You know, before we start agonizing over whether or not to get involved with the U.S.'s vaunted missile defense program, it kind of behooves us to figure out whether it's legit, or just the biggest swindle ever perpetrated on a gullible public:
AFTER MORE than 3 1/2 years of foot-dragging, excuses, and violations of federal regulations, MIT announced last week that it could not investigate credible evidence of possible scientific fraud in fundamental National Missile Defense research being done at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. The reason outgoing president Charles M. Vest gave is that the Pentagon had classified everything about the investigation.
If the particular allegations of fraud have merit -- and I believe they do -- MIT and the Pentagon have been involved in a fraud that has promoted a weapon system that will have little or no utility and could cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Of even greater importance, millions of lives could be lost if this weapon system failed to defend our nation from a nuclear ballistic missile attack.
And beyond the really neato, cool, geeky technical aspects, well, there always your regular, run-of-the-mill Republican corruption:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Army crime investigators are looking into a retired Colorado Springs Army officer's assertions that agencies working on the U.S. missile-defense program engaged in contract fraud and abuse.
The allegations include claims that missile-defense contracts were improperly awarded to a company headed by Jay Garner, who last year served briefly as the top U.S. administrator in Iraq.
Yeah, there's a little something here for everyone. Don't you feel safer already?
OH, LOOK! Following the example of several of my Canadian colleagues, we have the Christian Science Monitor rushing to our defense: "Don't blame Canada for missile-defense snub". Yeah. It's not always our fault. Now, Celine Dion -- OK, she's our fault.
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