Arithmetic in the news
The visit of President Bush on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of establishment of Israel received a wide news coverage. There was a persistent speculation that the president will bring along some parting gifts, perhaps as a substitute for releasing Jonathan Pollard from incarceration that lasted well beyond any reasonable and moral norms.
One possibility discussed was a new radar system that would secure Israel from the Iranian nuclear threat:
The Bush administration appears set to offer Israel a powerful radar system that could greatly boost Israeli defenses against enemy ballistic missiles while tying it directly into a growing US missile shield.
President George W. Bush is expected to discuss the matter during a visit to Israel on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state amid mounting US concerns about perceived threats from Iran, sources said.
This is "probably the No. 2 issue" on Bush's agenda for the visit, second only to the Middle East peace process, said Rep. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican who has spearheaded calls in Congress for tighter US missile-defense ties with Israel.
What would be the benefit? Read on:
The system Bush may offer is known as a forward-based X-band radar and has been described by US officials as capable of tracking an object the size of a baseball from about 2,900 miles away.
It would let Israel's Arrow missile defenses engage a Shahab-3 ballistic missile about halfway through what would be its 11-minute flight to Israel from Iran, or six times sooner than Israel's "Green Pine" Radar is currently capable of doing, Kirk said on Friday.
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