by Robert G. Gard In his article “Missile Defense Hits the Mark: Increasing Success Undermines Critics” (Defense News, July 23, 2007), Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), carries the traditional and laudable “can-do” attitude of the military too far. He claims an operational capability, yet to be demonstrated, for […]
National Missile Defense in Europe: Premature and Unwise
by Robert G. Gard The Bush Administration has announced its intention to build a national missile defense complex in Europe to supplement current deployments of the system’s components, including interceptor sites based in Alaska and California. This decision is premature, misguided, wasteful of billions of dollars, and damaging to U.S. relationships with our European allies […]
Analysis of Senate Armed Services Committee Action on the FY2008 Defense Authorization Bill (S. 1585)
by Christopher Hellman and Travis Sharp The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) completed its markup of S. 1585, the FY2008 Defense Authorization bill, on May 25, 2007. The Administration submitted its FY2008 national defense request in February in two separate parts: a base budget of $507 billion and a war-related spending package of $141.8 billion to […]
Euro-BMD Bad for U.S.
by Robert G. Gard Published in United Press International on June 22, 2007 The Bush administration has announced its intention to build a national missile defense complex in Europe to supplement current deployments of the system’s components, including interceptor sites in Alaska and California. This decision is premature, misguided, wasteful of billions of dollars and […]
The High Cost of a Low Priority Program: $18 Billion for Missile Defense in 2016
by Robert G. Gard and John Isaacs November 15, 2006 The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that spending for the missile defense system will peak at $18 billion in 2016, three years later than last year’s estimate due to further delays in the program, including $3 billion in “cost risks.” This new estimate is contained in […]
