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U.S. Senate Rejects More Stringent NMD Testing
The U.S. Senate Thursday turned back a proposal to require more stringent and thorough testing of the proposed National Missile Defense (NMD) system.
In a 52-48 vote, the Senate killed a measure requiring testing of the project against decoys and other countermeasures designed to foil the system.
The proposal, offered as an amendment to a 310-billion-U.S.-dollar defense authorization bill, also called for an independent panel to evaluate testing for the system, which has suffered several highly publicized failures.
The U.S. Defense Department has set a timetable for having the NMD ready for initial deployment by the end of 2005.
President Bill Clinton has faced strong pressure in Congress to take steps to construct the system, designed to shield the United States from attacks by so-called rogue states such as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Iran and Iraq.
Two of three Pentagon tests have failed to prove the system would work, most recently on July 8 when an attempt to intercept and destroy a dummy warhead in space failed because the weapon did not separate from the second stage of its liftoff rocket.
The defense authorization bill would provide 1.9 billion dollars for the NMD, more than double the amount spent last year.
Arms control experts said the U.S. NMD, opposed by the international community, will not only spark a new arms race, but also threaten security and stimulate nuclear proliferation, instead of promoting security and stemming the spread of nuclear weapons.
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