Democrats Still Opposed To Missile Defense

FOR FORTY years after World War II the defenses of the United States were aligned to “contain” the Soviet Union. Most of the time Democrats had to be dragged along kicking and screaming to contribute to the effort.

Not surprisingly, the Soviet Union did not appreciate this. To them, the United States was engaged in a strategy of encirclement. Of course, they were right.

But since 9/11 the United States has switched its front. The front is no longer aligned along the borders of the Soviet Empire. It is aligned around the Islamic empire.

As James Hackett writes:

President Bush is showing that his ABM treaty withdrawal, missile defense deployment in Alaska and on Aegis ships, overthrow of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime and removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq were all part of a worldview in which national security is the highest priority.

Part of the proposed disposition of the US armed force is to put missile defense radars and interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic, a proposal that the Poles and Czechs think is rather a good idea.

Only two voices seem opposed. President Putin of Russia and Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Seems like old times.

It reminds me of the defense policy of Scientific American. To that magazine’s editors, there there have always seemed to be two types of weapon systems. There are weapon systems that work but that should not be deployed because they are destabilizing. Then there are weapons that do not work that should be canceled.

The folks in Congress seem to have a similar idea. Writes Hackett:

Just as support [for missile defense] is developing in Europe, some members of the Democratic-controlled Congress want to reduce funding for the sites there. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee has cut the administration’s $310 million request by more than half, to $150 million, which is the wrong message to send to our European allies. Subcommittee Chairwoman Ellen Tauscher, California Democrat, explained earlier that some members think more operational testing is needed.

What is it about these people?

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.

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