We went to the moon. And if we want to knock those missiles down, we'll figure out how to do it. Practically everyone on the national security team has been, at one time or another, hooked deep into the military-industrial complex. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld worked at RAND and Frank Gaffney's Center for Security Policy and has had financial interest in companies like Gulfstream Aerospace. Condoleezza Rice, the national security advisor, has served on the boards of Chevron and the Hewlett Foundation.
Ideology is ready at hand.
He has voiced fear that lack of NMD would threaten our heavyweight status, speculating that without it, a president might be tempted to become isolationist, cowering before an armed enemy. Or, our leader might overplay our power, preemptively dropping nuclear bombs on a puny rogue adversary. If all this abstract talk about strategy, national interests, and missions sounds a little fuzzy, it is probably due to a surprising non-spending event. Early in his administration, Bush decided to feature monster tax cuts and education-voucher ideas and to defer a big jump in defense spending. Two of his goals are rumored to be consideration of deep cuts in the number of our long-range nuclear missiles and withdrawal of US forces from bases all over the world.