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Iran tests show need to keep US missile defenses up to date

by Gustavo Martir, U.S. Air Force, retired - 03/16/16 4:37 PM ET

As Iran continues testing ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear weapons (“Iran test-fires new round of ballistic missiles,” March 9), the need to fully fund our ground-based midcourse defense (GMD) system has never been clearer.

GMD has been in use for over a decade and has proven its trustworthiness with nine successful live-fire tests. However, it continually needs to be updated in order to stay ahead of the growing threat. We must add more interceptors at the current GMD bases in California and Alaska, deploy advanced radar systems and sensors to detect an enemy missile launch, and update the interceptor “kill vehicle” that is the system’s sharp teeth.

{mosads}Fully funding these improvements is an extremely cost-effective way to improve our defenses; GMD only accounts for 1/500th of the defense budget even though it is our most important defense against the world’s most dangerous kind of weapon.

The Iranian test shows that our government must be ready for anything. And that means fully funding GMD.

From Gustavo Martir, U.S. Air Force, retired, Washington, D.C.

Facts about jailed politician in Senegal need a second look

In his Contributor’s Blog post titled “Senegal’s democratic backsliding” (Feb. 26), which is being translated and widely circulated in Senegal, former Rep. Ronald Dellums (D-Calif.) writes that “When the opposition party, the Senegalese Democratic Party, designated former President Abdoulaye Wade’s son, former government minister Karim Wade, as their candidate for the next presidential election; [President Macky] Sall had Karim Wade arrested and detained.” A cursory search on Google reveals the following dates and events that belie this important point of his piece:

On April 15, 2013, Wade was arrested after a year-long investigation for illicit enrichment. On Aug. 4, 2014, his trial commenced. On Feb. 11, 2015, all witness testimonies ended, as did all lawyers pleadings on Feb. 19. On March 21, the Senegalese Democratic Party held its convention and selected Wade, already in preventive custody, as their candidate. On March 23, he was delivered a guilty verdict, two days after his selection as a candidate and after over four weeks of deliberation.

It clear that Wade was not arrested after his selection as a candidate, so this misleading statement should be retracted. Similarly, the United Nations working group’s finding was on the illegally long period of preventive custody, not the present jail term, as one may be led to believe.

Thank you, Rep. Bellums, for joining the fight for stronger democracy in Senegal and for strongly calling on President Sall to honor his pledge of a five-year term. Trust is the cornerstone of a democratic society, yet Sall broke that trust by choosing to renege on his pledge that earned him the respect and votes of many. In a society that uniquely values a person at his word, increasing numbers of concerned Senegalese citizens, including myself, are actively trying to organize and counter Sall’s propaganda machine on his moral betrayal.

Any support in defeating this attempt against our democracy and values at the polls on March 20 is welcome, but let’s never forget the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who said “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.” Truth is the best weapon in our never-ending fight to consolidate democracy, and misleading statements will only serve to discredit us.

From Serigne F. Diop, Village of Kael, Mbacké, Republic of Senegal