Poll Results Come As Congress Weighs Financing For U.S. Missile Defense Programs
A lopsided 87 percent of the American public supports creation of the multi-layered U.S. ballistic missile defense shield being developed by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), according to a national poll taken by a professional polling organization that was released by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA).
“This is the highest percentage of support ever recorded in the history of missile defense,” according to Riki Ellison, MDAA president and founder, terming it an overwhelming show of support.
This poll comes as some Democratic lawmakers in Congress have moved to cut funding for some ballistic missile defense programs, as MDA funding legislation is written for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009.
For example, Congress is moving to bar use of funds for construction of a European Missile Defense (EMD) system that would be a modified version of the U.S. Ground-based Midcourse Defense system now installed in Alaska and California. That construction ban would continue until the Czech and Polish parliaments enact final approval of the EMD plan.
However, the MDA notes that the European system is required soon to shield Europe and the United States against enemy missiles launched from the Middle East, such as from Iran.
Iran has fired multiple missiles in salvo testing; fired a missile from a submerged submarine, and announced plans for a space program that would involve much the same technology as is required for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Further, Iran has brusquely rebuffed world opinion by refusing to cease producing nuclear fuel, which it says is for an electrical generating reactor, but which leaders of industrialized nations fear will be used to build nuclear weapons that could be mounted on Iranian missiles.
Also, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be wiped from the map, and that Israel soon shall cease to exist.
More recently, he was quoted by wire services as saying that “Western countries should not support them (Israel) so much. The life of this regime has come to an end.”
While MDA has estimated Iran will have missiles capable of reaching targets throughout Europe in perhaps five years, Israeli intelligence indicates it could be as soon as two years. And if Iran develops a space program within the next year, it could have an ICBM much sooner that could strike U.S. cities.
Other findings of the poll also show widespread American public support for missile defense programs.
For example, the survey showed that 58 percent of Americans believe that there is a real threat from missiles carrying weapons of mass destruction and that missile defense is the preferred option over pre-emptive military action or diplomatic efforts for dealing with the proliferation of missiles and weapons of mass destruction by nation states.
As well, the poll further showed 71 percent of Americans support deployment of the U.S. EMD shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, 84 percent believe that the U.S. BMD shield protects U.S. troops overseas, and 65 percent believe the U.S. missile defense system should protect U.S. allies as well.
Further, 78 percent of the American public believes it is important for the U.S. presidential candidates to address the issue of missile defense.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, has been seen as possibly being lukewarm in supporting missile defense programs. However, after Iran fired a series of medium- and long-range missiles in a salvo test, Obama said last month that “Iran is a great threat. We have to make sure we are working with our allies to apply tightened pressure on Iran,” according to the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom.
Further, Obama has voiced support for cooperation with Israeli missile defense programs, including the Arrow.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, over the years has voiced strong support for missile defense programs. He is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
U.S. missile defense programs include, among others, the Army GMD led by The Boeing Co. [BA]; the sea-based Navy shipboard system with the Aegis weapon control/radar system by Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] and the Standard Missile interceptor by Raytheon Co. [RTN]; and the Air Force Airborne Laser system led by Boeing as prime contractor and contributor of the heavily-modified 747-400 jumbo jet aircraft paired with a Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] laser system and a beam control/fire control system by Lockheed.
The poll was conducted by Opinion Research Corp. with a 3 percent plus or minus margin of error. Opinion Research Corp. partners with CNN on public opinion polls. Complete poll results can be viewed at http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org on the Web.