Guest Blogger: White House Should Not Duck Its Responsibility to Shield the United States

Scott Erickson /

Two modified Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) Block IV interceptors are launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) during a Missile Defense Agency test to intercept a short-range ballistic missile target June 5, 2008 in the Pacific Ocean west of Kauai, Hawaii. The missile, one of two launched, intercepted the target approximately 12 miles high on the Pacific Missile Range Facility. This was the second of two successful intercepts of the sea-based terminal capability and the fourteenth overall successful test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program.

“Duck and Cover” has been replaced by its 21st-century incarnation: “Shield Yourself.” This no doubt marks the zenith of the Obama Administration’s nuclear preparedness plan (sarcasm intended), as outlined in a recent government report detailing the methods for increasing survivability rates in the case of a nuclear blast.

Unfortunately, such trivialities belie the dangerous path upon which America inexorably moves, one marked by unpredictable adversaries whose nuclear ambitions outpace America’s defensive maneuvers.

Instead of stating the obvious, such as staying indoors in the event of a nuclear explosion, the Obama Administration would be well served to adopt a more literal, macro interpretation of their new slogan. Instead of abandoning much of the progress made in missile defense during the Bush Administration, President Obama should readopt a posture of aggressive missile defense deployment. (more…)

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