Star Wars: Attack of the Rogue Nations

President Bush’s administration plans to implement the first phase of a system to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles later this year. National Missile Defense (NMD) was an issue Bush ran on in 2000, and one he’s still absurdly pursuing today.

For those of you who don’t know, National Missile Defense is the new incarnation of President Regan’s “Star Wars” program of the mid 80’s. Basically, if an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched by another country at the United States or Canada, early warning radar stations would pick up that ICBM. In response, we would launch our own missile to intercept the incoming IBCM. Our missile would not have a warhead on it, but an “interceptor” designed to home in on the incoming IBCM and destroy it.

National Missile Defense was initially developed during the late Clinton administration. The testing cost roughly $67.7 billion and we have nothing to show for it. The NMD interceptors worked less than 50% of the time. President Clinton was unprepared to spend the estimated $273 billion it would cost to initially implement, particularly on a program that was miserably unreliable.

Despite the cost and fallibility, national missile defense was on the top of his foreign relations/national security agenda when President Bush took office in 2001. In his first State of the Union, he didn’t really mention terrorism, except to say, "Our nation also needs a clear strategy to confront the threats of the 21st century, threats that are more widespread and less certain. They range from terrorists who threaten with bombs to tyrants and rogue nations intent on developing weapons of mass destruction. To protect our own people, our allies and friends, we must develop and we must deploy effective missile defenses."

In fact, on September 11, 2001, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was going to outline the administrations national security priorities for the future. The address did not include anything about al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or Islamic extremist groups. The main focus of the speech was missile defense. It’s nice to know Dr. Rice and the administration knew what the real threat was.

If the Bush administration truly wants to battle weapons of mass destruction and make the world safer for American, it needs to focus on stopping the proliferation of those weapons. The $273 billion earmarked for NMD would be much better spent purchasing old nuclear, chemical and biological weapons for former Soviet nations and on anti-proliferation efforts. If the United States was to be attacked by these unconventional weapons, they would be in the form of a “suitcase nuke” or chemical weapon in the back of a rental van, not an incoming ballistic missile.

The Republican leadership in the country must wake up to the brave new world we find ourselves in. The future of national defense will not be shooting ICBMs out of space. The future we face will be proliferated weapons hidden in duffle bags and trucks.