It's interesting to listen to some of the people who are against missile defense. They rationalize not protecting the American people because it would be too expensive. Besides the obvious moral issues associated with allowing Americans to die, in order to save money - the fact is that if "only" one or two clumsy and inaccurate North Korean nuclear warheads fell anywhere near LA or San Fransisco, the dollar costs incurred after the horrific blast effects and radiation would far exceed the cost of the system. If you compare the blow to this country's economy after 9/11, when three airliners flew into three buildings - it would be far exceeded by having two entire cities wiped out.
Within this context - and keeping in mind that two missile defense systems (Aegis and Patriot) are already successfully deployed and effective - the arguments against missile defense are starting to sound a little ridiculous.
False Starts For Star Wars
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
The Obama administration has a complex relationship with the long-gestating antimissile program known as Star Wars. On the one hand, it has used Star Wars as a bargaining chip to deal with thorny diplomatic issues. Last month, Obama sent a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggesting that if he works with Washington to block Iran's nuclear program, then the United States might kill a George W. Bush plan to put a missile-defense system in Poland. Soon after, Adm. Timothy Keating, top U.S. commander in the Pacific, told ABC News that the Pentagon was prepared to use Star Wars to shoot down an anticipated North Korean rocket test. At the same time, Obama's position on Star Wars deployment is skeptical; the White House Web site says he'll proceed with it only pending "positive" evidence that it works. And that's the rub. Effectively, so far, it doesn't.
According to a recent Pentagon report sent to Congress and obtained by NEWSWEEK, current technology falls well short of "positive" results. Written by an independent Defense Department evaluator, the report says test results from a primitive antimissile system deployed in Alaska are "insufficient to demonstrate an operational … capability"; at best, the system might work in an "emergency" on "simple … ballistic missile threats" from North Korea. As for the system that the Bush team hoped to deploy in Eastern Europe, the report characterizes it as a "concept defined … through analysis, laboratory testing and/or legacy models and simulations." In other words, it's still on the drawing board. (A spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency conceded that the system for Eastern Europe would need fresh testing.)
Administration sympathizers say that while Obama is no antimissile-program enthusiast, he also wants to avoid looking as if he's giving in to Russia. As for North Korea, two administration officials, who asked for anonymity when discussing a sensitive issue, say Keating was way out of line to suggest that Obama might use the system now to thwart North Korea, noting that the president has been trying delicately to engage Kim Jong Il's regime. (A spokesman for Keating declined to comment.) "The White House," said one of the officials, "was not pleased."
© 2009
Discuss