Can Missile "Defense" defend?

If a nuclear missile is launched on the U.S. would our new Alaska-based missile defense system work?

The Pentagon’s top independent tester, Tom Christie, isn’t sure. Christie told Bloomfield News’ Anthony Cappacio that the system being installed in Alaska must pass two flight tests in the next three months before it can be deemed reliable.

"I cannot with a great deal of confidence say" that the system works until those tests are completed, Christie said in an interview. "I can't right now with confidence put a number" on the probability of the system stopping a missile from North Korea, he said.

Christie isn’t the only expert questioning the system’s reliability.

Scientist Richard L. Garwin argues in an October 25, 2004 story in the Scientific American, “Holes in the Missile Shield,” that “despite more than $80 billion spent by the U.S. on missile defense since 1985, this system will not provide significant protection for many years, if ever.”