Redstate

Posted at 8:02pm on Jun. 6, 2008 Hi! I have a message for an Abraham Henderson, of Honolulu, HI.

The one who lives on Piikoi Street.

By Moe Lane

Yes, good... (looking at clock, subtracting time zones) yup, still afternoon... good afternoon, sir. Excuse me for bothering you, but I just wished to note two things that I thought that I should bring to your attention.

First off, did you know that the US Navy successfully tested an antimissile system off your coast recently?

Military shoots down missile in test off Hawaii
By AUDREY McAVOY – 1 day ago

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military intercepted a ballistic missile Thursday in the first such sea-based test since a Navy cruiser shot down an errant satellite earlier this year.

The military fired the target, a Scud-like missile with a range of a few hundred miles, from a decommissioned amphibious assault ship near Hawaii's island of Kauai.

The USS Lake Erie, based at Pearl Harbor, fired two interceptor missiles that shot down the target in its final seconds of flight about 12 miles above the Pacific Ocean.

The target was shot down about 100 miles northwest of Kauai in its final seconds of flight, about five minutes after it was fired.

The test showed Navy ships are capable of shooting down short-range targets in their last phase of flight using modified missiles the service already has, the military said.

Yes, this is very exciting news, particularly since we've advanced enough along the research process to use off-the-shelf gear. The weblog Perfunction (via AoSHQ) has more details, including a very interesting video of the event:

I can imagine how this might relieve you, given that you live so close to Pearl, and all - and considering that you live on a piece of real estate that's within range of a North Korean missile.

Moe Lane

PS: What was the other thing? Oh, right.

In any battle between the progressive group Caucus4Priorities and yourself for Barack Obama's regard, you lose.

Enjoy your weekend, Mr. Henderson.

Posted in 2008 | A Child wearing an adult's clothes | Barack Obama | Hawaii | Missile Defense — Comments (11)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:20pm on Feb. 21, 2008 A Giant Step Forward For Missile Defense

Yes We Can

By Dan McLaughlin

25 years ago next month, President Reagan made this bold proposal to the nation:

What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies?

I know this is a formidable, technical task, one that may not be accomplished before the end of this century.

Yet, current technology has attained a level of sophistication where it's reasonable for us to begin this effort. It will take years, probably decades of effort on many fronts. There will be failures and setbacks, just as there will be successes and breakthroughs. And as we proceed, we must remain constant in preserving the nuclear deterrent and maintaining a solid capability for flexible response. But isn't it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know it is.

Reagan's proposal was immediately derided by Ted Kennedy as "Star Wars"; ever since, liberal critics have been arguing that it was impossible for such a system to work, or at a minimum arguing that it was not worth developing the technology if it could not be shown that it was already a workable system before development and testing were commenced (pretty much the opposite of how your usual R&D works). Slate.com defense critic Fred Kaplan, for example, has mocked the missile defense system as "bunk" and a "fantasy," while Greenpeace contends that "Missile Defense Does Not Work." Of course, these arguments have often been stalking horses for a variety of other ideological concerns about restraining U.S. "bullying," tying us more closely to international treaties, or not "militarizing space" (as if the worst imaginable place for war is a vacuum containing no civilians). Much as in the debate over coercive interrogation techniques, liberal critics prefer to pretend that things they dislike can never, ever work, so they can avoid the debate over the kinds of tradeoffs involved in defending the nation.

This week's successful effort to shoot a malfunctioning satellite out of the sky showed the world quite vividly how far these technologies have come:

(Hat tip to Congressman Eric Cantor for the video).

I await the response from the critics:

Read On...

Posted in Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Systems | Liberals | Missile Defense | National Security — Comments (60)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:03am on Feb. 3, 2008 The U.S. Missile Shield

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

As is well know, the United States has been working to get the cooperation of Poland and the Czech Republic for the implementation of a missile defense system. Poland appears to be on board:

Poland said Friday it has reached an agreement in principle with the United States on plans to install a missile defense system on Polish territory.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says that after meetings with U.S. officials, he is satisfied that the United States will deal with security problems that Poland wanted addressed as part of an eventual deal.

The announcement should add momentum to a project the Bush administration has said it hopes to start building this year. The project, a major source of tension with Russia, had looked stalled since the Polish government of Donald Tusk sought new demands after taking office in November.

Sikorski did not outline the terms of the deal, but in a joint appearance with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after a working lunch, the two officials suggested that the U.S. would help with Polish air defenses, as Poland had sought.

"We understand that there is a desire for defense modernization in Poland, and particularly for air defense modernization in Poland," Rice said. "This is something that we support because it will make our ally, Poland, more capable, it will make Poland, as the foreign minister has said, more able to operate with us."

Sikorski said that negotiators would continue to work on the details of an agreement that would allow the U.S. to install 10 interceptors as part of a long- range European missile defense system.

"We are not at the end of the road as regards negotiations. We are in the middle of the road," he said. "We have an agreement in principle."

There may be more of the road to travel but this is nonetheless a positive development. It also constitutes a direct challenge to Russia, which seeks to re-establish its hegemony over former Soviet satellite states. Watching what the Kremlin does in response ought to be most interesting. My guess is that there will be a lot of bluster and anger directed Poland's way. I am not sure that it will be enough to derail this agreement but it may be enough to force Warsaw into making some soothing comments aimed at placating the Russians. Russian demands on other issues may be met as a way of buying off the Kremlin on the missile defense issue.

Posted in Missile Defense | National Security | Poland | Russia — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:32pm on Apr. 26, 2007 Strong words from Condoleezza!

By Jeff Emanuel

The idea that somehow 10 interceptors and a few radars in Eastern Europe are going to threaten the Soviet strategic deterrent is purely ludicrous and everybody knows it.

—U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying Russia should not fear U.S. missile defense plans for Europe.