Dear Friends & Members,

MDAA was honored to attend this week’s speech on terror, by the President of the United States, along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, and the Diplomatic corps.

We saw the destruction terrorists could cause with airplanes loaded with jet fuel — and we imagined the destruction they could cause with even more powerful weapons. At the time, the leaders of both political parties recognized this new reality: We cannot allow the world’s most dangerous men to get their hands on the world’s most dangerous weapons. In an age of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.�? – George W. Bush, December 14, 2005

The powers in charge of protecting our country, troops, and allies from ballistic missiles carrying weapons of mass destruction are not waiting for threats to materialize. Our government has stepped up to the challenges posed to our national security and to the world by the world’s most dangerous men, who have their hands on the world’s most dangerous weapons.

Earlier this week, the Ground-based Interceptor Missile completed a successful test over the Pacific Ocean. This marks the fourth successful test during the last month for missile defense on land, sea, and air and for short, medium, and long-range missile defense systems. \r\n\r\n

Sea Based: November 17 Successful test of the Standard Missile 3 off the Aegis Lake Erie CG -70 Pacific Test Range, Hawaii.

Air Based: December 6 ? Successful test of the Airborne Laser (ABL) – Edwards Air Force Base, California

Land Based: November 22 – Successful test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Missile (THAAD) – White Sands, New Mexico

December 14 – Successful test of the Ground-based Interceptor Missile (GBI) – Marshall Islands

Success breeds Success.