To begin the Legislature has to be involved in any major shift in national defense strategy. So, the president can act as an executive branch leader and explore these options, he can deploy the assets the USA already has, but, he cannot completely change the national defense of the USA alone.
There are several components to nuclear proliferation and one is hiding behind missile defense systems such as those deployed in Alaska and Israel. Israel is a place where such defense systems are in frequent use and proves their effectiveness. However, they can be overwhelmed and that has occurred on occasion in Israel. The missile defense systems are not perfect and there are options to turn the system into an aggressive tool as well by tracing the missile trajectory back to the place of origin. Currently, the USA does not employ that option. I believe Israel does not either.
Of course, Russia and China have their own systems. The Russian system was recently deployed in Syria as an answer to Israel's attacks against Hezbollah and munitions sent from Iran. That decision followed the downing of a Russian jet, but, also added a layer of aggression by Syria that it did not have before. If Syria is immune to rocket fire there is nothing to say Assad won't view that new capacity as a reason to war. Then The West and Russia will have more than a danger to the people of the region, it will have a proxy war between The West and the communists. Putin did not carry out any intention to peace in the Middle East by deploying missile defense in Syria. There is more danger today than ever. At least Israel used it's discretion wisely when preventing munition shipments to Hezbollah.
If the five permanent nuclear countries arm themselves to the teeth with missile defense systems, the world is not a better place. The communists, especially Russia, will continue to seek to undermine the USA technology through computer hacking and the like while having their nuclear weapons set for destruction. I know there was "Stuxnet" (click here), but, it is no longer a secret now is it?
I think it is fine for the president to review the nuclear capacity of the USA and it's READINESS, but, to plan to expand the missile defense system is an open statement the USA is pulling back into it's borders and it may let the rest of the world figure out the balance of power by itself. That is where the USA was before WWII.
With global expansion of missile defense systems, the world enters into a place where peace is unheard of and only nukes and their interceptors are important. The entire scenario is hideous. The interception of nuclear missiles has to occur at high altitudes and what happens when nuclear warheads are destroyed at high altitudes? I don't believe it is even possible to test such a scenario and completely foolish to try. Is Bikini Island/Atoll habitable yet? Just curious. I suppose inhabit is the wrong word. Let me put it this way, is it still the place to test Geiger Counters?One has to ask when does the world return to nuclear non-proliferation? Pakistan needs to desperately remove it's nuclear capacity from the world. How did that mess ever happen anyway? Oh, yeah, a national hero called Dr. Kahn. Which in turn provided technology to North Korea and the nightmare scenarios were fit for the "Twilight Zone." I think the modern day paranoia is called, "Preppers."
I refuse to propagate the paranoia that goes along with missile defense. There is a far better answer and it is to engage the world for peace and end this hideous nonsense in fear of each other. Ronald Regan was on that path and made remarkable steps in the direction of peace, who has the right to reverse that? In my opinion NO ONE.
September 11th was about men who sought to turn infrastructure against the people that built it. It was not about nukes until someone in DC dreamed up the idea of "dirty nukes." Today, the greatest danger to civilization other than the Climate Crisis remains the angry men that want to kill "The Other" with merciless hatred. It seems to me the idea of missile defense is so far outdated it has outlived it's ability to be effective as a national defense. This march by Trump to raise the fear level in the USA by highlighting missile defense is as old as he is and it needs to stop. If Russia is that much of a threat, China needs to realize its nations of people are equally in danger when the missile exchange between opposing parties begins.
Nukes are pure foolishness and the missile defense system more so.
January 17, 2019
By William J. Broad and Annie Karni
Washington — President Trump (click here) is heading to the Pentagon on Thursday morning to announce what the White House has billed as a “Missile Defense Review” at 11 a.m. He will be accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, John R. Bolton, the White House national security adviser, and other senior members of his administration.
Here’s what he’s going to say:
Mr. Trump is expected to announce the administration’s plans to expand American missile defenses, with new investments in missile-defense technologies. The goal is to bolster the nation’s defenses against new strides in nuclear arms and missiles in Iran, North Korea, Russia and China and other potentially hostile states. The document that Mr. Trump will unveil, known as the Missile Defense Review, was originally planned for release last year, but was delayed. The changes mark the first update to the policy since a 2010 review by the Obama administration.
Here’s some background on that:
The gargantuan effort to shield the nation from missile strikes is often said to start with President Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” program that began in 1983. Over the decades, the United States has spent more than $300 billion on the antimissile goal, according to Stephen I. Schwartz, a military cost expert....
