Missile defense is now the only hope for world peace

President James Garfield once quipped, "Of course, I deprecate war, but if it is brought to my door the bringer will find me at home."

A hero during the Civil War, Garfield understood the horrors of war, but he also knew that the best way to prevent them was not to invite them through neglect. Having a strong national defense capable of deterring enemies and defending the nation often means never having to use it.

Today, America finds itself in a more dangerous world than that of Garfield's day. In July, the North Korean regime, led by dictator Kim Jong Un, tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles. The second test was conducted on July 28, and it went higher and farther than anything they had successfully tested before, demonstrating sufficient range to decimate an American city if they successfully attached a nuclear warhead to it.

On Aug. 23, North Korea again provoked the United States by "accidentally" publicizing its plans for new missiles, highlighted with a picture of the dear leader himself inspecting the the diagrams. Then the Aug. 28 launch flew over Japan.

For years, U.S. military and intelligence leaders assessed that North Korea had ICBM capability, but their weapons were largely unproven. In just six years, the young Kim has tested more missiles than his father did during his entire reign as the rogue country's totalitarian leader. He has transformed his nation's theoretical ICBM capability into an indisputable danger to the United States.