known as planning for the last war. Just because the terrorists used our own planes against us the last time doesn't mean that's all they'll ever be able to do.

Several of your other arguments are flawed as well. Just because NMD isn't effective against all possible threats, that doesn't mean that it has no value. By your reasoning, just because the Coast Guard can't stop airline hijackings, we might as well disband them. Put another way, since bullet proof vests don't protect against head shots, I guess cops should quit wearing them. Sorry, but there are a range of threats that we have to be concerned about, both today and in the future.

As for long range missiles, they don't have to be armed with nuclear warheads to kill a lot of people. Chemical or biological warheads can also be fitted to missiles.

Furthermore, it doesn't take an ICBM to hit us. You can use a much shorter ranged missile (even a Scud) launched from a ship hundreds of miles offshore. The US Navy proved this was possible back in 1947 with Operation Sandy where a V-2 was launched from the deck of the USS Midway.

There are many nations that already have missiles capable of this type of attack. Some of them, like Pakistan, also have nuclear weapons and unstable governments.