Greenpeace Protests Against America's NMD Plans

As foreign ministers from NATO countries arrived at their headquarters here on Thursday for a two-day meeting, greeting them were several dozen Greenpeace protesters who called for a halt to the United States' proposed national missile defense (NMD) system.

The ministers had to sneak in from a side entrance to have their year-end council, as they simply could not get in from the main entrance.

Fifty-five protesters from Britain, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Canada, Belgium and the United States blockaded the front entrance with a human chain.

The Greenpeace protesters, all donned in snow-white jumpers with their hands joined inside a medal pipe, were protesting against the Star Wars plan of the Americans.

The environmental group called upon all NATO countries to oppose the NMD system, commonly dubbed as Star Wars.

"Star Wars will start wars," said Greenpeace disarmament campaigner William Peden in a written statement released inside the NATO complex. "NATO can and must stop it from being implemented.

"If the United States goes ahead with this 60-billion-dollar madness, it will set the world back 20 years into a new Cold War, leading to another nuclear arms race and dramatically increasing the risk of nuclear warfare."

The environmentalists backed their demand by saying that the American Star Wars plan cannot be effectively implemented without the installation of two key U.S. radar sites at Fylingdales in Britain and at Thule in Greenland.

Britain and Denmark, the latter being in charge of Greenland's defense and foreign policy, are therefore asked to join France, Germany, China and Russia to openly oppose the American plan.

The NMD system has been dubbed "Star Wars" because of its similarity to the failed proposal put forward by former US President Ronald Reagan. Both systems use radars and satellites to detect enemy missiles while U.S.-based missiles or laser cannons stationed in space can then be used to destroy the in- coming missiles before they reach their targets.

Two out of the three NMD tests, conducted under ideal conditions, have turned out to be dismal failures. Up to four more tests are scheduled for next year with the same weapons system.

The Greenpeace environmentalists argued that now is the time for the Americans to decide whether to approve the next phase of their Star Wars plan. If the plan was approved, there would be at least 15 more tests before the weapon system could be swung into operation as early as 2005.






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