Stuck in an Old Groove

Some things never change. Case in point: the missile defense program the US has been pursuing since the 1980's has matured into a robust, successful effort which is now almost ready for operational deployment. But some folks apparently haven't gotten the message. This, for example, is just sad.

That Congressman Tierney and Mr. Flynn can even draft such a paen to ignorance is astonishing. The Congressman I can almost understand . . . he's simply spouting the same tired nonsense that's been coming from the Left on the topic of missile defense since Reagan first announced the program. Mr. Flynn, tho, is described as a "senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of "The Edge of Disaster." " Surely someone in that sort of position should be better informed.

Somehow these two have managed to overlook the multitude of successful tests conducted by the Navy over the past few years, not to mention the recent successful shoot-down of that errant satellite over the Pacific. To trot out the threadbare old line "a system that still has yet to be realistically tested and may never be operationally effective" in 2008 is to be either abysmally ignorant or willfully blind.

At least they manage to point out some things that are true - terrorists most likely wouldn't use a missile to deliver a nuke, for example - but they also ignore the very real threat from rogue states like North Korea and Iran. The claim is made that "Only Great Britain, France, Russia, and China join the United States in having intercontinental missiles." Apparently these gentlemen are unaware of the burgeoning spread of ballistic missile technology around the globe. Remember when North Korea launched one over Japan a couple years ago? Maybe not intercontinental just yet, but certainly well on the way to getting there.

I will never understand, gentle reader, why so many of our own citizens seem horrified at the idea that we might find it necessary to defend ourselves. I can but shake my head ruefully.