Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The dream of a shield against nuclear bombs has been around since the earliest days of the nuclear age. The idea has always been deceptively simple: Build missiles that can shoot down nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles as they come across the ocean from the Soviet Union toward the United States (or vice-versa). Although this would be the equivalent of trying to hit a bullet with a bullet or an arrow with an arrow, there have always been political and military leaders who feel sure it can be done. The most recent efforts began 27 years ago with the Strategic Defense Initiative of the Reagan administration -- and have been pursued by missile defense agencies ever since.

Independent scientists and engineers in the United States and Russia have consistently judged past efforts to be failures, and they have written detailed reviews showing why the plans for such missile defenses are not technically feasible. Yet, in spite of these technical critiques and negative results, the US government has persisted in its claims of success. Until now.

A little-noticed report released in September 2011 by the Defense Science Board, an independent advisory committee to the US Defense Department, found three major problems with the Early Intercept Ballistic Missile Defense now being developed. Apparently, (1) none of the necessary radars in the European Phased Adaptive Approach defense system are powerful enough to work, (2) none of the existing missile defense sensors can reliably distinguish among warheads, decoys, and other debris, and (3) US intelligence already has observed foreign ballistic missile launches that can deploy decoys and other countermeasures. So, after 27 years of development and $150 billion spent, there still is no effective missile shield -- it is still a dream.

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Global Research

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30352

Contradicting a recent report in the UK's authoritative Sunday Times,  America's Time Magazine, quoting unnamed senior Israeli intelligence officials suggests that Israel's Secret Service the Mossad has, in recent months, been "cutting back" on covert operations inside Iran including the conduct of targeted assassinations.

Ironically, the Times and TIME contradict one another. The Sunday Times in its March 25 issue, stated that Israeli intelligence services had increased their covert activity at the Iranian Parchin military base, allegedly looking for evidence to the effect that Iran was building a nuclear weapon. These Israeli intelligence operations were carried out while Tehran was negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA had  pressured the Iranians to authorize a visit at that very specific military base. (Julie Lévesque, Fabricating A "Smoking Gun" To Attack Iran? Israeli Spies Disguised as Iranian Soldiers on Mission Inside Iran, Global Research, March 27, 2012)

Another article called US steps up intelligence, sabotage missions in Iran published by The Hill on April 9 seems to corroborate the information revealed by The Sunday Times. The Hill points to an increase of covert operations in the Islamic Republic by the CIA and its allies in the region. Since the closest U.S. ally in the region is Israel, one can assume that Mossad was participating in those sabotage missions.

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