Everyone has heard in the news about how Russia is furious over the US decision to go ahead with implementing a missile defence shield. A major point not emphasized in popular media relevant to these press releases is the shadowy US agency responsible for devising the missile defence plan. Named simply enough, the MDA, or Missile Defence Agency, a department within the Department of Defence, is really the “Star Wars” program, or the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) from the Cold War era with a different name. People around the world are saying that the US is still in a “Cold War mentality” and are stoking the Russians into an arms race. They also say that we are uneccessarily upsetting the international community with careless war-mongering. Is the Cold War still happening, are we getting ready for a nuclear war? No, and no.

There really is no “arms race” going on right now, and that is mainly because the US is so far ahead of everyone else that it isn’t even a race. Needless to say, technology marches on. Why not develop a system to destroy incoming missiles, no matter where they are coming from? Why not perfect technology to its pinnacle? Basically, what you hear in the media about the US ballistic missile shield and what not is really just anybody looking to whine outloud from an anti-US/Republican/George Bush/military platform, which many whiners like to do. It really just makes people look foolish to denounce technological capabilities from a partisan standpoint. There is a reason that countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia agree to the benefits of the missile defence shield; they are not stupid. While they would be taking obvious political concessions to the US for the US to provide cutting edge missile defence technology, we are still their allies. With this system in place, they will likely remain allies for a great time into the future. We are winning people over by bestowing on them great protection and technology, while it beguiles me that so many people voice opposition to this foreign policy. Maybe they think the money could be better spent somewhere else? I wonder if it could, but what are we really buying here with the missile shield? Political and military capital, which will be crucial in the coming years of international turmoil and resource shortages. Fighting poverty with our money, I somehow doubt, will help us in the long run struggle to maintain our elegant lifestyles here in the US. After all, the portion of the missile defence shield to be installed in Europe is only one piece of a multi-layered anti-ballistic missile system that is comprised of the Aegis sea-based ABM system, the THAAD system, the Airborne-Laser, and MEADS. All of which are specialized to engage ballistic missiles at different stages of their trajectory. With the completion of the MDA’s mission, the circle of dominion will be complete.

The pictures in the middle are of the sea-based xband radar, which are deployed around the world to track missiles as they fly through the upper atmosphere. This radar is just one of many that all must be fully functional for the missile defence shield to operate effectively.