At $10 billion per year, missile defense is America's single largest weapons expenditure, yet it has not been successfully tested and offers no protection against terrorism. The Pentagon's top weapons inspector has expressed doubts about the system, and the CIA has found that deployment of missile defense would trigger "an unsettling series of political and military ripple effects." Congress would serve our nation's security better by redirecting funds earmarked for missile defense to programs that protect our nation's ports and nuclear plants.
Weapons In Space: Background
Daily life and global commerce rely on the peaceful use of space. Wireless services, the Internet and satellite TV function efficiently because of international consensus that space must be developed for peaceful use only. Millions of people worldwide benefit from space technologies for global positioning systems and weather forecasting. Satellite-based remote sensing technologies could develop responses to natural disasters like the Asian tsunami of December 2004.
To further these advances, the U.S. cooperated with allies for over half a century to prevent the weaponization of space. Current U.S. policies, however, are endangering civilian development of space by advocating for the research and development of space weapons. In breaking with previous international trends to prohibit space weaponization, the United States alienates itself from allies and encourages a space arms race. Instead, the United States should use its leadership to unite the world community to ban space weapons.
