Send them a bill

From Jay Nordlinger's "Impromptus" column today:

"Speaking of Canada: They have "opted out" of our anti-missile defenses. Prime Minister Martin says that his country opposes "the weaponization of space." All right: but what if missiles are heading toward Canada? Can the U.S. president possibly not shoot them down? Can he allow the preventable slaughter of millions? Is he supposed to say, "Yes, I could stop these missiles, but I respect Canadian sovereignty, and the Canadian people have spoken, and they have a right not to be protected, and . . ."

What a nightmare. Or a joke."

Actually, there is a very easy solution to this dilema. When a missile is headed for Canada, the President of the United States needs to call up the Prime Minister of Canada and ask whether they want us to shoot it down. There should be ample time for such a phone call (unless, possibly the missle is launched from a submarine off Canada's coast). I'm also assuming that any missile defense shield we build would be capable of stopping missiles headed to Canada, since most of their populated areas are relatively close to the U.S. border.

If Canada says "yes" then we say, great, that will be $4.3 billion dollars - U.S. dollars, mind you. That's how much your share of the development costs comes out to. Upon our receipt of the funds via wire transfer, we'll happily shoot it down.