President Trump’s Executive Order to begin construction of the ‘American Iron Dome’
There’s about a hundred other issues that have equal, if not greater importance to the current state of our nation than this. The federal grants freeze, the attack on birthright citizenship, you name it. I’m not exactly sure what neuron of mine snapped when I saw the headline pointing to this EO (Executive Order), but I’m both incensed and flabbergasted.
I acknowledge it’s just an EO. It’s not magic. But if ever there was an instance of ‘fixing problems that do not exist,’ it’s this. Why? What precedent is there to necessitate the development of an advanced missile defense system for the US mainland? Have we been attacked by a missile before? Have we even been attacked recently—by anything that might be repelled by quick-response counter-missiles? Is Mexico ensconcing immigrants in orbital drop pods straight from the UNSC’s ODST division?
I both cannot take this seriously and cannot deny the reality of it. It’s an official EO. On the White House’s official website. Whatever power can be exerted to make this EO a reality, will be. It’s just the latest sign of this administration (or regime, if you prefer) being inherently schizophrenic. A strong desire to cut funding, no matter the cost. At the same time? Let’s build a massive defense project to protect something that has never been directly threatened since the British army wore red coats!
You know what the ‘American Iron Dome’ is? Our worldwide military influence. The carriers in the ocean, the submarines below. The numerous military bases—isolated pockets of domestic soil fortified more than Fort Knox—all around the world. Any nation that dared fire a pop-gun at Alabama would have hundreds, if not thousands of boots on the ground. If they have waterways, they’d be blockaded. Their skies would be unsafe, their ground defenses under constant observation by our spy satellites and stealth planes. If the attack was of such a scale that it could actually pose a fundamental risk to the United States? Then it’s nuclear, and we’re all dead anyway.
We are not Israel. We are not a small nation that has dealt with very real hostility to its very existence since the day of its inception. The Iron Dome makes too much sense for Israel, it’s a necessity to its survival. They’re flanked by Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine. All nations that have been involved in brutal conflicts with them in the recent past. They also have terrorist threats that very much do utilize missiles in their attacks. Whether or not you agree with Israel’s actions in these conflicts, from a perspective of Israeli national defense the Iron Dome has been an invaluable tool.
Our neighbors are fast friends Mexico, Canada and…that’s it. Canada, who hasn’t lifted a finger against us since the War of 1812. Mexico, where the government poses no threat to us, and the criminal elements attack us with drugs, not bombs. If President Trump wishes to throw millions of dollars into a national defense boondoggle, I hate to say it but his pointless border wall would be a better investment than this. At least the border wall would pose some small amount of resistance.
