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Archived News Articles: NMD and Foreign Policy
7/11/2001 from AP:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010711/pl/missile_defense_5.html
State Notifies US of Missile Plans
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
Wednesday July 11 6:57 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department has notified all
U.S. diplomatic posts abroad that stepped up tests for
an anti-missile shield will come into conflict with a
1972 treaty with Moscow ``in months, not years.'' ...
``The world has changed fundamentally and the rationale
for Cold War arrangements no longer exists,'' says the
14-page memorandum sent to U.S. embassies and consulates
July 3. ...
... Putin, meanwhile, proposed on July 6 that the five
long-established nuclear power states - the United
States, Russia, Britain, France and China - begin
negotiations aimed at eliminating 10,000 warheads in the
next seven years. ... A senior U.S. official told The
Associated Press Wednesday Putin's proposal is not going
to win over the administration.
The unclassified memorandum to U.S. diplomatic posts,
obtained by the AP, said the most urgent threat stems
not from thousands of Russian missiles but from a small
number of missiles in the hands of rogue states armed
with weapons of mass destruction. ...
As a result, the memorandum continued, ``the United
States needs release from the constraints of the ABM
treaty to pursue the most promising technologies and
basing modes to field limited, but effective missile
defenses.'' ...
Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman,
confirmed that ``we have given to our embassies basic
arguments on the need for a new strategic framework, for
moving beyond the strategies of the Cold War.'' ...
7/11/2001 from AP:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010711/pl/us_britain_3.html
Britain Declines Support to Scrap ABM
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
Wednesday July 11 12:44 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - America's closest ally, Britain,
declined Wednesday to support setting aside a landmark
arms-control agreement to make way for a U.S. missile
defense. ...
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010711/pl/us_britain_5.html
Wednesday July 11 1:21 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - America's closest ally, Britain,
agreed Wednesday with President Bush's assessment that
there is a growing nuclear danger in the world but said
there is no need for an imminent decision on
anti-missile defenses. ...
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010711/17/us-britain
... Since the Bush administration is still in the
process of weighing its options on an anti-missile
shield, Britain intends to withhold its own decision
pending further talks with Washington, said the new
British foreign secretary, Jack Straw. ...
7/11/2001 from Reuters:
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010711/n11306237.html
U.S Air Force combat readiness dips to 14-year low
By Jim Wolf
Wednesday July 11, 5:32 pm Eastern Time
WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force's
overall combat readiness has hit its lowest point in 14
years, largely because of aging warplanes and their
higher maintenance costs, service chiefs told Congress
on Wednesday. ...
``We are working to slow down the aging of our fleet and
infrastructure, but the climbing costs of operations and
maintenance, as well as competing modernization
effectiveness goals, continue to prevent that from
happening,'' the Air Force said.
Competing priorities include a raft of projects tied to
antiballistic missile defense, including space-based
infrared systems to warn of missile launches, a(nd)
laser-interceptors being built into the nose of a
modified Boeing 747 and an experimental space-based
laser.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/07/12/rumsfeld.abm.treaty/index.html
Rumsfeld: 'No intention of breaking' ABM treaty
By Jamie Mcintyre
CNN Military Affairs Correspondent
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/A47591-2001Jul11.html
Bush Speeds Missile Defense Plans
By Vernon Loeb and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, July 12, 2001; Page A01
... A total of 17 tests -- 10 of ground-based systems
and seven of sea-launched missiles -- are planned over
the next 14 months, officials said. ...
http://politics.yahoo.com/politics/features/us_newswire/20017/0712-109.html
Arms Control Experts Criticize Bush Plan to Break ABM
Treaty 'Within Months'; Urge Congress to Block
Anti-Missile Scheme
... The Associated Press reports that an unnamed Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded by saying: "We
will view the first cubic meter of concrete laid under
the launching pad for interceptor missiles in Alaska as
the United States' formal withdrawal from the ABM
Treaty." ...
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0712-112.html
Missile Defense Experts Hold Capitol Hill Meeting:
'What the Bush Administration Isn't Telling You'
U.S. Newswire - 12 Jul 13:05
7/12/2001 from msnbc, US Newswire, CNN, and WashingtonPost:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/599472.asp
Pentagon unveils quick pace to test missile defense system
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON, July 12 - The Pentagon on Thursday outlined
an aggressive program to develop missile defenses,
including the construction of new test facilities
beginning next April.The State Department indicated that
the plans mean the United States will be violating the
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia "in months,
rather than in years." Russia, which strongly opposes
the U.S. plans, reiterated that the administration was
moving towards a new arms race.
"RUSSIA, AS WELL as many other countries, believes that
a unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the
ABM treaty would lead to the destruction of strategic
stability, a new powerful spiral of the arms race,
particularly in space, and the development of means for
overcoming the national missile defense system," said
Vladimir Rushailo, head of President Vladimir Putin's
Security Council. ...
"The document makes clear that the U.S. consultations
with its allies and Russia have been a sham and that
tests will be conducted in 'months, not years' in
violation of the ABM treaty, despite the lack of a
credible urgent threat from so-called rogue states,"
said Spurgeon Keeny, president of the Arms Control
Association, a private group. ...
