The Missoulian came down pretty hard on Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., in an editorial called, “Defend us, not unneeded missiles” in their April 3 edition.
The editorial was regarding Rehberg’s desire to keep the Department of Defense (DoD) from taking 50 missiles from Malmstrom AFB. The Missoulian said Congressman Rehberg “went ballistic last week” when he issued a press release.
The Western Word (TWW) contends that all three members of the delegation “went ballistic” about this announcement and rightly so. But, for some reason the Missoulian only picked on Rehberg.
In defense of Rehberg, he said, “These missiles are a vital part of our nation’s defense and the Malmstrom community. It’s unfortunate that this proposal has reached this point.” Notice he said “vital part of our nation’s defense” first. Later on in the release, Rehberg said, “Threats from countries like Iran and North Korea further emphasize the need for deterrence,” said Rehberg. “Obviously, the Pentagon is not getting the message that eliminating these missiles would weaken our nation’s defense.”
TWW has always believed, as I wrote about on 02/01/07 that, “The basis for keeping those 50 missiles at Malmstrom AFB has to be about National Security, period. Any argument that does not include this angle is moot. The DOD cut the number of missiles from 1000 down to 500 since 1990. There are only three missile bases now, Malmstrom, F.E. Warren and Minot. Once the missiles are gone, they won’t be back.”
The Missoulian must not have seen (or they just wanted to nail Rehberg) a joint release from U.S. Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., and U.S. Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont., posted on Senator Tester’s website dated March 19, 2007, that they also mentioned the economic impact on Great Falls if the missiles are lost, along with national security issues. Here is what Baucus and Tester said in that release:
“ICBMs play a vital role in our nation’s security,” Baucus said “With all of the uncertainty in our world today, it’s not in the best interest of our national security to cut back our ICBM fleet. The ICBMs also play an important role to our Malmstrom Air Force Base – they account for hundreds of good-paying jobs in the Great Falls community.
“These Minuteman missiles are critical to our national security in the 21st Century. Max and I are working together to make sure the Secretary knows that this proposed cut isn’t good for Montana and it isn’t good for America,” Tester said. “Malmstrom is the economic backbone of Great Falls and north-central Montana and I will work with my colleagues to get results for the base.”
TWW commends the entire delegation for doing what they can do to protect our national security. If protecting our national security also means job and economic security for Montana, then that’s icing on the cake.