U.S. 'at risk' with Obama missile shield

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. missile defense architecture planned for Europe in 2020 is insufficient for homeland protection from long-range missiles, an analysis says.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Sept. 17 a shift in the European missile defense from a deterrent against Iranian long-range ballistic missiles to one that focuses on short- and medium-range missiles.

In a policy paper to U.S. lawmakers, Riki Ellison, chairman and president of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, says the protection of the population in the United States is at risk with the new missile defense plan.

Ellison acknowledges the new missile defense plan protects U.S. troops and allies in Europe from Iran, but does little to address or replace the protection of the U.S. homeland.

"The 'new missile defense architecture' does not address or replace the protection from Iranian long-range ballistic missiles that the 'Third Site' in Europe would have provided," he writes.

The missile defense system embraced by the Obama administration, Ellison says, provides insufficient coverage against long-range ballistic missile threats to the United States and its two radar stations in Greenland and England.

He said Washington is slated to deploy its latest missile shield by 2020, adding, "11 years without missile protection for the East Coast is too long to put 'at risk' the American public."