A senior Pentagon source said groundbreaking for
the construction would start in August. ...
7/14/2001 From AP:
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010713/19/int-us-cuba
Bush Announces Tougher Line on Cuba
By SANDRA SOBIERAJ, Associated Press Writer
Updated: Fri, Jul 13 7:56 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) - Calling sanctions against Fidel
Castro's Cuba "a moral statement," President Bush
ordered stricter enforcement of the U.S. trade embargo
and greater support Friday to dissidents on the
communist island. ...
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/07/13/russia.missiles/index.html
Moscow fear over U.S. missile memo
... The airborne laser could be also be pressed into
emergency service by 2004, four years ahead of schedule,
the Pentagon claims.
And the ambitious plan also calls for testing
space-based lasers to shoot down missiles between 2005
and 2006. ...
John Isaacs, of the Council for Livable World, said:
"It's a shield of dreams. It's a system that there's no
notion whether it will work but yet they want to deploy
something in the next four years."
7/14/2001 from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/07/13/mcintyre.debrief.otsc/index.html
Jamie McIntyre on stepped up missile defense tests
July 13, 2001 Posted: 7:47 PM EDT (2347 GMT)
... McINTYRE: The United States eventually hopes to get
the cooperation with some of its allies, particularly
with the placement of radars to help track potential
missiles from adversaries. But right now this is a
U.S.-only project. ...
7/14/2001 from AP:
Missile Apparently Hits Target in Test
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
JULY 14, 23:34 EST
WASHINGTON (AP) - A missile interceptor soared into the
skies over a tiny Pacific isle Saturday and appeared
from live video images to have destroyed its target, a
mock nuclear warhead traveling through space. ...
7/16/2001 from CBC:
Video clip from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on the latest test of NMD (a very long download):
http://cbc.ca/clips/mov/arsenault_missile010715.mov
RealAudio report:
http://cbc.ca/clips/ram-audio/futterma_tw010715.ram
http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/background/us_missiledefence.html
Ka-boom or bust
The U.S. missile defence system
Owen Wood, CBC News Online
February 2001
Russia, China Revive Friendship, Support ABM
By Ron Popeski
Monday July 16 1:10 PM ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China revived their
strategic friendship on Monday, throwing down a
challenge to America's domination of the post Cold War
world and its controversial plans for a missile defense
shield.
Russia's Vladimir Putin and his guest Jiang Zemin hugged
and smiled broadly as they signed a friendship pact to
defend mutual interests and boost trade, replacing a
treaty that expired more than two decades ago. ...
``We believe that more active cooperation between our
countries in discussing missile defenses and disarmament
will enhance our efforts in building a multi-polar world
and establishing a fair, rational international order,''
he (Jiang Zemin) said. ...
7/17/2001 From AP:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010717/pl/us_russia_3.html
Bush Not Swayed by Russia-China Pact
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
Tuesday July 17 4:12 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - A new friendship pact between Russia
and China will not deter the United States from pursuing
a missile defense system, a State Department spokesman
said Tuesday. ... spokesman Philip Reeker said
...``we'll continue to pursue our own relationships,
we'll continue to pursue our own interest in a missile
defense system. That doesn't change anything in terms of
our policies and what the administration is pursuing.''
...
Putin, in an interview Monday with Italian newspaper
Corriere della Sera, said the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization should be dissolved. ...
Constantine Menges, who advised former President Ronald
Reagan on Latin America and worked for the Central
Intelligence Agency, said Tuesday the administration's
reaction reflected ``wishful assumptions.'' He said the
State Department was ignoring a pledge by the two sides
to consult to eliminate any threat of aggression as well
as the Shanghai Pact between Russia and China signed
last month that calls for mutual defense. ...
7/17/2001 from AP:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010717/pl/missile_defense_17.html
Pentagon Revives Reagan-Era Proposal
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
Tuesday July 17 3:51 PM ET
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - The Pentagon's blueprint for
expanding missile defense research includes the
first-ever test of a space-based interceptor by 2005-06,
a senior defense official said Tuesday. ...
During the administration of President Bush's father,
the Pentagon briefly pursued a version of space-based
missile defense that it called Brilliant Pebbles. It was
based on the notion of building a constellation of 3,600
to 4,000 orbiting satellites from which antimissile
projectiles could be launched. ...
7/17/2001 From The Observer: http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,522009,00.html
US rebellion over missile shield
Ed Vulliamy in New York
Sunday July 15, 2001
" ... To secure his reforms, say officials, Rumsfeld has
taken the helm with little or no consultation with
traditional military figures.
He has employed a corps of right-wing strategic thinkers
headed by Andrew Marshall, chief of an obscure Office of
Net Assessment, who has been charged with an 'immediate,
comprehensive review of our military'.
To oversee this shift, Rumsfeld is to set up a Crisis
Co-ordination Centre overseen by his own office and with
little input from the military. It will be answerable to
him and his old friend and protage Vice President Dick
Cheney. ..."
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