I strayed out of my normal range with my Civil Beat column this week.
I’ve been bothered by the casual talk about installing an anti-missile system in Hawaii, recalling how controversial ABM proposals were back several decades. I guess people today have no reason to recall why the proliferation of these systems was rejected back then, even though the nuclear threat was more immediate.
Anyway, it’s the best I could do on short notice: “Ian Lind: Installing A Missile Defense System Is A Bad Idea.”
Or, as the subhead reads: “Pushing ahead with a missile defense system in Hawaii wouldn’t make us any safer, and could signal to North Korea and others that we aren’t interested in diffusing tensions.”
Anyway, you might want to check it out. And leave a comment at CB if it’s appropriate.
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So glad you wrote this, Ian. Mahalo. I found it straying back to (not out of) your normal range!
Well, you have a long memory!
Great article. I totally agree, no missiles are needed. Work on diplomacy!
Of course, missile “defense” systems can never work as they are inherently inaccurate and they can easily be defeated by, among other things, MIRVing the warhead. But, they do put a lot of taxpayer money into the hands of the Military Industrial Complex!
Never work? I don’t think that there are any “inherent” inaccuracies in the interception of a warhead in the terminal phase of flight. It was an impossible problem with yesterdays technology, is a difficult problem with todays technology but will be routine with tomorrows technology. With hypersonic rail guns and particle beam weapons (both well along in development) as well as improvements in computing there is nothing inherently unsolvable. As for MIRVing the warhead, the North Koreans don’t even have ONE on a missile yet so it will be a while before they have miniaturized them to the point where they can deliver multiple warheads.
I suspect that what will be “routine” in the future is the ease by which missile “defense” will be defeated. Technology advances in many directions.