The Hill: “Time for cooperative missile defense now,” Brig. Gen. John Adams
Source: The Hill, 7/5/2011
Consensus Member Gen. John Adams is a featured writer.
By John Adams
“Last week we saw Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards conducted ballistic missile exercises. This show of bravado is not just worrisome, it demonstrates to all that missiles in the wrong hands threaten our friends and even our homeland. Matched with the Iranian nuclear ambitions, we are entering a very dangerous time.
It is clear we need to move out of the old mindset, and realize we are facing new threats and new potential enemies. We need a new response.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the most successful defense alliance the world has ever seen, must adapt to protect our values and way of life for the next 60 years, as it did for the previous.
Recently, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has raised important questions about the alliance’s durability. European capabilities have not kept pace with those of America, principally because there has been no consensus about shared threats and risks.
Last year, at Lisbon, NATO allies finally embraced missile defense cooperation as an integral part of its strategy. NATO leaders also agreed to extend the area for cooperation to Russia, and initiated the development of a comprehensive joint analysis of the future framework for broader missile defense cooperation…”
