The United Nations recently lifted sanctions against Iran after inspectors concluded that the Islamic Republic is complying with the terms of a controversial international nuclear agreement.
However, the rogue regime continues to develop and test missiles that could destabilize both the Middle East and the broader international system.
In response to Iran’s recent provocative missile tests, the United States imposed new sanctions on the regime. Canada has also expressed concern about Iran’s missile program.
Canada should also be concerned that North Korea is developing weapons of mass destruction. It’s clear that North Korea, a nuclear weapons state, is attempting to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of striking distant lands.
According to a 2014 report produced by Canada’s Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, North Korea’s Unha-3 rocket could possibly deliver “a 700-kilogram payload over 8,000 kilometres, thus placing continental North America within its striking range.”
The Senate committee also expressed wariness of the bellicose Iranian regime. “Iran may, at present, have neither the capability nor the intention to strike North America,” stated the report, “but it continues to develop a means to this end.” The report, entitled Canada and Ballistic Missile Defence: Responding to the evolving threat, warned that Iran could one day “pose a serious threat to North America.”
The Senate committee pointed out that America’s key allies are partners in building ballistic missiles defences (BMD). “NATO has embraced BMD as part of its new strategic concept and allies such as Australia, South Korea and Japan are also participating in what will become a global network of regional BMD systems,” the report stated.
Earlier this month, the North Korean regime claimed to have successfully test-detonated a hydrogen bomb. Although there is reason to question the Communist regime’s claim, there is no doubt that North Korea test-detonated atomic weapons four times over the last decade.
Last week, Vice-Admiral James Syring, commander of the U.S. Missile Defence Agency, publicly stated that the United States does not believe that the recent nuclear weapons test in North Korea advanced the Communist state’s “technical capability.” But he went on to say that the actions of the North Koreans are “alarming and provoking” and that the United States will “continue to watch it closely.”
During his address to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, the vice-admiral stated that the missile defence agency will deploy 37 ground-based missile interceptors on U.S. territory by the end of 2016. The interceptors, which are missile batteries that track, target and theoretically destroy incoming missiles, are stationed in California and Alaska. By the end of next year, a total of 44 interceptors will be in place.
ABM Treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 was designed to maintain the balance of terror between United States and the Soviet Union. The treaty stated that neither the U.S. nor the U.S.S.R. were permitted to “develop, test or deploy ABM systems or components which are sea-based, air-based, space-based or mobile land-based.”
The ABM Treaty was built upon the assumption that neither superpower would launch a nuclear attack if both were threatened with annihilation. A missile shield would have upset this delicate balance by possibly reducing the threat of mutual destruction and encouraging one side to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the other.
Nearly a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, former U.S. president George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the ABM Treaty in 2001. The Americans no longer believed that the traditional norms of nuclear deterrence would protect the United States.
According to the Senate committee’s report, some witnesses suggested that Iran and/or North Korea would be deterred from attacking North America by the threat of nuclear retaliatory strikes launched by the United States. However, the committee took a different view.
“While some witnesses expressed their opinion that North Korea and Iran would be ‘suicidal’ to attack North America or our allies, the committee does not accept the notion that Iran and North Korea, armed with nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles, will always behave rationally or within the scope of international law and norms,” the report stated.
Canada and the United States share a long history of bilateral co-operation in defence planning. The Second World War spurred the once-wary neighbours to enter into the world’s strongest alliance. The Ogdensburg and Hide Park agreements were the building blocks of what would become a continental defence system. In 1958, Canada and United States formally established the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD) to defend against Soviet bombers.
In 1985, the Reagan administration invited Canada to participate in the development of a space-based missile shield, known as the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI). However, the American initiative was unpopular with the Canadian public, prompting the Mulroney government to politely decline Reagan’s invitation. In any event, SDI was eventually scrapped due to technological barriers.
However, the Clinton administration initiated a less ambitious but technically feasible land-based missile interceptor system to shield America from attacks by rogue nations….
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