December 10, 2003 :: Department of Defense :: News
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld today hammered home two key points about the means to provide for the common defense: the priority of missile defense and the importance of space-based defenses. Speaking via video feed to attendees of a missile defense symposium in El Paso, Texas, Secretary Rumsfeld said that defending America, its overseas military and its allies from ballistic missiles laden with weapons of mass destruction “is now America’s highest priority.” State sponsors of terrorism “either have or are working hard to acquire nuclear, chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction and the long-range missiles necessary to deliver them.” When missile defense “is no longer a dream, but a reality, the world will be a much safer place for Americans, and for all people who long for peace and freedom.” He also gave notice that Alaska’s Missile Defense Space Battalion is slated for activation in January, and praised the Patriot missile crews’ performance during the Iraq war.
Putting space into the context of the “Revolution in Military Affairs,” he observed that “the importance of space and missile defense in this endeavor cannot be overstated.” The importance of space-based systems “will only increase in the future,” he said, calling space as “fundamental to modern warfare” and unfettered access to space “a vital U.S. national interest.”
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