This commitment to a robust defense posture –- specifically against incoming missiles -- was among the key drivers in forcing the collapse of our then-greatest enemy, the Soviet Union.
Our friend Israel embraced the technology with vigor, and Israel has used several of these tools to defend itself against its many enemies ever since.
Back in the 1980s, when this was a serious topic of discussion in American political dialogue, we made the point that such defenses don’t have to be 100% effective. Even if they are just 20% or 30% effective, the knowledge that some portion of incoming shots would be rendered ineffective should be enough to put doubt in the minds of our enemies. You don’t need 100% effectiveness; you just need enough to make it harder for your enemy to know how big an attack he needs, to be certain of success. And the more effective your defense, the harder it is for your enemy to perform that calculation.
At press time, Israel’s response to Iran’s attacks were still running 99% effective. That’s incredible.
The left has always been insane. Isaac Asimov, Mr. Sci-Fi himself, in his zeal to disagree with Reagan, took the astounding position that SDI would never work.
Beclowning himself and his decades of forward-thinking ideas for the sake of his political standing.
A test to see what they would do against their stupid drones. Spend a billion dollars. Just from Iran. Now they know Israel's response to what they did, and they will be prepared later to do REAL damage next time. Or they are planning on bankrupting our side with cheap drones and rockets that may not even be armed just to waste resources.
This is good news then, Israel doesn’t need our money or our troops anymore, right?
Hi
In 1983 president Reagan sunk the entire Iranian navy.
Just saying.
5.56mm
I recall a few years ago a false civil defense alert was broadcast in Hawaii warning of an imminent missile strike presumably from North Korea. The panicked populace of Hawaii knew they were defenseless and were prepared to be annihilated. Had Reagan’s much maligned “ Stars Wars” missile defense system been in place and improved with decades of new technology attacks by rogue states or even China or Russia could be largely repelled.