BlueHummingbird News - Archive

Archived News Articles: NMD and Foreign Policy

5/28/2001  from AP:
                        http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010528/wl/russia_us_defense_2.html
                        Russian Dismisses Arms Deal Rumors
                        By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
                        Monday May 28 10:53 AM ET
                        MOSCOW (AP) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on
                        Monday dismissed a reported U.S. offer to purchase arms
                        from Russia in exchange for Moscow's agreement to scrap
                        the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
                        ``If such proposals come - we have not yet received them
                        - I am sure that they will not solve the ABM issue,''
                        Ivanov told a news conference.
                        His was the first official Russian response to a New
                        York Times report Monday that the Bush administration
                        hoped to win Moscow's assent to Washington's withdrawal
                        from the 1972 ABM treaty with purchases of Russian
                        weapons, possibly including S-300 surface-to-air
                        missiles, joint anti-missile exercises and military aid.


5/29/2001  from Reuters and AP:
                        http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010529/pl/nato_leadall_dc_1.html
                        U.S. Soothes Allies, Moscow on Missile Plan
                        By Richard Murphy
                        Tuesday May 29 3:26 PM ET
                        BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The United States sought to
                        reassure both its NATO allies and Russia on Tuesday that
                        it would not develop a controversial missile defense
                        system without consulting them. ...
                        ``I made it clear to them that this is a real
                        consultation that President Bush wants...and not a phony
                        consultation,''
Powell added. ``At the same time I made
                        it clear to them that we know we have to move forward.
                        We can see the threat. The threat is clear and we have
                        to deal with that threat. ..."

                        NATO Secretary-General George Robertson urged allies to
                        be ready to spend more on improving equipment and
                        preparedness to face future crises that could call for a
                        military response. ``This means tough decisions must be
                        taken now to build the right kind of defense forces and
                        ensure the required and appropriate funding for them,''
                        he said. ``NATO does not want to be stuck riding a paper
                        tiger.''


                        http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010529/wl/powell_nato_13.html
                        NATO Won't Back U.S. Defense Plan
                        By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
                        Tuesday May 29 4:28 PM ET
                        BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - NATO refused to endorse the
                        Bush administration's missile defense plans Tuesday
                        despite efforts by Secretary of State Colin Powell to
                        convince U.S. allies that they face a common threat of
                        attack. ...
                        On missile defense, the final statement said NATO allies
                        ``welcome the consultations initiated by President Bush
                        on the U.S. strategic review, including missile
                        defense.'' ...
                        Powell later told a news conference, ``I didn't take a
                        poll around the room of everybody's views, but I think I
                        can safely say that there is a recognition there's a
                        threat out there...Some people see it as more immediate
                        than others. Some people see it as greater than perhaps
                        others. But I don't think there's any question that
                        there's some sort of threat out there.''



5/30/2001  from AP:
                        http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010530/pl/nato_powell_1.html
                        U.S. Satisfied With Missile Reaction
                        By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
                        Wednesday May 30 9:33 AM ET
                        BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - The Bush administration has
                        ``everything we want at this stage'' from NATO allies on
                        a contentious missile defense program, Secretary of
                        State Colin Powell's spokesman (Richard Boucher)
                        asserted Wednesday. ...


6/9/2001  from The Philadelphia Inquirer:
                        http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/06/09/national/DEFENSE09.htm
                        Senate arms chair vows fight over missile system
                        By Jonathan S. Landay
                        INQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU
                        Saturday, June 9, 2001
                         
                        WASHINGTON - The new Democratic chairman of the Senate
                        Armed Services Committee said yesterday that he would
                        fight any bid by the Bush administration to build a
                        ballistic missile-defense system that was not fully
                        tested and proved to work. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan,
                        in his first interview since becoming chairman this
                        week, said he would use his power over the Pentagon
                        budget to "try to stop the funding" for a premature
                        missile-defense system that he argued could be "very
                        dangerous, very destabilizing" because it could heighten
                        tension with China and Russia. ...
                        Levin favors "robust" research and development of
                        missile defenses. But before building a national missile
                        shield, he said, "we should first have a system which
                        has been tested. We should have a system which is
                        operationally effective. You should know the cost. You
                        should at least consider the negative consequences."
                        Levin said he would try to deny any requests for money
                        to begin deploying a system that was not sufficiently
                        tested, or for missile-defense tests banned by the
                        Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which prohibits Moscow
                        and Washington from building national missile shields.
                        Rumsfeld on Thursday said the administration had
                        concluded that tests that might violate the treaty would
                        be necessary. Levin said such tests should not be
                        conducted before Russia agreed to rewrite the ABM Treaty
                        to allow limited national missile defenses, or
                        negotiated an arrangement with the United States that
                        preserved the treaty's goals. ...Levin accused Bush of
                        not fully considering the consequences of junking the
                        ABM Treaty and deploying an unproved national
                        missile-defense system. ...


6/9/2001  from U.S. Newswire:
                        http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0607-137.html
                        Citizens Against Star Wars to Rally at White House 
                        U.S. Newswire
                        7 Jun 15:28
        As Russia and NATO Say "No" To NMD, Increasingly, So Do Americans;
Citizens Against Star Wars To Rally At White House Sunday, June 10, a 2 p.m. rally in Lafayette Park across from the White House will register widespread public opposition to the Bush administration's push for a national missile defense (NMD). ... The rally kicks off three days of citizen activism in Washington against NMD, sponsored by a broad- based coalition of national citizens' groups with combined membership of over 100,000. The groups include Women's Actions for New Directions, Physicians for Social Responsibility , Peace Links, Global Security Institute, Peace Action, and The Nation Institute. ... The rally and the other "Stop the New Arms Race" events take place leading up to President Bush's June 12 departure for the EU and Moscow summits, where for the first time he will face European and Russian opposition to NMD first hand, but where he cannot legitimately argue a majority of Americans solidly support his NMD proposal, organizers say. ...


