Reagan vindicated: Missile defense works
The U.S. has also cooperated with numerous allies to develop more tactical missiles defenses designed to stop rockets, not in their boost phase, but just before they hit. One of those projects is the Iron Dome system that Israel launched after the 2006 war in Lebanon, during which Hezbollah bombarded northern Israel with thousands of rockets. Today Iron Dome, which is still officially listed as experimental, is operational–and it is blunting Hamas’s missile-offensive against Israel.
According to the Israeli Embassy in Washington: “In the last 4 days: 544 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel + 302 Iron Dome interceptions = 846 rockets fired at us.” The fact that only 302 of 846 rockets were intercepted (36 percent) might indicate that Iron Dome is ineffective. But in fact it is expressly designed to ignore rockets headed for uninhabited areas. Israeli officials say that 90 percent of the attempted interceptions have worked, thus providing critical protection for civilian areas including Tel Aviv, where an Iron Dome battery has just been moved.
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Reagan saw things so clearly – so many things – hard to imagine.
jake-the-goose on November 19, 2012 at 4:37 PM
Now how about we set up a few around this country, Obozo.
petefrt on November 19, 2012 at 4:37 PM
Yeah? Too bad the jews had to trick Hamas into firing easily targeted rockets, so its not like its a fair test.
Damn jews.
BobMbx on November 19, 2012 at 4:38 PM
Reagan wasn’t vindicated on his economic policies, though. Obama tried his own plan, and it worked. Just ask Obama.
The Rogue Tomato on November 19, 2012 at 4:41 PM
Wait a minute. The out-of-touch, warmonger, cowboy, mean-spirited, just an actor, amiable dunce was right?!!
ncborn on November 19, 2012 at 4:41 PM
The Left hates science.
Golden Boy on November 19, 2012 at 4:41 PM
Ronald Reagan’s ground-based antimissile systems would have worked just fine as designed at that time. The Soviet Union already had a similar system that ringed Moscow, and it is probably still in place.
Some of the space-based options were very much more advanced physics which might or might not have worked, but we would have developed a valuable base of research had they been pursued further.
slickwillie2001 on November 19, 2012 at 4:43 PM
“He thinks Star Wars is real, HAHAHAHAHAHA!” –obtuse lefty from the eighties
rdbrewer on November 19, 2012 at 4:44 PM
Missile defense working in Israel is yet another Obama victory!
/liberal interpretation
gwelf on November 19, 2012 at 4:45 PM
Ronnie Ray-gun and his Star Wars! Psshaw!
/
Punchenko on November 19, 2012 at 4:47 PM
Iron Dome is a land based missile defense system, unlike SDI which was to be a space based system. SDI had to be futuristic because land based anti-ballistic missile defenses had been illegal by treaty since 1972. SDI worked in that it convinced the Soviets that they had fallen so far behind technologically that they were doomed, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with Iron Dome.
Ted Torgerson on November 19, 2012 at 4:49 PM
I remember when I was a kid thinking that if Reagan’s idea ever worked, it would sink the Democrats forever because they were spending all of their energy on disputing the notion that it was even possible to knock a missile out of the air with another missile, saying it was crazy and could never be done. I don’t think there were any Democrats, not one, who thought the notion had promise.
I bet if you dig deep, you can find articles of the NYT, etc., getting quotes from their go-to scientists saying it couldn’t be done. Bet you’d find some Holdren quotes. You could discredit a lot of people with the effort.
They are so smart and scientific, those Democrats.
Buddahpundit on November 19, 2012 at 4:50 PM
Except that it proves missile defense systems work, and are cheaper than your foe’s weapons.
SDI, MDI, MDA, LMNOP. Who cares. It works.
BobMbx on November 19, 2012 at 4:52 PM
This. SDI was more or less a bluff that we’d put it in space, then. And SDI was intended for ICBMs.
John the Libertarian on November 19, 2012 at 4:54 PM
I am not saying missile defenses are a bad idea. I think the ABM Treaty was a mistake, based on MAD and we were right to withdraw from it. I’m only saying that finding a land-based missile defense system can work is quite a lesser claim than saying a space based system could work. The technology for a land based system is substantially less complex. For instance, just maintenance of equipment in space is a nightmare, compared with maintenance of equipment on land.
Ted Torgerson on November 19, 2012 at 4:59 PM
I thought we had to give Dear Leader credit for the $70mm he took out then put back in during the campaign..?
d1carter on November 19, 2012 at 5:06 PM
Google “SM-3″
BobMbx on November 19, 2012 at 5:08 PM
Cautious optimism is called for. Only hesitation is I remember all the phony press about the Patriot missile system in the Persian Gulf War, but which turned out to be a dud.
AngusMc on November 19, 2012 at 5:23 PM
They’ve done it better than most but from the homeland security point of view, rockets fired out of Mexico or Canada are not out issue. Neither is ICBMs.
It’s what is being driven across the southern border in pickup trucks…
CorporatePiggy on November 19, 2012 at 5:24 PM
Iron Dome is significantly different from the ABM systems envisaged by Star Wars. Furthermore, the US Navy has no counter for something like the Sunburn system. Iron Dome is by all accounts performing well against unguided rockets from Gaza… essentially WW2 technology… and that is good news but we have some ways to go in countering more sophisticated weapons.
lexhamfox on November 19, 2012 at 5:37 PM
I believe the main problem with the original Patriot was the short range. It actually did intercept the missles but the debris and warheads still fell out of the sky down onto Israel.
Resolute on November 19, 2012 at 5:49 PM
Too bad we don’t have a StarWars/IronDome system in the US with it configured to ignore those headed at DC, NY, and Hollywood.
gregbert on November 19, 2012 at 5:50 PM
That turned out to be a software glitch in the PAC-1 variant. The newer versions work fine. But it was never intended to be used against ICBMS, only against theater and intermediate-range missiles from PAC-1 on, and only against aircraft with the original version.
Walter Sobchak on November 19, 2012 at 6:07 PM
Israel wins one for the Gipper.
Bigfoot on November 19, 2012 at 6:38 PM
Just imagine if Reagan had been from the Party of Science!!!!
tom on November 19, 2012 at 7:18 PM