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US Congressional Democrats Oppose Bush's Anti-missile Plan
Key US congressional Democrats said Wednesday that they opposed President George W. Bush's plan to replace the landmark 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty with some sort of massive new missile shield.
Democrats warned that the new system could backfire and reignite the arms race and said the United States could not afford it, either financially or in terms of its own security.
"I believe it would be a grave mistake for the United States to unilaterally abrogate the ABM treaty," which for 30 years has been a centerpiece of U.S.-Russian nuclear stability, said Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.
Senator Joseph Biden, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "The devil is in the details, but we could end up much worse."
"It could risk another Cold War," said Senator Carl Levin, top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Daschle, Biden and Levin, joined by Senator Jack Reed, another leading Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, held a press conference to call on Bush to discuss with them his plan.
In a major speech at the National Defense University in Washington Tuesday, Bush said the 1972 ABM treaty between the United States and Russia needs to be replaced to permit a missile system that would protect the United States and its allies from attack from " rogue nations" or from accidental launches.
The ABM treaty was created to prevent such a defense system during the Cold War because it could give one side or the other the ability for a potentially devastating first strike.
Bush offered no specifics about his missile defense plans, saying they were still being worked out, and no indication of the cost or timetable for building the system.
The U.S. anti-missile program is opposed by many countries in the world, including Russia and China. Some experts say the defense system, part of the U.S. global military strategy, principally targets Russia and China.
The United States, in pursuit of its absolute superiority as the only superpower in the world, desires to use the system to deprive Russia and China as well as other countries of a nuclear deterrent capability.
At the same time, America's allies, including France, Italy and Canada, have also rejected the U.S. plan, saying that instead of promoting security and stemming the spread of nuclear weapons, the system will not only spark a new arms race, but also threaten the security and stimulate nuclear proliferation.
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