25 July 2001 - missile defense 3

Some are amused by the idea of building a missile defense system which costs more than the amount of damage it can prevent. Others consider that even one life saved is worth any expenditure, especially the life of a pet ferret. Few understand the truth: Bush is following the potlatch theory of national defense. A sufficiently ostentatious display of wasteful defense will cow America’s enemies into working as New York cabbies and impress her friends into buying more F-16’s.