Missile defense: does it work?

In 1985, critics declared "Star Wars Is Dangerous and Won't Work." In 2004, the so-called Union of Concerned Scientists was still declaring that the "US Missile Shield Won't Work." Of course, armchair critics suffer no consequences from wrong pronouncements. Contrast them with those who have actual and serious responsibility to evaluate the concept. Even early on in the research, the Soviet military took our missile defense seriously. Gorbachev even credited the star wars program with being the most important reason that the US won the cold war. More recently, evidence that missile defense works come from the military and budger officials of countries that are willing to pay good money for it. The latest is the United Arab Emirates, as Reuters reports:

The Bush administration is planning to sell the United Arab Emirates an advanced U.S. missile defense system valued at up to $7 billion that could be used to defend against Iran, people who have attended briefings on the matter said on Monday.

The Pentagon is set to notify the U.S. Congress of the proposed sale, which would be the first of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, several people familiar with the matter said.

THAAD is built by Lockheed Martin Corp . Raytheon Co supplies the system's radar.