The Hill – While Iran claims it wants to join the world community, shedding its rogue nation status, its actions tell a different story.
Iran’s state sponsored hackers are attacking key American companies and trying to break into U.S. government computers regularly (Iranian hackers targeting major US companies, Dec. 15). Their nuclear program continues, as they ignore deadline after deadline in the ongoing international talks. And they are developing missiles capable of attacking the United States under the umbrella of their so-called space program.
The FBI’s warnings about Iran’s online warfare threat need to be heeded by beefing up our cyber-security efforts. And with warnings about Iran’s nuclear program coming from the intelligence community, we need to protect ourselves against nuclear missile attack by expanding our Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile shield. This means deploying more interceptors at the two West Coast bases, adding new radars and launch detection sensors to the system, and building a new base closer to Iran in the Northeast. After nine successful tests where the GMD shot down a ballistic missile, clearly this defensive capability is worth fully funding. Iran’s actions reaffirm their rogue nation status.

By Otis H. Brooks Jr. – 12/25/14