Missile Defense Required to Prevent Military Escalation With Iran

Iran's testing of ballistic missiles, according to Riki Ellison

by: jim kouri | published: 07 14, 2008

There is a tremendous amount of concern in much of Europe about the news of Iran's testing of ballistic missiles, according to Riki Ellison, president of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

Ellison stressed a number of issues during his recent speaking tour in the United States and Europe.

Iran's firing of 9 ballistic missiles and more missiles as an escalatory response to military exercises and political rhetoric is unequivocally a Clear and Present Danger to the United States of America and its allies in the Middle East.

Our nation and the international community need real options to forgo preemptive military action and or direct escalatory military action by the United States and its allies that would most likely lead to war with Iran.

Currently, the U.S. has fully operational, deployed missile defense systems that can stabilize the region, whereby strengthening the deterrent and decreasing the threat by non-lethal means without escalating an already dynamic situation. Missile defense in this situation can stabilize and offer valuable positioning for diplomatic efforts to ease down the intensity and work for a solution.

The United States Army has multiple PAC -3 battalions and the United States Navy has 15 missile defense equipped Aegis Ships, equipped with tracking radars and missile defense interceptors of Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-2s, according to Ellison.

The country of Israel has deployed Arrow and PAC-3 missile defense systems. Although some of these systems are already in the region and more should follow, the inventory of interceptors is very limited. Having these systems in the Middle East region cannot guarantee full protection from Iran's missiles but it can offer more deterrence and some limited protection to our American and Allied citizens as well as armed forces in the region.

This demonstrated use of multiple launches on the world stage coupled with Iran's nuclear intentions and their stated political intent amplifies and validates the reasoning of why our nation through 11 Congresses and 4 United States Presidents have fully supported and funded the development, deployment and continued evolution of missile defense. It is the reason why the 26 countries of NATO have fully endorsed missile defense and the creation of a third site in Europe.

It is also the reason why the Israel has developed and deployed missile defense systems and other countries in the Middle East region have reached out to the United States for missile defense. It validates the Czech Republic agreement on missile defense arrived at earlier this week, and it adds to the necessity of protecting Europe and US interests in Europe from ballistic missile attacks.

It is of vital importance to global peace and security for the United States and the international community to continue to develop and deploy future missile defenses for the threat our world faces today and well into the future.

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