January 1, 2006 :: Washington Times :: Analysis
James T. Hackett argues persuasively in The Washington Times that the U.S. must defend its highly-populated East Coast against ballistic missile attack. He acknowledges that MDA is correctly concentrating on deploying the most urgent missile defenses in Alaska and California, to defend against threats from North Korea and China. Yet Hackett reminds us that major East Coast population centers remain vulnerable to attack from the Middle East.
Iran, for instance, is determined to produce both long-range missiles and nuclear warheads, and is anywhere from a few months to a few years away from having a nuclear bomb. Iran is also at work on a longer-range variation of its Shahab-3 missile that would be able to strike Western Europe. It is possible that the Iranians could extend this new missile to reach the eastern U.S. In addition, Al-Qaeda still considers Washington and New York among its prime targets and would like to strike them yet again. It is possible that Al-Qaeda could get its hands on a ballistic missile armed with a nuclear warhead, perhaps one of the hundreds of aging ballistic missiles and thousands of nuclear warheads in Russia.
Hackett’s solution is to begin work on a ground-based missile site in Europe, and his site recommendation is Poland. A long and reliable friend, Poland recently elected a pro-American, anti-terror, conservative government. As Hackett argues, “A site there would strengthen our military alliance with Poland and move toward the goal of a global missile defense.” The U.S. would, with such a site, also achieve a missile defense for the East Coast, at least against certain types of missile threats. (Article)
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