For Strategic Defense: A New Strategy for the New Global Situation.
Abstract
The Persian Gulf War has changed the political backdrop for Congress's annual debate over funding of the Strategic Defense Initiative - or SDI. Live TV broadcasts and countless replays of deadly Scud missiles screeching over the skies of Israel and Saudi Arabia, and then Patriot missiles soaring up to destroy them, brought home to Americans, for the first time perhaps, that America needs effective defenses against possible missile attacks. No congressman or senator now can afford to be seen as opposed to missile defense. The central question of the SDI debate long had been whether the technology worked and thus whether it was feasible to deploy such defenses. This question now has been answered resoundingly in the affirmative. The SDI debate now shifts to what kind of defenses are best and when they will be built. This shift in debate itself is the most significant victory for proponents of strategic defenses since Ronald Reagan launched the SDI program on March 23, 1983. It now is up to George Bush to take advantage of this opening to ensure that America can defend itself from missile attack by the turn of the century.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 18, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA344650
Entities
People
- B. Spring