"Star Wars II": Return Of Missile Defense

Is The Nation's Missile Defense Program A Reason For Americans To Feel Secure?

(CBS)  Last month, we were treated to a space spectacular - not a shuttle launch or moon landing, but the shoot down of a crippled intelligence satellite by a missile launched from a U.S. Navy ship. It was a test of the country’s missile defense system, a system that was conceived over 20 years ago by President Reagan. And it worked. Was it a lucky shot, or is the nation’s missile defense a reason for Americans to feel secure? National Security correspondent David Martin has some answers.

---

It was 25 years ago this month, in a presidential address from the Oval Office, when Ronald Reagan asked this question:

"What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reach our own soil or that of our allies?"

President Reagan never used the words, but this will forever be known as the "Star Wars" speech, a term of gentle derision for his vision of battle stations in space destroying Soviet missiles with lasers.

It never happened, but today there is a scaled-down version of Star Wars, not in space but on Earth - interceptors to defend not against an all-out Soviet attack, but against a handful of missiles launched by North Korea or Iran.

"If you want to call it Star Wars lite," Lt. Gen. Trey Obering told CBS News correspondent David Martin, "I have no problem with that term."

Obering is the man in charge of building a system that can shoot down incoming ballistic missiles - the proverbial "hitting a bullet with a bullet."

"I was a big fan of the 'Star Wars' movies," Obering told Martin, "and when you think about what that was involving, it was, I think, the force of good versus the forces of evil in the universe."

Obering's forces of good include a giant radar floating on an oil platform in the Pacific Ocean; nearly two dozen interceptor missiles in underground silos in Alaska and California; and still more interceptors on Navy cruisers. One of those blew up that out-of-control satellite a few weeks ago - the first real shootdown by a system that to date has cost $115 billion, but which most Americans don't even know exists.

Martin asked Obering straight out if the U.S. currently has a missile defense system.

"Yes sir," he answered. "We have a missile defense system today."

"As we're speaking," Martin pressed him, "someone is sitting at a screen watching for that North Korean missile?"

"Yes sir, that's a fact. We have crews on alert."

"This may be one of the best kept secrets in Washington," Martin told him.

"Yes sir," Obering agreed.

---

Cheyenne Mountain was built deep underground in the 1960s with 25-ton blast doors to survive a Soviet nuclear strike. Today it's headquarters for defending the U.S. against a North Korean missile attack.

Located in the Colorado Rockies, the alert center at Cheyenne Mountain would get the first warning of a missile launch from a satellite whose infrared sensors can detect a rocket plume as it lifts off the pad. Since some 30 countries have ballistic missiles, Lt. Col. James Cobb says, test launches happen all the time.

"Good days you can have five or six," Cobb explained, "You can go several weeks without any."

"Somewhere in the world," Martin asked.

"Anywhere in the world," Cobb told him.

As the missile climbs into the sky, it will be picked up by radars and Cobb will have just minutes to determine if it's a threat to the U.S.

"I can tell you where it came from and where it's pointed," he said.

Computers predict the trajectory of the missile.

Martin asked Cobb what the red dot indicated on the radar equipment.

"That would be North Korea," he answered.

"So," Martin asked, "if a missile were fired from North Korea, then that box, or the long rectangle, would be where it could come down."

"The 'threat area' is how we refer to it," Cobb explained. "If you look there's a little triangle in Alaska. That's the predicted impact point."

Once a missile launch is detected it would take about 45 minutes for it to land on U.S. soil, although the attempt to shoot it down must be made much faster than that.

Twenty miles away, at Schriever Air Force Base, a 5-man team would track the incoming warhead and attempt to shoot it down with those interceptors in Alaska and California.

Since the chances of a bolt out of the blue attack are exceedingly low, the team headed by Lt. Col. Terrance Douglas spends most of its time on watch practicing.

Martin asked Douglas how much time his team spends on practice exercises.

"We'll do anywhere from 3 to 7 during our shift," he said.

