Cutting nuclear defense does not mean cutting a watchful eye or cutting back the defense of the Pacific Rim ....why do you post anything from Dick Cheney, one of our country's worst leaders ever? POTUS Obama has not dropped our guard like the Busheviks did....
Thanks, I needed that laugh! The US has not had a "coastal missile defense" system since "W" was still looking to score pot and cocaine at age 24 (last missiles deactivated 1974).
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972
Main article: Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Technical, economic and political problems described resulted in the ABM treaty of 1972, which restricted the deployment of strategic (not tactical) anti-ballistic missiles.
By the ABM treaty and a 1974 revision, each country was allowed to deploy a mere 100 ABMs to protect a single, small area. The Soviets retained their Moscow defences. The U.S. designated their ICBM sites near Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, where Safeguard was already under advanced development. The radar systems and anti-ballistic missiles were approximately 90 miles north/northwest of Grand Forks AFB, near Concrete, North Dakota. The missiles were deactivated in 1975. The main radar site (PARCS) is still used as an early warning ICBM radar, facing relative north. It is located at Cavalier Air Force Station, North Dakota.
The only two systems that were in place were the NIKE and BOMARC:
http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/N-view.htmlhttp://www.radomes.org/museum/bomarc.htmland neither one was ever designed to intercept an ICBM(although a version of the NIKE, the NIKE X was supposed to be cable of ICBM intercept upon re-entry). They were meant as a last line of defense in the event of an attack by the USSR using Bear, Blackjack and Backfire bombers. The BOMARC's has nuclear capabilities, but that was only to create a wall of radiation and hope that the shockwave would knock the bombers out of the air.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-160http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-22MAlthough the missile systems were almost useless against the Blackjack and the Backfire, as they were to fly at Mach 1 to mach 2 at low levels to avoid radar then pull up at the last moment to fire nuclear cruise missiles similar to the USAF Hound Dog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-28_Hound_Dog to reach in beyond the coastline. But with advancements in ICBM's on both sides these systems became useless, much like satelites mad the DEW Line Stations useless in the 80's.
The missile defense system in Alaska that was reopend after a brief closure is small compared to what there was and it was the only antiICBM base.
After the United states announced that it would withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Fort Greely was selected as a site for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system. Starting in the summer of 2002, the United States government began work on the missile defense installation at Fort Greely, planning to deploy a total of 25 to 30 anti-ballistic missiles by 2010. Concurrently, the Missile Defense Command took command of Fort Greely, relinquishing direct Army control, while the Army retained control of the nearby Donnelly Training Area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Greely