Though much recent attention has focused on the threat of North Korean missiles, it now appears that Iran’s missile program poses at least as great a challenge to American interests.
With each passing day, the tyrannical theocrats who rule Iran come ever closer to building a nuclear weapon. Mounted on one of the country’s existing Shahab-series missiles, an Iranian atomic weapon would pose an immediate threat to Israel, Jordan, Iraq, many NATO allies, as well as deployed U.S. forces throughout the Middle East and Europe. Eventually, Iran’s mullahs might build longer-range missiles capable of striking the United States itself.
We can’t let that happen and, to confront the threat, should deploy missile defense interceptors in Europe without delay.
We already have the technology we need to defend against missile attacks. In Alaska and California, missile defense interceptors now stand ready to shoot down missiles that North Korea or another enemy might launch against our territory. Under the Department of Defense authorization bill the Senate passed last week, we will alsohave the funding to deploy an enhanced capacity against the Iranian threat. Now, we need only make sure that the funding goes to the place it can do the most good.
The latest missile technologies go far beyond the well-tested Patriot missile batteries that defend our troops on the battlefield. Newer types of interceptors can shoot down missiles thousands of miles away from American target. They do this by targeting enemy missiles in the middle of their flights when they fly, almost defenseless, over uninhabited areas. These midcourse interceptors protect lives and property better than anything else we’ve deployed. The defense authorization bill coming before the Senate includes funding for ten more of them, but doesn’t specify where they should go.
To confront the Iranian threat, we should put the new interceptors in Europe. Because they would sit so much closer to Iran’s own missile launch sites, interceptors based there will have a better chance of shooting down Iranian missiles fired at the United States or our allies. Interceptors launched from our existing bases just might not reach their targets in time.
I’m therefore planning to work with the Bush administration to deploy the new interceptors on the territory of a European NATO ally willing to accept them. Building a missile defense facility in Europe could strengthen our relations with key allies while simultaneously protecting both the United States and its allies.
The threat of enemy missiles won’t go away. Even if our diplomatic efforts succeed in foiling Iran’s nuclear ambitions — and I hope they will — Iran and other foreign governments bent on domination will continue their pursuit of nuclear weapons. We can’t expect them to give up. Quite simply, we need to get ourselves ready.
In the long run, we need to build up a multilayered missile defense system in order to defend against attacks all over the world. Eventually, we should deploy more interceptors in California and Alaska and study the possibility of developing new missile defense sites elsewhere. Our current strategy, however, has left our European and Middle Eastern flanks undefended. To confront the Iranian threat, we need deploy missile defense interceptors in Europe as soon as possible.
Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is the Senate majority leader.
