OPINION:
Michaela Dodge’s “The do’s and don’ts of defense spending” (Commentary, May 30) urges Congress to shower more money on missile defense in the National Defense Authorization Act, particularly by building an East Coast site. This would be a spectacular waste of taxpayer dollars.
At a recent congressional hearing, Vice Adm. James D. Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, was directly asked if the proposals to add $250 million for an East Coast site this year would be helpful. He responded, “Not at this time.” The Pentagon has just begun a two- to three-year site study. Rushing an East Coast site would be like buying a house without a blueprint.
Moreover, a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences determined that the interceptors Ms. Dodge suggests be placed at the site are fatally flawed.
Congress cannot continue to throw taxpayer money down the drain on programs that do not work and the military does not want.
KINGSTON REIF
Director, non-proliferation programs
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Washington
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