Despite the growing harm being done to US-Russian relations by the proposed US missile defense system in Poland, Obama Administration officials maintain that it is vital to defend against the Iranian “threat.”

But in addition to having cost over $144 billion since 1985, a growing number of reports put into doubt whether the system would even work. Technical analysis has pointed to the systems being fooled by decoys, even balloons, and former Pentagon testing chief Philip Coyle says the successful tests were “scripted for success.”

On the bright side, reports from the IAEA have continued to verify that Iran isn’t diverting any nuclear material to its alleged nuclear weapons program and Iran’s best missiles aren’t even close to in range, so the missile defense system isn’t exactly going to have to do anything to begin with. The best match for an incompetent solution is an illusory problem, but whether its to be kept going to maintain ties with Poland or traded to the Russian government for some other diplomatic concession, a lot of billions are being spent with very little grounding in reality.

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