New Weapon For A New World Order.

How missile defense makes the entire globe safer

The question is not whether a ballistic missile with a nuclear or chemical or biological warhead capable of killing hundreds of thousands of Americans will wind up in the hands of a hostile power. The question is when.

Pinpointing the exact date is a game played by intelligence agencies, rather like an office pool on the outcome of the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl, though, you at least know who the players are. When it comes to the acquisition of a ballistic missile or a nuclear warhead, there is no sure way of telling.

That is why it is so urgent we begin now to build a system capable of intercepting the missile that we know is coming. The argument for getting on with it is overwhelming. The arguments against are unconvincing--and drawn mostly from ideas that developed during the Cold War but have been rendered irrelevant by its end.

The best argument in favor of building a missile defense system is a moral one: It will save lives, in large numbers, in other countries as well as our own. It will discourage the proliferation of missiles and warheads of mass destruction. It will make the world stabler and safer.

Consider the following scenario, for example. Imagine a sharp rise in tension between traditional adversaries India and Pakistan, both of which have nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Suppose the United States Navy could dispatch an Aegis cruiser to the region with instructions to intercept any ballistic missile fired by either side. Such a capability in American hands would be highly stabilizing, discouraging hair-trigger missile attacks, reducing the likelihood of conflict breaking out in the first place, reassuring both sides.

Nations like Iran, Iraq, and North Korea are trying to acquire long-range missiles. They believe that possessing even a single missile will catapult them into a select class of powers, gaining great leverage because they will be capable of inflicting massive damage on the United States or its friends and allies. And given time and money, these countries can reasonably hope to possess a single missile, or even several.