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Strategic Defense Initiative - A Worthwhile Investment Or A Specter Of The Past

5 July 2009

Strategic Defense Initiative - A Worthwhile Investment or a Specter of the Past

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was the brainchild of former President Ronald Reagan and with it he had high hopes of one day eliminating the existence of all nuclear weapons. His dreams and aspirations inspired a country that was otherwise cowering in fear by the threat of the Soviet Union and the term Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). The primary target on the radar of SDI was the deterrent of the ballistic missile threat against the United States. The need for and scope of a Ballistic Missile Defense system is a highly debated subject in current events despite the developing threat that looms in Asia and the Middle East.
Shortly after the development of the ballistic missile, efforts started to design a system to counter the ever growing threat of developing nations being able to strike the United States. Early initiatives started "in 1967 when the Johnson administration proposed building the Sentinel..." (Lindsay and O'Hanlon 3) and Safeguard programs that used the Spartan and Sprint antimissile systems. "These systems depended on nuclear detonations to destroy..." (Lettow 82) the incoming nuclear warhead which most scientist and politicians deemed counter-productive in the elimination of nuclear weapons. "People living near the planned sites rebelled because they feared that putting the missile silos in their backyard would greatly increase their chances of becoming the target of an attack" (Lindsay and O'Hanlon 3). This led to "the United States and the Soviet Union signing the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 1972" (Bush 9). This was the primary focus behind President Reagan's drive to architect the Strategic Defense Initiative. "From the very beginning, Reagan had in mind that SDI would catalyze the elimination of all nuclear weapons..." (Lettow 118) by relying on non-nuclear methods with focus on direct impact utilizing conventional explosives...