America
INTERCEPTOR INGENUITY A missile defense strategy relies on interceptors like this one in Alaska. Supporters say such a strategy should be in place to protect the East Coast.
NATIONAL SECURITY The Coast Is Clear The U.S. Eastern Seaboard is sorely in need of a missile defense strategy. BY NOLAN PETERSON
missile base that would launch interceptors to destroy incoming ICBMs from Iran or any other enemy. Its primary objective — to protect the U.S. East Coast from nuclear attack. Current legislation sets aside $100 million for the Department of Defense to study possible locations for the base, as well as the environmental impact of building it.
T
U.S. vulnerability to a rogue mis- sile attack has been a growing con- cern since 2009, when President Obama nixed Bush administration plans to place an anti-missile site
18 NEWSMAX | MARCH 2013
he united states is exploring poten- tial
East Coast sites for an anti-
in Poland. Some saw that decision as an attempt to encourage cooperation from Russian leader Vladimir Putin on other issues. Russian offi cials had voiced suspi-
cions that the real purpose of the base in Poland was to neutralize Russia’s missile forces. U.S. leaders insisted, however, that
the Poland-based interceptors were designed to protect Europe and knock down Iranian missiles long before they approached U.S. shores. The White House replaced that sys-
tem with a more modest, short-range intercept plan to protect Europe. They said it could gradually be upgraded over the course of a decade to coun- ter Iranian ICBMs. But the earliest it would have the capability to defend
the U.S. homeland from an ICBM attack would be 2022. When the plan to base ICBM interceptors in Europe was scrapped, Republicans began pushing for a domestic site to protect the eastern United States. The allocation of funds to study
potential base sites by no means ensures a system will actually be built. Congressional Democrats contend the Pentagon does not see the need for an East Coast missile shield. They add that the threat of an Iranian nuclear- missile attack has been hyped. In September, the National
Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report charging that the administra- tion’s current intercept system is more
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