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Canada Still Reserved about US NMD System
Canada is still reserved about a US missile-defence system known as NMD, in part because it would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty with the then Soviet Union, the Ottawa Citizen newspaper said Sunday.
"National missile defence is very much a hypothetical proposition," Canadian Foreign Minister John Manley was quoted as saying after touring the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) in the United States Saturday.
"It is clear that the U.S. sees it as potentially a vehicle for increasing not just national and continental security but also broader security," the minister said.
He reiterated that the United States has not asked Canada to make a decision. Top U.S. officials assured Canada they would consult with NATO, Russia and China, the minister said.
Meanwhile, Canadian Defence Minister Art Eggleton, who was also touring the NORAD, insisted that Canada would refrain from making any commitment to the proposed missile defence system because " there are other contexts we have to look at as well" besides the military context.
"We are open-minded and looking for more information," he said, adding that Canada will post a liaison officer at the Pentagon Ballistic Missile Defence Organization, which plans to attempt to shoot down a mock nuclear missile probably in May or June.
Most European allies and Canada have expressed reservations about NMD while Russia and China are strongly opposed to the system in efforts to keep alive the strategic balance that has been honored for decades.
Most countries fear that NMD will undermine the important balance based on the ABM treaty and restart dangerous rounds of nuclear arms race in the new millennium.
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