Shielding Europe?

The New York Times is reporting that the United States is proposing building an anti-missile system to protect Europe from Iranian missiles.

The Bush administration is moving to establish a new antimissile site in Europe that would be designed to stop attacks by Iran against the United States and its European allies.

The administration's proposal, which comes amid rising concerns about Iran's suspected program to develop nuclear weapons, calls for installing 10 antimissile interceptors at a European site by 2011. Poland and the Czech Republic are among the nations under consideration.

There are a couple of ways to look at this story, I think. Is it possible that this is simply part of an information war against Iran? Certainly. Is it possible the US has intelligence information that is telling the administration that this would be a really good idea? Could be. Could the NYT be getting bad information? Wouldn't surprise me one bit.

But an certain defense systems actually are more of a deterrent if they are known to be in place. It's along the same lines as what Reagan did with the Peacekeeper program. There are still many problems with the existing program, but we have got some missiles already deployed – primarily defending against possible North Korean missiles.

Nine interceptors have already been installed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and two at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as part of a broader, multilayered system planned by the Pentagon. An interceptor consists of a rocket that carries a 155-pound "kill vehicle," which is designed to seek out and collide with an enemy missile warhead. While the program is still being tested, the Pentagon says that the interceptors could be pressed into service in a crisis.

The program's numerous critics say it is behind schedule and not up to even this challenge. "It has been doing very poorly," said Philip Coyle, the former head of the Office of Operational Test and Evaluation in the Pentagon. "They have not had a successful flight intercept test for four years."

Lieut. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, chief of the Missile Defense Agency at the Pentagon, said none of the technical problems have been show-stoppers. Several tests in which a target is to be intercepted are scheduled for this year and early next year.

The Pentagon is seeking $9.3 billion for its missile defense work for the 2007 fiscal year. About $2.4 billion is to go for fielding new systems and maintaining existing ones. The remainder is for additional development and testing. 

So far this is the only report I have seen on this particular issue, so I think I'll reserve judgment. But one question comes to mind. If we build a shield for Europe will they despise us even more, while still staying nice and safe behind our defense? (Actually Poland and the Czech Republic have both turned into strong allies, so it makes sense to defend them).