The Need for Missile Defense

Another front on the war against global Jihad. A powerful argument for taking immediate action against Iran.
FROM FRONTPAGEMAG.COM:
The Need for Missile Defense
By Peter Brookes
The Heritage Foundation | 11/8/2007
This article was also written by Sally McNamara and Baker Spring.

Speaking in Prague on October 23, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates suggested that the United States might delay activation of America's proposed missile defense shield in Europe until there is "definitive proof" that Iran possesses long-range missile capability.[1] Speaking in Washington just hours later, however, President Bush said that the need for missile defense in Europe is "urgent" and that proposed congressional cuts of $139 million for the European program from an earlier stage in the legislative process seriously jeopardizes the initiative.[2] Fortunately, it appears Congress paid more attention to President Bush's statement than Secretary Gates' suggestion. The latest version of the defense appropriations bill will reduce funding for the missile defense sites in Europe by $85 million, as opposed to the $139 million cut proposed earlier in the year.
Still, the conflicting statements by the Bush Administration and the proposed budget cuts by Congress can put the initiative at risk. Russian rhetoric has also intensified with categorical condemnation of U.S. plans to put a high-tech X-band radar in the Czech Republic and deploy 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland. President Putin has warned of a new "arms race" and turning Europe into a "powder keg." The Poles and the Czechs have also expressed concern about mixed messages from the Bush Administration.
Separating fact from fiction is the next step toward fielding a defense program that is critical to the national security of the United States and its friends and allies in Europe.
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