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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 22, 2002

What Is Bush's Missile Defense System Intended for?

US President George W. Bush issued a statement in the White House, formally announcing on December 17 the program for US deployment of its first ballistic missile defense system. The 10 interceptor missiles deployed at Alaska will be put into use in 2004, then the deployment will be expanded in scope, he said.


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US to Begin Deploying Missile Defense System
US President George W. Bush issued a statement in the White House, formally announcing on December 17 the program for US deployment of its first ballistic missile defense system. The 10 interceptor missiles deployed at Alaska will be put into use in 2004, then the deployment will be expanded in scope, he said.

Bush's action immediately drew world attention, and there was critic saying the United States was provoking a new round of global arms race.

Bush said in his statement that since taking office, he has been resolved to change the national security strategy and self-defense capabilities to meet the demand of the 21st century. The establishment of a missile defense system means taking "another solid step toward the defense of the United States of America and our allies".

Although the first-stage missile defense system is far from being perfect, it would transmit a message to the world, that is, the US government is determined to free itself from the threat of terrorists' nuclear attacks.

The missile defense system program of the Bush administration is, in fact, the continuation of the "Star Wars" scheme of the Reagan administration. During the period of the Clinton administration, its NMD (national missile defense system) was criticized for its enormous cost and slow progress. After coming to power, Bush speeded up its development and expanded the tests from land-based interception to sea-air interception. To clear away all obstacles to the deployment of the system, the Bush administration, on June 13 this year, formally withdrew from the ABM (anti-ballistic missile treaty) signed by the United States and the former Soviet Union in 1972, and two days thereafter, began to construct six missile silos at Fort Greeley.

Since October 1999, the US military has conducted eight land-based missile interception tests, five of them successful. The 8th test, conducted on December 11, failed because the interceptor failed to separate from its booster.

The missile defense system has become the most expensive national defense development project of the United States. It will consume US$48 billion in the coming five years, the Pentagon estimated, and further bring a formidable expenditure as high as hundreds of billions of US dollars in the coming decades.

Some US Congressmen, former government officials and non-governmental organizations criticized the system as serving nothing more than wasting tax-payers' money and leading Americans into a mistaken sense of security. Some other congressmen said this was a "political" decision that carried little meaning of defense. Bush decided to deploy his first batch of ground-based interceptor missile in the fall of 2004, the right time for him to seek presidential reelection.

Many US missile experts also criticized the system as expensive and unrealistic, since using "missiles to hit missiles is simply unworkable", just as unsuccessful as using a bullet to stop another bullet.

The US government has been claiming that its missile system is aimed at coping with "rogue countries" and "axis of evil" countries. As to why Bush announced the project at the time when he was busy preparing for striking Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said bluntly that this is to "scare" the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) which recently announced that it would resume its nuclear program. It is the unanimous view of public opinion that Bush's decision served to "kill two birds with one stone". While the US deployment of the missile defense system is bound to arouse reaction from relevant countries and a global arms race may follow accordingly.



By PD Online Staff Member Li Heng


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