MISSILE DEFENSE IN MAINE?

• We had another Gaza support vigil yesterday here in Bath, Maine.  A dozen folks turned out.  We'll do it again next Sunday at noon.
• There is an article in the Portland Press Herald today about the Pentagon's 'Missile Defense Agency' public hearings in our state this week.  I was quoted in the article saying that Maine Veterans for Peace (VFP) is opposed to the proposed deployment of ground-based missile defense systems in Maine.  I'll be driving up to Rangeley (in the western mountains) on Wednesday to attend the hearing and to then do a second drive of our peace walk route that begins there on October 11 and ends in North Berwick on Oct 20. I got a call today from Maine public radio who also interviewed me about why VFP is against the possible interceptor base in our state. You can read more about the public comment process here.  All US citizens can leave comments if you'd like.

Key talking points include:

1)  Ground-based mid-course missile defense systems have not proven themselves to work effectively thus deployment is way premature assuming one could make a case they were even needed

2)  Huge waste of tax payer dollars

3)  Missile defense systems are destabilizing and fuel new arms race – particularly with Russia & China

4)  Pentagon often says these systems are needed to protect against Iran & North Korea but neither have nuclear weapons delivery systems capable of reaching continental US (Iran does not even have a nuclear weapon).  In reality these systems are aimed at Russia & China

5)  Missile defense systems are key elements in US first-strike attack planning – they are the ‘shield’ to be used after a US first-strike attack is launched.  The US Space Command has been war gaming such attacks for years

6) The environmental degradation to the mountains east of Rangeley, and the impacts on wildlife, are totally unacceptable. The idea of driving 55-foot long interceptor missiles from Bangor to the Rangeley area on country roads is ludicrous.

To submit a comment directly to the 'Missile Defense Agency', send an e-mail to: MDA.CIS.EIS@BV.com