October 8, 2007 :: Arms Control Today :: Analysis
Lieutenant General Henry Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency, discussed the importance of deploying a comprehensive missile defense system in the October edition of
Arms Control Today. Obering argues that the U.S. must field a comprehensive missile defense system to prepare against potential long-range missile attacks from rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, but also to change their calculations for acquiring offensive missiles, making those expenditures less attractive.
With ballistic missiles and missile technologies widely available on the global market, we expect an acceleration of ballistic missile and nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons proliferation... A major factor in this proliferation is the value countries place on these weapons, precisely because historically there has been no defense against them. Without a defense against these weapons, they will continue to be valuable as a means to coerce or intimidate the United States and our allies and friends around the world.
With a fully operational missile defense system in place, countries could not depend on using weapons of mass destruction or missile technology to threaten or blackmail the U.S. Additionally, the fact that countries are utilizing increasingly better protections of their missile stockpiles and launch sites, such as air defenses and underground installations, offensive or preemptive strikes against become less likely to succeed.
Obering stresses that an important component of a future defenses involve a current plan by the U.S. to house ten ground based interceptors in Poland and an X-band radar facility in the Czech Republic. A missile defense system in Europe, however limited, would protect the U.S. and all European countries from long-range missile attacks. Other supplements could be added to this structure to defend more susceptible parts of Europe from short-range missile attacks from Iran. The missile defense plan for Europe not only would protect the U.S. and its European allies, but would not diminish Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent, as "10 ground-based interceptors, would be no match for Russia's strategic offensive missile force, which consists of hundreds of missiles and thousands of warheads." (Article)
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