In this exercise, three missiles are headed toward the U.S.: one for Dallas, another for San Francisco and the third for Seattle.

"You're looking up there and it's like a video game," Martin observed. "But if it were the real thing, you guys would be playing for all the marbles. This would be it."

"This particular job here is amazing," Douglas told him. "You're protecting millions of folks because of what may be fired at them and they wouldn't know it. They'd just be walking down the street and wouldn't know it. Have no idea."

It's an exercise. No real missiles are fired by either side and it all goes like clockwork.

Martin asked the Pentagon's former chief weapons tester Phil Coyle if the missile defense system that we have today would be able to defend against that kind of attack demonstrated in the practice scenario.

"Unfortunately," Coyle said, "it wouldn't."

[sn0tbubble]

isn''t this the raytheon patriot all over again?

[irliberal]

I''d Rather see "Fiscal Accountability I: The Fall of the Bush Regime"

[truthspeake2]

Actually, maybe our crooked government is spending $$$ on something we can put a value on, unlike the spending on a useless war machine and rebuilding another country while ours falls apart. Because our enemies are always changing their weapondry, my only concern is will this system detect planes being used as missiles too???

[jncc1701]

Iran threatens Israel, not the US besides as the article noted North Korea and Iran are second rate nations - why are we worried about them?

No this is about making the world safe for Israel getting us deeper into a tribal fight that predates the founding of the US

[piercetheval]

...Use the FARCE...Use the FARCE, Dubya!

[truthspeake2]

...Use the FARCE...Use the FARCE, Dubya!

Posted by piercetheval at 09:50 AM : Mar 16, 2008


Good one! LOL

[jeepmanjr]

Wow...You people are something else!

[markm67]

During the story, Mr. Martin asked a question as to whether the American people would consider it acceptable if we were attacked and only 34 of 42 missiles were stopped. This is a misleading question. The more important question should be "What if we did not invest in strategic defense and 42 missiles get through?" From this perspective the program is a great success. The fact that we can do better (i.e. 42 of 42) and that there are potential systems that may render our defenses less effective highlights the need for additional funding for this program.

Since the most recent application of this defense was a success, we will never appreciate anything other than a speculative answer to what would have happened if we did not have this defense available.

Today''s story reminds us of why Ronald Reagan (with his vision, optimism and foresight) was one of the great presidents in American History.

[joyous88]

Ronald Reagan was the same type of misguided criminal as GW Bush, they both belong in prison, at least Reagan has gone to hell*l finally,


how much money has our country wasted on this republiCON
boondogle

Yes, it''s time to conclusively demonstrate to the world the certifiable madness of a country that, mired in a couple of wars it''s not winning and an economy in meltdown is spending money we don''t have to shoot down missiles not being fired at us.

[cmd36]

If Cheyenne Mtn is so impressive and so well defended, why is it being disintegrated and dismantled to move systems and personnel (without a plan and without funding)to an undefended building next to the municipal airport?

[ubrew12]

While excited about the TECHNICAL capabilities demonstrated in the Star Wars program, I of course, worry about the STRATEGIC consequences. Russia has already implied that they''ve given their ballistic missiles ''cruise-missile'' capabilities in response to StarWars, rendering it ineffective against our number one threat. It appears all StarWars will do is move hostile parties to put more effort into cruise missiles and less into ballistic missiles, in the future. Eventually, of course, any success of StarWars will be matched by technical developments on the ''other side'', and we''ll be facing MAD again.

For these reasons, I really don''t understand the mentality of people who advocate StarWars with the thought that it''ll make us ''safe''. As long as Americans are insulated from the consequences of their global decisions, they''ll make dumb decisions that''ll cause us to be targetted by angry people around the world. It seems that, while maintaining our current ''armed to the teeth'' capability, more effort should be made to TEAR DOWN that insulation that has caused us so much grief, rather than BUILDING MORE insulation.

But try telling that to a StarWars devotee...

