Who Needs Missile Defense Anyway?

Barack Obama's defense budget cuts missile defense spending, at the very time Iran and North Korea are making progress on developing ballistic missiles.

Astounding, but true.

And why would they do this?

Because they believe, in the spirit of arms control, that by renouncing defensive capabilities we can make our enemies less nervous and reduce their weapons development.

Instead, Iran and North Korea will be emboldened to develop their missiles if they believe less defenses exist to shoot them down. If we had robust defensive systems, or at least they perceived we did, they would worry that their massive investment in missile development would be wasted.

Of course, the administration has also moved the defensive systems we have to Hawaii to protect it in case North Korea launched missiles towards us - the same systems that so many in the administration advocated against when developed under George Bush.

So much for the new "realism" in our foreign and defense policies.