Ok, we want a safe and protected America. But, jeez, do you realize this stupid thing has been failing for over 20 years! and $100 Billion dollars?!?
The Star Wars Missle Defense FINALLY hits something and everyone's all, "We're safer now and protected." Really? Turns out it hit something but no data has been analyzed....and, well, that was supposed to be the criteria for success. Whatever. Any excuse to congratulate themselves will do, apparently.
(here)
The Pentagon claimed a victory for America's missile defence system last night when a mock warhead was successfully destroyed in space in a test which cost $85m (£45m).
A target missile was launched from Kodiak island, Alaska, yesterday morning. Seventeen minutes later, an interceptor missile left a silo in California, hitting the target above the Pacific Ocean at a speed of 18,000mph.
Military chiefs hailed the test as a "total success" for the defence system, originally known as Star Wars, which has been plagued by political opposition and technical troubles since it began in 1983.....
Critics dispute the Bush administration's claim that the system, which has cost almost $100bn to date, is vital to protect against attacks from "rogue states" such as North Korea. They argue that the end of the cold war rendered the scheme obsolete, and the test was unrealistic because the military knew the size, speed, and timing of the missile at which they were aiming.
The Pentagon said the interception was only a secondary aim of yesterday's test: the main point had been to gather and analyse data. But since the test was declared a success before any data had been analysed, opponents suggested it had been partly a public relations exercise.
"It makes you wonder how serious they are about the primary purpose of the test," Philip Coyle, the Pentagon's chief weapons-tester during Bill Clinton's presidency, told Reuters.
