Lest We Forget

Molly Ivins reminds us of the Star Wars program, a significant issue in both the US and Australia which has not received much attention lately:

"We have spent $90 billion on it since 1983, with much more to come. The thing is supposed to be deployed this year, but it will have no demonstrated capability and would be ineffective against a real attack by long-range missiles. Between 1999 and December 2000, the thing has been five for eight against targets WITH the information of the time and place of the launch and the missile's trajectory fed to the interceptor. In other words, totally rigged tests.

The list of what's either wrong or doubtful about this system is nearly endless. The Union of Concerned Scientists points out we have no evidence it will ever be able to distinguish between warheads and weather balloons. The New Yorker notes that none of our enemies have ICBMs and we are trying 'to protect a nation from terrorists with box cutters and suitcase bombs.'

Sometimes, I get the feeling the whole country is being run by Paris Hilton. "