.

Karl-Heinz Kamp, of the NATO Defense College in Rome, said Obama's decision hurts the two host countries.

"They will not only lose what the United States promised in terms of rewards but they have exposed themselves to criticism from Russia and their allies," he told Deutsche Welle. "The United States has undermined these countries in their relations with Russia and others for the sake of its own relationship with Moscow."

Other experts lauded the decision as one that has the potential to significantly reset America's ties with Russia, which from the start had seen the missile defense shield as a direct threat to its security.

Experts say Washington with the latest move hopes to convince the Kremlin to take a tougher stance in the conflict over Iran's nuclear program.

"But there are risks here," Kamp warns. "No one is sure that Russia will respond by supporting U.S. pressure on Iran and secondly, whether Iran would take any notice even if it did."

Knowing that his decision would not go down well in Eastern Europe, Obama sent Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control, and Alexander Vershbow, deputy defense secretary, to Warsaw and Prague to do the explaining.

The move was foreseen by senior figures from the region some months ago, when they sent Obama an open letter urging him not to ignore Eastern Europe's interest for the sake of better relations with Russia.

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