I guess your "what if" must be a valid one, unlike the ones I bring up that get such derision from you.

What the hell would change in an insane and suicidal leader's mind if we had NO missile defenses? Is the idea that if we had a defense we would not retaliate?

Does it occur to you that if North Korea launched a missile that got shot down over the Pacific, that the response might be different than if that missile hit Seattle? That missile defense might save lives other than American?

Incidentally, if the program hadn't been crippled over Clinton's eight years, it might be a lot farther along by now.