US to Simulate ‘Iranian Attack’

Pentagon to Spend $150 Million Lobbing Phony Iranian Missile

US officials are looking forward to trumpeting the illusory threat posed by the Iranian military once again next month when the Pentagon launches a “mock-Iranian missile” for the military to practice shooting down.

The $150 million test will involve shooting a fake missile from the Marshall Island and then trying to destroy it. Officials say the “Iranian attack” will be challenging for the missile defense system.

The Obama Administration has deployed a large number of ground-based interceptor missiles along the West Coast of the US, ostensibly to thwart the threat of long-range Iranian missiles.

Yet Iran’s missile arsenal has a decidedly limited range, capable of hitting Israel and the tip of Europe with its Shahaab-3 missile, but nowhere near the capacity to launch a missile at California. Even if Iran somehow controlled the Marshall Islands, which are about halfway between Iran and the United States, they still wouldn’t have a missile that could go that far.

Iran’s “threat” is an important message for US officials as they try to convince the public that the nation needs to be attacked. The fact that this drill involves an impossible attack from a mythical Iranian missile suggests the $150 million cost is more a public relations stunt than anything to do with legitimate security.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.