(p. A13) Allow me to identify who saved the people of Israel last weekend from Iran’s missile barrage: Ronald Reagan.
In 1983, President Reagan in a televised speech proposed what he called the Strategic Defense Initiative. Its core idea was that the U.S. would build defense systems that could shoot down nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, then expected to be fired by the Soviet Union at the U.S. mainland.
Democrats and much of the defense establishment mocked the idea, with Sen. Ted Kennedy naming it “Star Wars.”
. . .
By universal acclamation, the hero of last weekend was Israel’s missile-defense systems. The world watched in real time Saturday night as Reagan’s commitment to shooting down missiles protected Israel’s population from the more than 300 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles fired by Iran and its proxies at cities across Israel.
No nation more quickly recognized the necessity of missile defenses than Israel, a small, population-packed country that couldn’t afford the conceit of some U.S. politicians, then and today, that the American landmass is somehow safe from missile attacks. Within two years of Reagan’s announcement, Israel signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. to develop missile defenses. The fruits of that four-decade partnership couldn’t be clearer.
. . .
Reagan’s missile-defense legacy does have an important advocate: Donald Trump. As president in 2019, Mr. Trump revived the U.S. missile-defense program, and he restated that commitment, citing Reagan, during this year’s New Hampshire primary.
For the full story see:
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(Note: the online version of the story has the date April 18, 2024, and has the title “WONDER LAND; Ronald Reagan Just Saved Israel From Iran’s Attack.”)