302 SPECIALPROVIDENCEgeneral Hamiltoniansalso supported missile defense. Ifthe system
worked,fine;ifnot,atleastitwasa politicallypopularwaytoraisemas-
sivefederalfundingforhigh-techresearchanddevelopment.Inparticu-
lar, throwing money atthe software challenges facing any effective
missilesystemmightneverstopanenemymissile,butitwouldalmost
certainlygiveAmericansoftwarefirmsmajoradvantagesindesigning
anddevelopingnewandcomplexprograms.
Thusforthesystem'sproponents,itsfeasibilitywasa secondarycon-
cern.Theyhopeditwouldworkbutwerecommittedtotry,whateverthe
outcome.
The old doves reunited to oppose missile defense. jeffersonians
gaggedattheexpense.Hundredsofbillionsofdollarsfora systemthat
couldnotbeshowntoworkwas badenough.Worsestill,thesystem
seemeduniquelyexposedtocheapcountermeasures.Itwouldbecheaper
forenemiestoconfuseanddefeata missiledefensesystemthanforusto
keepupgradingittomeetnewtacticsandchallenges.Forjeffersonians
thiswastheultimatemilitary-industrialboondoggle:a MaginotLinein
thesky,erectedatruinousexpensewithnopromiseoflong-termsuccess.
jeffersonianoppositiontonationalmissiledefensewas strongand
passionatebutnotabsolute. Ifa cost-effectivemissiledefensesystem
couldeverbebuilt,itislikelythatmanyjeffersonianswouldcometo
supportitsdevelopmentanddeploymentaspartofa broaderpullbackof
Americanforcesfromtherestoftheworld.A missiledefensesystemthat
replacedworldwideAmericantroopdeploymentsandreducedtheneed
forentanglingalliances wouldstrikemanyjeffersoniansaspreferable
tothestatusquo. Neverthelessthehabitualjeffersoniansuspicionof
Pentagonanddefensecontractorclaimsaboutthecostsandqualitiesof
expensivenewweaponssystemskeptjeffersonianopinionlargelyunited.
Many Wilsonians, uniquely, tended to oppose national missile
defenseevenifitcouldbeshowntowork.Abitterhatredofarmsraces
andarmaments,deeplyrootedinthelonghistoricalexperienceofWil-
sonianpolitics,playedapartinthisopposition.Morefundamentally,
Wilsonians feared that an effective national missile defense would
encourageAmerican(read:jacksonianandjeffersonian)isolationismby
uncouplingthenation'sfatefromthatoftherestoftheworld.Whycare
aboutpeopleinotherplacesif,comewhatmay,theycouldn'tevenbomb
us?Atthesametimetheincompatibilityofa nationalmissiledefemse
systemwithexistingarmscontroltreatiesgravelyendangeredthefragile
fabricofarmscontrolandnonproliferationagreementsthatWilsonians
hopedcouldonedayleadtotheabolitionofnuclearweapons.