The Missile Defense System of the United States Essay -- Argumentative

The Missile Defense System of the United States Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Ronald Reagan was in the Presidency, he and his staff came up with the idea for a missile defense system that would defend the country in the event of a nuclear missile attack. This system was named "Star Wars" and the basic principal behind it was that it would be a shield that covered all fifty states. However, government officials soon realized that Reagan's defense system was impossible to build, so the program was dropped, but the idea to defend the country against a missile attack stuck around. Today, the U. S. Government is trying to build a new, more realistic missile defense system. However, not all the problems have been worked out, and the U. S. Government should not deploy their missile defense system without conducting further tests. Purpose of Missile Defense   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Imagine that one morning there is breaking news that the U. S. Capitol has just been attacked by a missile strike. The information is plastered on every station, and there's pictures showing Washington D. C. Leveled to the ground. All of this just because in the past few years the U. S. Government tried to develop a defense system to quickly, and for that reason they didn't have adequate tests to determine whether or not the system would work. Furthermore, they wouldn't have been attacked had it not been for them trying to develop this system. Every day, this threat is becoming more of a possibility to the United States. Since this could happen, the U. S. Government shouldn't deploy their defense system unless they conduct further, more realistic tests.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The name of the missile program that is being developed to protect the United States is the National Missile Defense. This program... ...ork. MIT Enterprise Technology Review. Retrieved March 14, 2003, from http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/ postol0402.asp Q&A: son of star wars. (2002, December 17). BBC News. Retrieved March 11, 2003, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/696028.stm Reynolds, M. (2002, December 24). Missile plan faces obstacles; Pentagon value in Bush's proposal to deploy the system in three years, but critics say an essential phase of testing would be left out. Los Angeles Times. Main News; Part 1; Page 1. Warren, D. (2001, May 3). Shooting down the criticisms of Bush's shield: common arguments against the U.S. Missile defense plan, and why they'll never work. The Ottawa Citizen. News, p. A17. Wright, D. & Postol, T. (2000, May 11). Missile defense system won't work. Common Dreams News Center. Retrieved March 6, 2003, from http://www.commondreams.org/views/ 051100-101.htm