As Goldfarb pointed out, the key to ballistic missile defense is redundancy. European deployment of the system affords Western allies a critical level of protection, as well as the first line of a robust, layered defense of the US mainland. The threat, however, isn’t limited to Iran. Proliferation of ballistic missiles and ICBM/MRBM technology over the past 30 years has been nothing short of staggering. Check out the Missile Defense agency’s troubling before and after missile proliferation charts — the lion’s share of the long range stuff is in unfriendly hands. It’s also mostly Russian, something that the Obama administration should consider the next time Moscow cries foul over broken ABM treaties.
