NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan made the Strategic Defense Initiative proposal which became better known as Star Wars . This proposed system would help protect the US by shooting lasers at incoming missiles. Star Wars has been credited with helping to end the Cold War with Russia, and when the Russian threat died down, so did the need for a missile defense system. Now there are new threats to our national security that have arisen other than Russia and China. Rogue nations such as North Korea, Iran, and even Iraq have will soon have the technology to fire missiles that could strike US soil if they do not have it already. Donald Rumsfeld, former Defense Secretary and part of a bipartisan commission that was created to investigate outside threats to the United States, released a report in July 1998 saying that within five years, Iran and North Korea would have the ability to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles against the United States. These ballistic missiles, which are the most destructive ever created, could become a threat even if they are not intended to be. Unauthorized launches or accidental launches could still occur and the US does not need to be helpless in an event such as this. The new proposed Missile Defense system focuses on theatre missile defense systems which could protect our troops overseas as well. Although the system has the support of both the Republican and Democratic parties, President Clinton has left the decision of whether a national missile system should be implemented to his successor in office. Al Gore supports a limited system that will protect all fifty states but nothing else while George W. Bush has been vocal in the past about his views for a system that also protect the US s allies. With support from both parties and presidential candidates, following through with a national missile defense system is inevitable. The U.S. needs to develop a national missile defense system immediately.