Stefanik continues to push for unneeded missile system
Doris Kearns Goodwin's review of the 1960s reminds us there was hope
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The nightly news is filled with turmoil and tumult from every corner of the world.
Missiles seem to be flying everywhere in the Middle East and civilian casualties are rampant. Politicians here at home, like our own Rep. Elise Stefanik, remind us that Iran and North Korea could soon be threatening our home shores and advocate for more defense spending.
The United States is currently defended by missile defense sites in Alaska and California, but Stefanik, a long-time member of the House Armed Services Committee, has repeatedly insisted a third site - costing an estimate $5 billion - is needed on the East coast.
Her advocacy helped Watertown's Fort Drum to be chosen as that site if the Defense Department chooses to go forward.
Stefanik has insisted it should.
But the Defense Department has repeatedly said it did not need a third site.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin repeated that again last week.
“DoD continues to prioritize the development of the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI), which can protect all 50 states, with flight testing beginning in 2027 and operational emplacement beginning in 2028 in the 20 available silos in Alaska,” Austin wrote in a letter to the Senate's Armed Services Committee.
If you are not familiar with NGI - I know I wasn't - it is latest technology to detect attacks and track, intercept and destroy missiles in flight. What is unclear is how well it works.
The Governmental Accountability Office did an assessment of the program and its development back in June where it made five recommendations to the Missile Defense Agency to get a clearer picture about the viability of the program by urging better communication between leaders in the Department of Defense, the intelligence community and the actual emerging threats globally.
The GAO is the independent nonpartisan umpire of all government spending for the federal government to ensure our tax dollars are spent well and that political shenanigans are not taking place.
The report addressed the extent to which MDA made progress in developing NGI, the significant technical risks of the program and the virtual environment to facilitate NGI development. It reviewed DOD documents and independent risk, cost, and test assessments and interviewed DOD officials. GAO conducted site visits to observe construction of NGI's launch facility and key supporting radars.
The GAO also said in its report that Missile Defense Agency was testing the interceptor with simulations that don't fully represent how it will be used and that should be corrected.
Obviously, these system are extremely complicated and should be left to the discretion of the experts. The last thing we need is for politicians with a personal interest to muddy the waters with their own opinions, but that is exactly what Rep. Stefanik has been doing for years and what she did this past week when she balked at Austin's continued opposition.
"It is unacceptable yet unsurprising that the Biden-Harris Administration is opposed to my bipartisan provision in the National Defense Authorization Act which will strengthen our homeland missile defense architecture by requiring the completion of a third U.S. missile defense site by 2030," she said in a press release.
It was actually Austin who opposed the new system in his official duties as Defense Secretary because he believes in the the potential of the future missile technology. Austin previously served as the commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum and after a long career serving at the highest levels of the U.S. military, you'd think his insights as the current Defense Secretary would be respected.
Yet, Stefanik insists she knows better.
And worse, she accuses Austin of making a political calculation, despite the fact that both Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand - both Democrats - voted in favor of funding for the missile defense system at Fort Drum and have supported its development as well.
The only one playing politics here is Stefanik while hoping to take credit for hundreds of well-paying jobs that would come with the new missile system in Watertown.
Ultimately, when it comes to decisions that are this important, the experts should make decisions for what is best for the country and not who gets the credit for the new jobs.
When Austin was confirmed as Defense Secretary, there was no concern about his politics. He was approved by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 93-2.
Hope in the '60s
I just finished Doris Kearns Goodwin's latest book An Unfinished Love Story.
The fact that Doris Kearns and her late husband, Dick Goodwin, had a front row seat to so much American political history during the 1960s is quite remarkable.
Kearns was an intern in the Johnson White House, then assisted with his memoirs after he left Washington.
Goodwin was a speechwriter for John Kennedy during the 1960 presidential campaign and then worked as a speechwriter for Kennedy in the White House.
When considering the difficult times we are going through today many often point to even worse times during the tumultuous 1960s: the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights unrest, the riots in cities and the Vietnam War protests, yet Kearns Goodwin reminds us that amidst the unrest there was this underlying feeling of home and of change for the better.
There was a belief the future would be better.
I'm not sure how many people feel that way now.
Ghost walk
The Chapman Museum brought back its ghost walk this past week. The tour sold out as we wandered through downtown Glens Falls to hear some accounts of ghost stories past and present, including a few that have originated at the Chapman's old DeLong House.
There is another tour scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m., but make sure you call to register (518 793-2826) since the last one sold out.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
So, Stefanik wants to put a target on the backs of northern NYers for her political well-being by putting a missile defense system here.
She cares about her constituents about as much as JD Vance cares about the ones he’s smeared and endangered In Springfield. As much as Trump cared about the ones he fed Covid disinformation and empty promises to.
I didn't realize that Schumer and Gillibrand voted in favor of the missile defense system. I'm beginning to believe in term limits.