The "unreality-based" community strikes again.

First, there's the reality (emphasis added):

The Bush administration has spent nearly $43 billion over the last five years on missile defense systems, but with North Korea poised to launch its most advanced missile yet, U.S. government assessments and investigative reports indicate little confidence in the centerpiece portion of the program.

Eleven ground-based interceptors in Alaska and at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California, the cornerstone of the administration's new system, have not undergone a successful test in nearly four years and have been beset by glitches that investigators blame, at least in part, on President Bush's order in 2002 to make the program operational even before it had been fully tested.

In all, the interceptors hit dummy missiles in five out of 10 tests, but these were under controlled conditions that critics say do not reflect the challenges of an actual missile launch.

Problem? Hell, no. Welcome to the faith-based missile defense program:

North Korea gave no hint of whether it will fire a long-range missile as widely feared, a New Zealand diplomat said Saturday after a trip to Pyongyang, as the U.S. expressed confidence it can intercept an incoming missile from the North.

So here's my idea. Given PM Stephen Harper's enthusiasm for the American BMD program, I propose that Harper invite North Korea to launch a missile aimed at, say, 24 Sussex Drive. The Americans would be simultaneously invited to defend us against said missile.

If the missile is intercepted, then we sign on to the American BMD program tout de suite. If it isn't, well, that's kind of what you call good news and bad news, isn't it?