Early Deployment is an International Blunder
Jul 21, 2001
For immediate release: July 12, 2001
Contact: John Isaacs (202 543-4100 x.131) Chris Madison (202 543-4100 x.135)
The Bush Administration’s announcement today that it will rush ahead with deployment of a missile defense system and expects to violate the 1972 ABM Treaty within months was met with skepticism and scorn by the Council for a Livable World, the oldest and most established arms control organization.
“This plan flunks the smell test in any number of ways,” said John Isaacs, president of the Council. “First, they are rushing to failure. There is no missile defense system even close to being ready to deploy. Second, it’s a huge blunder to walk away from the ABM Treaty. Third, this is a political gambit rather than a military plan.”
The missile defense system the administration hopes to deploy failed its last two tests. Another test takes place Saturday. “According to the Pentagon’s own schedule, they must conduct 17 more tests of the land-based system. There is no reason to deploy a system until it has proven consistently effective in real-world conditions,” Isaacs said.
The ABM Treaty is the cornerstone of the arms control regime that has been in place since the Nixon Administration. “If we abrogate the treaty, we are abdicating our leadership on nuclear weapons policy and giving the green light for a new arms race,” said Chris Madison, direction of the missile defense campaign at the Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation. “The treaty is not a relic, it is a legal obligation we should not abandon lightly. No one but the Bush Administration believes this is the right road to go down now.”
Isaacs suggested the Administration was opting for unilateralism once again, despite its rhetoric about consulting with other countries. “The Administration’s list of unilateral steps gets longer: They have backed out of the Kyoto Global Warming agreement, refused to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, cut nuclear non-proliferation funding, opposed the U.N. draft accord on the international sale of small arms, opted out of the International Court of Justice and now will abrogate the ABM Treaty.
“The administration seems intent on going it along internationally and fortifying its conservative base at home.
“There is no reason to rush the deployment of missile defense. We should continue testing as long as necessary, and meanwhile take other steps to reduce the danger from nuclear weapons. We should talk to the Russians about reducing our weapons stockpiles, not about violating the ABM treaty. We talk to the Koreans about ending their missile program, not rushing to build a system to shoot down their missiles.”
RSS Feed