Essay/Term paper: Staw wars defense system

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Papers

Presently, the threat of missiles is very dangerous. The missiles
include biological, chemical, and of course, nuclear missiles. Our
nation, the US, is one of the richest and most powerful nations on the

world. Since we are so strong, many countries threaten us and endanger
the citizens. Lately, a system called the Star Wars SDI was
initialized during the Reagan Administration. The system involves
lasers that will fry the chips in missiles. That will cause the
missile to stop in its flight and not detonate. Now, it is being
researched again. But even though the Star Wars system seems flawless,
it shouldn^t be employed. The system uses up a huge sum of money. It
will cost about $1 trillion to set it up. Regular ground-based missile
defenses are almost 10 times cheaper. The nation should protect its
citizens with all their money, but the Star Wars system was never
tested. The lasers have been used many times in laboratories, but the
whole assemblage can malfunction before we even try it. People should
know what type of defense system is protecting them and should know if
it will defend them fully. The country^s taxes pay for the system, but
some people may not want the money they pay to be used for violent
reasons. While we are making the strongest weapons we could, the
nation can do better things that will help not only us but the world.
Too many weapons will cause us to get greedy and too powerful. Many
other countries despise us. Countries like Russia, China, and even
small ones like North Korea are powerful and the US doesn^t have really
good relations with them. They may be stalwart, but they still want
our technology and power. Most of the countries are not as wealthy as
us. Some are also hostile. They wish to obtain our weaponry. If we
do employ the SW system, it may violate international peace treaties
because we might build the weapon without their consent. Already, the
US is involved in battles between countries like Iraq and Yugoslavia.
The system can worsen our relations with other countries. The danger
from those hostile countries is near. They may prepare to bomb us
since they loathe us. Nuclear missiles can be launched at our capital
and major cities any moment without us knowing it. The only thing is

that the countries don^t have missiles that will travel this far. Even
if they don^t have the technology to build a super power defense
system, they still have nuclear capabilities. More than 20 nations
have balllistic missiles and they may fire upon us very soon. If we do
set up the Star Wars system, it will take many years to finish
constructing it. By then, those countries would have bombed us
already. We are almost at war with some nations and we don^t have
time. We would also be vulnerable and almost defenseless when we are
building the system. The US shouldn^t initialize the Star Wars SDI
system. There are problems with the system already. The cost is too
much and this nation has bitter opponents. If it was employed, we
would have the most sophisticated weapon system in the world. But we
are not assured that it will give a hundred percent protection.
However, the missile system shows results because it^s in use now. The
Star Wars system may protect us, but there will be consequences. It
will cause international problems, and it may even start a major
conflict.