Real Issues of National Security (part one)

The Theory of the Social Contract as it applies to American society suggests that Americans will surrender a certain degree of freedom under a centralized government as long as that government provides security and order. The twenty-first century brings with it new threats to national security. The old paradigms of the Cold War have become dysfunctional relics in light of modern security demands.

The National Missile Defense Act of 1999 illustrated the U.S. desire to free itself from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1). When President George W Bush took office in 2001, he fully endorsed the defense shield and withdrew the U.S. from the international ABM treaty in 2002 (1). Six years later, missile defense system is still inoperative and buried under the cloak of development (2). In this time, the American people have experienced the 9/11 attacks, two ongoing wars in the Middle East, and the devastation of an entire U.S. city. All of these events represent threats to national security. All of these threats are immune to a national missile defense shield (especially one that doesn’t exist yet).

The destruction of New Orleans by hurricane Katrina was a disaster waiting to happen. The lesson to be learned from Katrina is that our strengths and our pride are shallow illusions compared with the entropic forces of nature; we are weakened by our lack of vision. 9/11 and the destruction of New Orleans are not dissimilar with respect to breaches of national security. Both are examples of “blow-back”, both could have been prevented, and neither could have been prevented with a missile defense shield.

The Bush Administration should abandon the defense shield project and allocate all available funds to the already $62 billion set aside for rebuilding New Orleans (3). It is vital that we not only rebuild New Orleans, but also prepare our coastal cities for any future consequences of global climate shift. This includes a dramatic shift away from our dependence on foreign sources of oil and an emphasis on domestic energy production. A policy such as this will do more to secure our way of life and re-affirm the Social Contract than any missile defense shield ever will.

NOTES-

1)“Ka-boom or bust: The U.S. Missile Defense System”.
CBC News Online. December 6, 2004.

2) Kaplan, Fred. “Bush's Latest Missile-Defense Folly: Why spend billions on a system that might never work?”. www.slate.com. March 12, 2004.

3) Tate, Deborah. “Congress Poised to Approve More Aid for Hurricane Relief Operations”. www.globalsecurity.com September 7, 2005.