[ropemed]

I can''t wait to see what the Liberals and all the *** treehuggers are ******** about four years from now. I''m pretty sure you''ll still be complaining our crooked goverment and ******** about the lack of tax cuts and how the free healthcare sucks just like it does up North!!!!

[cbsossur]

This is not a defense system as it is being sold to the American people.
What better system could you have knowing that if you attack any nation that has the power to retaliate through Nuclear or conventional weapons that there will be little if any swift repercussions.

[egresor]

even the pentagon''s own civilian weapons expert said it wont work.
(nbc''s meet the press sunday)

at the pricetag....which is THE largest single item costs in research and development.

deploying an unworkable system before it even has any real viability is using taxpayer money for experimental weaponery.

let the private suppliers do their own research and then they can make the tremendous profits involved. not taxpayers!

i liken that to a recent commercial by a drug company seeking people to be test subjects for unproven drugs.

who hasn''t seen how the FDA etc protects it''s citizens? allowing drugs people cannot purchase without a prescription being advertised to the public and listing possible side effects of permanent nerve damage, cancer, stroke, heart attacks, and even death.

that''s how the taxpayers get treated and this is just another one. the people pay for unworkable systems before they even work. making big bucks for someone.

besides that isn''t the real threat and they know it. if it comes to that armageddon is upon us and none will escape.

[wdrussell1]

What happened to the Bush plan of invading Mars?

The Ballistic Missile Defense system as it is being built is a limited capability system designed specifically to defend against an accidental or deliberate launch from a rogue state. The key elements and supporting command and control system will be fully capable of shooting down a limited number of incoming warheads. For deterrence to work all players must be rational. Iran, North Korea and other states developing ballistic missiles that will threaten United States. These countries have acted in past in ways that are not fully cogent. Without a limited creditable defense the United States would be putting millions of lives in jeopardy under the unsupportable assumption that no state will ever get a leader that will act irrational and launch on the United States. There is no choice but develop a BMD system or face the inevitable vaporization of a major United States population center.

[timdgrim]

Update your portfolio now with all the military industrial complex companies. We need to make more missles, bombs and the like so we can all get rich...
Money,Money, Money, Money!!!!!!......We love money!!!
To heck with people losing their homes, children without health insurance, homeless veterans, unemployed....let them get their own portfolio....
Money...Money....Money....!!!!!
Absurd isn''t it? But that''s America Incorporated.

[skeezix06]

Idiotic idea from an idiot in the White House. ''Nuff said.

[randynason]

Gee, who would have thought that George wouldn''t want to be taking his form of international diplomacy and war on terrorism into space? Isn''t this the real reason the military chose to conduct their little experiment and blow the satellite out of space?

I''ve seen better arguments made here than I am capable of making. But I would like to stick my two bits worth in anyway.
I have been waiting a long time for us to take seriously the admonition Eisenhower delivered many years ago. I ain''t seen it yet, about all I have left is hope.
And maybe someday, we''ll stick these predatory capitalists back into a better cage than the one Ronnie Raygun unleashed ''em from.
Has anybody noticed that the attack we suffered didn''t come from a missile?
I doubt if N. Korea could throw an effective rock, much less a missile.

[zootallures2]

"What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reach our own soil or that of our allies?"

Why then you can get away with the worst evil ever known on earth and be immune to justice.

[zootallures2]

A complete missile shield for the US is only 1/3 of the solution, if you want to escape justice. You''ll also need a nation of evil people like the Pentagon and Government. So, you''ll have to kill all the good people. Then there''s a great chance all the remaining evil ones will fight for power in a lawless chaos.

zootallures2, having spent a good number of years in the military, I have yet to meet an person serving that I would call evil. By and large the military is made up of honorable people trying to serve their country at great cost and sacrifice to themselves. The BMD system that is proposed and is in place has a very limited capability. It is designed to defend against the small rouge country or accidental launch. Missile technology is proliferating through out the world. It is only a matter of time before some country or group attacks the United States with a ballistic missile. We are lucky to have a system available that can defend the population from this very real threat.