6/9/2001  from Council for a Livable World Education Fund:
http://www.clw.org/ef/bmddreams.html
                        Missile Defense: Wishing Won't Make it So
                        Press Release: June 8, 2001
                        Contact: John Isaacs - 202.543.4100 x. 131 or Chris
                        Madison - 202.546.0795 x. 135
                        The Bush Administration's rush to deploy a scaled down
                        missile defense system by 2004 is nothing more than a
                        "foot in the door" for Boeing and disastrous for U.S.
                        security, the Council for a Livable World Education Fund
                        said today.
                        "The Bush plan is the worst of all possible worlds. It
                        means building something before we know if it will work;
                        spending huge amounts of money we don't have; breaking
                        the ABM treaty when our allies are strongly opposed to
                        such action; and putting U.S. security at risk, all to
                        appease the Republican right wing. It's outrageous. It's
                        like the Pentagon is living in an Alice-in-Wonderland
                        reality," said John Isaacs, president of the Council for
                        a Livable World.
                        The Bush plans for deploying five missile interceptors
                        in Alaska by 2004, leaked on the eve of the President's
                        first trip to meet with NATO partners and with Russian
                        leader Vladimir Putin, appears to be an effort to bully
                        our NATO allies, who do not see the need for the U.S. to
                        deploy an anti-missile system, into concluding they have
                        no chance of derailing the Administration's efforts.
                        "Simply using words like 'inescapable' and 'inevitable'
                        to describe these half-baked plans won't make them come
                        true," said Chris Madison, who directs the Education
                        Fund's National Missile Defense Project. "The fact is,
                        there is no consensus in the Senate, no consensus in the
                        country and no consensus among our allies that this is
                        the best way to proceed." ...

                        http://www.clw.org/bmd.html


6/9/2001  from AP:                         http://www.newportindependent.com/display/ap/Headlines/V3714.itm.html
                        Russia Opposed to Bush Missile Plan
                        By ROBERT BURNS
                        BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) _ The heart of President Bush's
                        case for building a missile defense _ that the United
                        States is threatened by long-range missiles _ is
                        "entirely hypothetical," Russia's defense chief said
                        Friday. There are plenty of other threats, he said. ...
                        Missile defense is expected to be one of the main
                        focuses of Bush's trip to Europe next week, including a
                        meeting June 13 in Brussels of presidents and prime
                        ministers from all 19 NATO countries as well as Bush's
                        first face-to-face meeting with Russian President
                        Vladimir Putin on June 16. ...
                        In Washington on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Tom
                        Daschle, D-S.D., said he cannot see the logic of going
                        forward with missile defense before proving it works.
                        "We're not opposed to research, but to commit that level
                        of revenue to a concept that may or may not prove to be
                        practical or even doable is something that I'm mystified
                        by," Daschle said. The Bush administration is
                        considering a system that might be rushed into
                        rudimentary operation as early as 2004, possibly relying
                        on weapons aboard ships or planes as well as on land. ...


6/10/2001  from The Hindu:
                        http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2001/06/07/stories/0107000a.htm
                        Russia 'sways' India on ABM Treaty
                        By Vladimir Radyuhin
                         
                        MOSCOW, JUNE 6. Russia appears to have swayed India back
                        to its view on strategic stability and the 1972
                        Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. ...
                         
                        Mr. Jaswant Singh confirmed India's opposition to
                        unilateral abrogation of the ABM Treaty mooted by the
                        United States. ``If this treaty is unilaterally
                        abrogated, abridged or adjusted, this will lead to
                        greater uncertainty instead of promoting a new more
                        cooperative security framework,'' Mr. Singh told
                        reporters on Wednesday at the end of his three days of
                        talks in Moscow. ``That is why we are recommending to
                        the United States that any step in that direction must
                        be made with Russia and in consultation with Russia.''
                        The stand articulated by Mr. Singh in Moscow effectively
                        waters down India's support for the U.S.-proposed global
                        security set-up based on the renunciation of the ABM
                        Treaty and the construction of a national missile
                        defence. Moscow is strongly opposed to the U.S. plans
                        and wants to preserve the ABM Treaty. ...
                        Mr. Singh said the defence talks were ``the most
                        productive and result-oriented encounter we have ever
                        had.'' India announced plans to step up defence
                        purchases in Russia and the two countries are to
                        undertake joint development of new arms for the air
                        force, navy and the army. ...


6/10/2001  from AP and CNN:
                        http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010610/pl/against_the_world_2.html
                        U.S. at Odds on Some World Issues
                        By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
                        Sunday June 10 1:23 PM ET
                        WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush came into office
                        promising a ``humble'' foreign policy, yet his
                        administration has managed to irritate friend and foe
                        alike.
                        Five months into Bush's term, the United States stands
                        against the world on issues stretching from missile
                        defense and the environment to trade and even the death
                        penalty.
                        Many European allies are troubled by what they see as
                        growing U.S. ``unilateralism,'' or a determination to go
                        it alone, sometimes in seeming defiance of much of the
                        rest of the world.
                        ``The rest of the world thinks we're a big bully,'' said
                        Ivo Daalder, a a national security official in the
                        Clinton administration who is now with the Brookings
                        Institution. ...

                        http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/06/10/bush.spain/index.html                         Spaniards protest over Bush visit


MORE - Next Page

Previous Page

BACK to Index of Archive

BACK to News Index

Search Amazon.com
by keywords:



(Opens in new window)
In Association with Amazon.com

NEW!
BlueHummingbird's Blog
My News Commentary


Donate through PayPal
(Not Tax Deductible)


Amazon Honor System Click Here to Pay Learn More