33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age

Last night, in order to kick off our Conservative Awareness Week, the College Republicans group at the U of M held a screening of "33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age," a documentary by the Heritage Foundation exposing the very real threats posed to us by nations like Iran and North Korea, and rogue terrorist and political groups for which this dangerous weapons technology is becoming more attainable. The documentary was an interesting introduction to the issue, posing many questions and urging its audience to really consider the gravity of the issue of ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction that our public all too often chooses to ignore, as if the issue could simply solve itself. Or maybe it's just that we have too much faith in our government's ability and will to do so.
The Documentary
Beginning with an array of clips depicting incidents throughout history involving our relations with nations such as Iran, Libya, North Korea and the Soviet Union, before addressing the issue of missile defense. It's outlined in the first paragraph of the Constitution that a government must provide for the common defense, in order to ensure the safety and stability of its people and national interests. The documentary, in true Conservative fashion also quoted Jefferson, who declared eternal vigilance to be the price of freedom. Now that we are in a "new missile age," where ballistic missiles can reach across the globe and life as we know it could end in just 33 minutes, that governmental responsibility is more crucial than ever.
President Ronald Reagan warned us not to fall to the temptation of ignoring the effects, urging us to instead create a missile interception system, and to build up our defenses. Ballistic missiles in the hands of our enemies could be used as a deterrent or threat, preventing us from going to the aid of our allies, amongst many other negative consequences.
But let's freeze for a moment. What exactly is a ballistic missile? The key to this type of weapon lies in trajectory. It is propelled into space, using the Earth's gravity in order to gain speed as it orbits the globe. It has large rockets and guidance controls, so it can either continue to orbit, or dive down for the attack.
And, while the physical damage of a near-ground detonation would obviously already be a catastrophe, having one detonate in the atmosphere above the U.S. could inflict even longer lasting damage. Such a detonation would let off an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), incapacitating every electrical system in the United States. Such a pulse would lead to voltage shortages, causing the complete shut down of electrical systems across the nation. Medical services, cell phones, transportation and traffic lights, electronic funds and media would all come to a sudden halt, putting us back to the 1800's.
And, aside from the threats of ballistic missiles, there are also biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to be thinking about. The documentary differentiated these as follows: nuclear attacks are destructive, wiping everything out physically in that area, biological warfare could bring on epidemics and plagues, and chemical warfare would be immediate, with the potential for tens of thousands of possible casualties.
The Reagan-era defense strategy, in exact opposition of the strategic theory preceding it, called for the use of increased defenses in order to discourage a missile attack from either side. This involved five blocks of capability: first, protection from North Korea, second, regional protection, third, protection from Iran, fourth, protection of our friends and allies, and fifth, the ability to defend multiple regions at once. But how did we plan to be able to stop an incoming missile? Fire control systems would be able to compute the trajectory and launch and intercepting missile ("kill vehicle") to intercept it in the air. Upon impact with the warhead, 50 percent would be vaporized, and only ten percent in the end would actually make it to the ground as debris, eliminating the majority of the threat. And by February 2008, the U.S. was able not only to hit another warhead, but to be able to hit a satellite in space, an even harder target. Technology appears to have finally caught up with Reagan's vision.
Unfortunately, we lack the capability to have this SDI system. In order to avoid the severe consequences of discontinuing our progress and deployment of missile defense, we must be willing to invest in its costs. Just look at the costs of the damage from 9/11. And that wasn't even a nuclear weapon, which would cost more like trillions. We have a 13 trillion dollar economy, and the estimates have it that it would cost us most if not all of that if we ever underwent such an attack. So really, the hundred billion dollars we'd spend on a defense system would be a necessary and logical security investment. And, having such a defense system that the President could activate could help stabilize our situation with North Korea and its missile supplies and testing, as well as to generate doubt in the minds of our enemies in general. Such a defense system could be shared with our friends and allies as well, as a means of devaluing such weapons and thereby making nuclear war obsolete.
Overall, the video was quite informative and did a good job of reintroducing a critical issue, especially now, as our President has moved on to his next big plan, with a stubborn refusal to acknowledge party, minority and voter criticisms. I didn't, however, agree with the statement that this was America's responsibility because we alone have the capacity to create these defense systems. Our allies as well are perfectly capable and advanced nations, so I do not feel that this is solely a U.S. responsibility, but a global responsibility in order to protect the world's people from nuclear war and the devastation of the use of weapons of mass destruction. In general, though, the documentary introduced the issue in an interesting and visually energetic way, and I felt it was overall well done.

More information on these threats and solutions can be found at http://33-minutes.com/, along with updates on Obama's concerning nuclear policies and the status of current attempts at negotiations.