Is the threat to the United States strong enough to merit rushing an incomplete Ballistic Missile Defense Program?
•Important to understand the threat in order to plan an appropriate defense
•2 opposing camps
–Proponents of ballistic missile defense
•Conservatives
•Believe that an imminent threat exists that makes it necessary to speed up our ballistic missile defense program
–Opponents of ballistic missile defense
•Liberals
•Believe that the threat that the United States presently faces from the nuclear states is not great enough to merit rushing a defense program that has not been fully developed
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Argument for the opposition: other threats more likely than a ballistic missile attack, such as a 9/11 type attack… we need to devote some of our resources to defending against those sorts of attacks