Missile Defense -- help, please!

[eyesroll]

I got into a bit of a debate with my moderate-Right co-worker about missile defense (specifically Star Wars); this stemmed from my mention that that was the administration's biggest defense priority prior to 9/11.

He seems to think space-based missile defense is a great idea, to protect us from evil and so forth (he referred me to missilethreat.com).

I'm trying to counter with the basics -- it's not good science, it's politically motivated, it's defending us against a Cold War threat, not a current one, it violates treaties, etc., but I'm having trouble finding citations. (My usually good Google skills aren't helping today.)

Anyone have a good resource for why Star Wars is a distracting waste of money/time at best, and potentially catastrophic at worst? Thanks!

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

1. It hasn't worked since it's inception.

The only times it's worked are when the military puts a beacon on the incoming missile so the interceptor can find it. And even then, the tests haven't gone very well.

It simply doesn't work.