Strategic Assessment

Although the details of the US National Missile Defense (NMD) program have yet to be entirely worked out, the Bush administration clarified, in its first weeks in office, the very high priority that it accords to building a national ballistic missile defense capability. The ballistic missile defense program is directed to provide protection for the entire territory of the US, as well as its allies and forces deployed abroad, from accidental missile launches and ballistic missile attacks from states such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea.