Of course the US needs to protect itself, but just like the AMD, they need to get the threat evaluation correct. This is because the scaremongers have a habit of going into the 'we are in imminent danger' mantra. Good for the likes of CNN and general placard issue based public communication. But pretty poor in dealing with the real issues. Any missile threat to the US homeland NOW, really only comes from Russia, that is the reality of the situation. There is no doubt that the US has a legitamate right to have a defence against us. But wether they have their eastern seaboard open is a moot point anyway, because our weapons would overwealm them anyway. So the US is right to align their defences against the threat timeline. This is a sensible thing to do. Within some time horizon, others will come that represent a real tangible alternate threat to the US. The US is right to address this when the time arises, by continuing with research and then deploying when the threat is materialising and the technology is industrialisable. We will then counter with a technology to guarantee our deterence. A two tier threat has and will evolve further for the US. The Russian part of this is the most stable situation, it has been for years, so expending resources on it, or expending resources on a second tier threat which hasn't even come on the event horizon, is very sensible. The Aegis and other systems are adequate for current threat levels, therefore teh US should be appluaded for recalibration their threat sensors to normalised level. We will of course be out there on their eastern seaboard, but we are not the real threat likely to materialise into an attack, and the US and Russia know it. We know each other better than people think.