Missile Defense is the Emerging Cornerstone of US National Security

Since 1972, when the ABM Treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate, missile defenses of the United States were prohibited.

The ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) Treaty allowed the United States and the Soviet Union to deploy 100 interceptors to protect an offensive missile base or the nation’s respective capitols. The Soviets chose to protect Moscow where 100 interceptors are current deployed. The United States opted to protect a Minuteman nuclear base in North Dakota but took down the system in 1974 as the Soviets could easily overwhelm the limited defense of 100 interceptors.

It then became an article of faith that defending the United States from Soviet or Chinese ballistic missiles was a bad thing.