Missile defense shield necessary

With the change of administrations in Washington, news stories have discussed the fact that many European nations, most notably Russia, are displeased with our government's plan to develop and install a missile defense system. While their concerns are understandable, the benefits of the system far outweigh any drawbacks. \nU.S. taxpayers are funding the construction of a safety net over our homes to keep out such nasty things as nuclear missiles, more nuclear missiles and anything else designed to blow up over the United States. \nThis program, born during the Reagan administration, was dubbed the "Star Wars Program" and was shut down because of the billions of dollars being put into a project that might not work. \nBut, because we are the United States and don't like to fail at anything, we resurrected the idea for a missile defense shield during Bill Clinton's presidency. Initial tests of the system had mixed results. Then President George W. Bush campaigned on increasing military spending, with the system as a cornerstone of his defense policy.\nNow, it seems many nations in Europe, most notably our former Cold War adversary, Russia, are getting a case of "big country with the biggest guns getting even bigger guns" phobia. \nA more official-sounding reason for the European powers to be opposed to our defense system is because any type of nationwide defense was forbidden by the almost 30-year-old, Cold-War era, U.S.-Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972.\nIt is obvious that with a new president at our country's helm, the foreign nations are trying to convince, if not intimidate, him to call off a program that, while not completely functional, has made progress in the past few years. Russia has even warned of a potential arms race in space. How Russia intends to fund such an arms race has not been disclosed.\nBut this missile defense system is necessary, even in this relatively peaceful time.\nThe Cold War is supposed to be over. Most nations with which we were once on the brink of war now enjoy peaceful relations with us. But our nation still faces threats. Our economic ally, the People's Republic of China, seems determined to develop increasingly sophisticated missile technology, while rogue nations, such as Iran and Iraq, and potential rogue nations, such as Pakistan and India, continue to develop missile delivery systems that could be aimed at the United States one day.\nDonald Rumsfeld, Bush's secretary of defense and a strong supporter of the missile defense program, has offered help to those European countries that oppose our defense system in building their own. But this does not negate the usefulness of our own defense screen. \nThere will always be threats, both visible and unseen, to the United States. \nThis defense system will be a strong deterrent to any nation or group that might want to take a shot at us. Why fire when you know you won't hit? A system such as the one being built will go a long way toward guaranteeing our country's safety.