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As Iran inches closer to crossing the nuclear weapons threshold and continues to advance its ballistic missile program, the dangers to Europe and America increase. Estimates predict that Tehran’s missiles could hit Europe’s entire landmass within 4 years, with parts of Europe already in Tehran’s crosshairs.

An attack on Europe would almost certainly hit American assets on the Continent, and would be invoked by NATO as the same as an attack on the United States itself. As the commemorations of the 9/11 terrorist attacks begin, it should be remembered that it was on 9/12/2001 that for its first and only time, NATO invoked the sacred Article V clause to demonstrate the indivisibility of Euro-Atlantic security.

Iran has already demonstrated that it is an aggressive actor on the international stage, supporting and consorting with odious regimes such as North Korea and terrorist actors such as Hezbollah. It has violently crushed legitimate domestic opposition and sought to solidify its position among Iranian elites with extreme anti-Western rhetoric and actions that glorify past terrorist acts and incite further terrorism.

As President Obama looks to defend the United States against such rogue regimes, missile defense is a tried, tested and trusted protection strategy. The placing of missile defenses outside of the U.S. as well as on the Homeland reinforces America’s long-held commitment to the NATO alliance. To make America and her allies deliberately vulnerable to ballistic missile or nuclear attack makes no sense. In an age where America’s enemies have ballistic missile capabilities, the United States must have missile defense technologies.

As a workable, cost effective, defensive solution to current and emerging threats, missile defense makes sense for America and for Europe. Abandoning America’s most enduring allies now, in the face of unsupportable Russian objections, is a tactical miscalculation with long-term strategic implications. President Obama must not surrender to spurious Russian accusations on one of America’s greatest defense assets.

 
Since its withdrawal from an agreement with Russia for Moscow to rent radar sites in the Ukraine, the latter country is considering integrating its early warning missile system with Europe. Alternatively, it may propose that other countries use its missile defense system.

According to Ria Novosti, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the country’s “withdrawal from the agreement offers the possibility of developing active cooperation with European countries with a view to integrating units of early missile warning and space systems with similar systems.”

Last week, the U.S. and Poland entered into an agreement to install missile inceptors in the Eastern European country. The situation in the region is, to put it mildly, tense.

Iran Successfully Launches Rocket

In other missile defense news, Iran has test-launched a rocket called Safir, which has satellite-carrying capability. The White House reportedly finds the launch “troubling.” Iran may use the technology to develop ballistic missiles.

(Sources: Ria Novosti, AFP, AP and Reuters)

Update (2:04 p.m. ET): Despite Iran’s claim that a satellite-carrying rocket test-launched successfully, the launch failed, according to Reuters.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s decision to finalize an agreement with Prague in early July to station part of the “third site” anti-missile system there arrives at a critical point in the proliferation debate.

The news comes at the same time a former U.N. arms inspector is set to report that plans to build a nuclear weapon — compatible with Iran’s ballistic missile technology — could have fallen into the hand of the rogue regime and other dangerous actors.

The radar in the Czech Republic, together with the possible stationing of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland (negotiations are ongoing), will strengthen transatlantic security against the evolving Middle Eastern ballistic missile threat, allowing the United States to extend its own security umbrella to that of its European allies.

This is surely one reason why NATO vigorously endorsed the third site missile defense negotiations at its Bucharest Summit in April.

Cross-posted on The Foundry.