[lawyertom1]

There is no question that the Reagan "Star Wars" program was built on blind hope and faux science. However, it would be imprudent to not move forward with some technology to knock out ICMB''s and IRBM''s, especially given the types of nut-cases that the world so effectively produces (North Korea & Iran are current examples, but we have Libya of recent years past, Syria on the horizon, Pakistan if it goes AQ, and all other types of scenarios to keep the paranoid busy). At the same time one would be foolish to think that such systems will end the threat. There will always be SLBM''s and cruise missles, plus the infamous bomb-in-a-box [shipping container], none of which will be stopped by a Star Wars'' system. As with a good offense, a good defense has to be multilayered and multifaceted.

[ajaxtheleast]

Treating this report as if it were''nt merely
one of the plants-to-come aimed at acareing
the jittery people into voting republican:

Moving our missile launchers closer to enemy
missile sites affirms that we still cant
directly hit an incoming ICBM. Big surprise!
But we think that we can hit one by greatly
reducing the firing time factor of two
objects approaching each other at a combined
speed of about thirty thousand miles an hour
by coming up along side of it or behind it.
An intercepter missle is faster that an ICBM
just picking up speed.

Now, what other country, a fairly large
country, do these logistics fit? We''re not
talking Iran are we? And N.Korea is going
to turn New York into rubble!?

We''re either worried about Russia militarily
or we''re concerned about upgrading our
"protective,influencial" area to counter any
Rusian influence they have over soon-to-be-
made oil pipeline deals in Europe

Any VOLUNTEERED info from this admins.
is probably opposite their intentions.

[gce65]

Yep, Star Wars II.
Translation: We didn''t waste enough money on the first version during the Reagan administration, and we haven''t wasted even more money on the PHONEY war on terror in Iraq. Now the GOP wants to spend even MORE MONEY WE DON''T HAVE on some new hyper-militarized fantasy pipe dream.

[andor3]

the missile defense system achieved its goals brilliantly--its goals were to route billions of taxpayer dollars to corporations and universities while expecting nothing in return, perhaps one of the largest of many defense/welfare programs.

Now they stage this silly demo--a ship shoots a missile, a while later a mysteriously defunct satellite explodes, and we should all conclude that we need to give billions more to companies to fund a program that is never even expected to work.

[andor3]

it is also the perfect scare em silly PR scenario--the government puts out a press release saying they shot down an incoming missile from [fill in evil country of choice] and saved [fill in major US city]. No one sees or hears a thing since it is all in space or over an ocean, but they would be expected to be both scared and grateful...

[Latrocinor]

the missile defense system achieved its goals brilliantly--its goals were to route billions of taxpayer dollars to corporations and universities while expecting nothing in return, perhaps one of the largest of many defense/welfare programs.

Posted by andor3 at 08:29 PM : Mar 16, 2008



The Government is paying BIG BUCKS for experts like you. America needs your expertise. Help us out - the pay is great.

[Latrocinor]

TERRORISTS DON''''T HAVE ANY ******** NUCLEAR MISSILES, LET ALONE ONES THAT CAN REACH THE UNITED STATES!!!!

Posted by USAyesterday at 08:18 PM : Mar 16, 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------

Did you ever stop to think why they don''t?

[imnho]

There is no oil on mars.

[dsr57]

I want to see it shoot something down!

[samrensho]

This is Georges way to let contractors who aren''t fleecing us taxpayers in Iraqistan get a piece of the pie. There will be endless cost overruns, etc. to bilk more billions out of us.

[bm6005]

why is it being disintegrated and dismantled to move systems and personnel (without a plan and without funding)to an undefended building next to the municipal airport?
Posted by cmd36

Because like the Iraqi war there is no plan when Boosh is involved. Reminds me of all those MBA idiots "First, create a crisis"!! LOL

[bm6005]

Did you ever stop to think why they don''''t?
Posted by bhoogren

Certainly not due to anything your idiot hero has done. Boosh is an IQ 91 MORON!!! He should be tried for treason and crimes against humanity. Christian my a$$!!