Rudolph's safe flying over US air space

[Robbien]

America's anti-missile system is stuck on the launch pad, writes Jay Bookman.

There is no such thing as Santa Claus. There are no elves at the North Pole, no flying reindeer, and most assuredly, no reindeer with a nose so bright it can guide a sleigh at night. And - brace yourself - there's also no missile defence system that can shoot down missiles before they reach the United States. It'd be nice if there were, but there isn't.

The US does have missile interceptors, radars and gear that makes it look as though it has a missile defence system. America has spent tens of billions of dollars on the system but it's about as real as that Santa at the shopping centre. He looks like the real thing but he sure won't be sliding down any chimneys on Christmas Eve.

Just like that missile defence system won't be shooting down any missiles. Nonetheless, the US President, George Bush, the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and others still claim such a system exists, and say it's almost operational. "We have no intention of deploying something that doesn't work," Rumsfeld said a few years ago, "but what the definition of 'work' is, is terribly important."

<snip>

In a test just this month, the interceptor rocket couldn't even get off the ground. The only previous test of this specific interceptor rocket was two years ago, and it, too, was a dismal failure. Since then, tests have been delayed over and over again, for a variety of reasons. Computer failures. Design problems. Radar problems. Battery problems. For a long stretch this month, it couldn't be tested because, well, the weather was bad.

I guess they didn't think of getting Rudolph to help them. I hear that with that nose of his, he's very good at flying through fog and snow.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Rudolphs-safe-flying-over-US-air-space/2004/12/19/1103391635124.html?oneclick=true