BMD « POWIP

31Mar/106

US test fires Trident Missile in Saudi Arabia

One great big can of whoop-ass.

Or more appropriately, from a location off of Saudi Arabia. As McKittrick at Closing Velocity says, "this is rattling the biggest sabre of all in Iran's face", and perhaps may be a way to underscore that the administration is running out of patience with Ahmadi-Nejad's stalling tacticts and is prepared to move on to more severe kind of sanctions; like those he spoke of during his presser with Sarkozy yesterday. All I can say is, it's about time.

This test launch may have also served more than the singular purpose of sabre rattling though. As pointed out in the WaPo article McKittrick links to, the US has been quietly strengthening the missile defense systems of our friends in the region. This test launch then would have been a very good opportunity to test those missile defense suites that we've sold them; to use the nuclear capable Trident missile as a "target of opportunity" much like when Minutemen II's are fired from Vandenberg Air Force base, a nuance that was pointed out in the linked post.

I for one welcome this exercise, and think it sends all the right signals to Tehran. That first and foremost, we are tired of your stalling. Second, that we have assets in the area that we will use if necessary to retaliate in the stead of our allies in the region if they are subject to your aggression. Third, the publicized presence of the head of the US Missile Defense Agency, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, telegraphs our willingness to sell BMD technology to those same allies so that they may protect their nations. In short, not only will we sell our friends the means to defeat your missile technology, but we will slap you down hard if you attack any of them.

And, while it's not following through on his ersatz campaign promise to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, it may be the next best thing; but more on that in another post...

Besides, it gives me a reason to support and applaud the President, instead of always complaining about how much he lists to port! So, yes, this is change I can believe in!

Oh, and, GO NAVY !