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US Missile Defense Briefing Clear, Comprehensive: NATO Chief
The NATO chief on Thursday described the briefing given by the United States defense secretary to NATO defense ministers about missile defense plans as clear, comprehensive and thought-provoking.
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson told the press after the first day of a two-day NATO defense ministers council meeting that Donald H. Rumsfeld had offered colleagues from NATO allies a comprehensive briefing on potential threats and that his presentation was clear and thought-provoking.
Though it was still at an early stage of consultation, the NATO chief said that the western military alliance must develop its defense capability to take the challenge posed by the threats as depicted by the Americans.
Rumsfeld, aided by graphics, test films and sensitive intelligence materials, unveiled for the first time some details of a disputed missile defense plan and potential threats from what the Americans call as rogue states that were hawked by the Bush administration.
The U.S. defense secretary told other NATO defense ministers that Washington had intended to go beyond ground-based missiles so as to intercept enemy missiles in every phase of flight, by expanding tests to include ship- and air-borne projectiles, aircraft lasers and other weaponry, according to sources close to the defense ministers council meeting.
Deploying missile defenses capable of protecting the United States, friends and allies will eventually require moving beyond the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty, Rumsfeld told the council.
"We understand this conclusion is not welcomed by some," he added, "It is simply inescapable."
The defense ministers from the European allies generally agreed with Rumsfeld that there was a growing threat missile proliferation, but they suggested that deployment of a U.S.- proposed missile defense system was still years away because of technology difficulties and high cost.
A senior Pentagon official, briefing the press on Rumsfeld's presentation, said that Rumsfeld had begun a new chapter in the battle over missile defense by beginning to shed light on the U.S. plans.
The U.S. defense secretary, however, gave no timetable for deployment of a missile defense system and conceded that there had been major failures in U.S. anti-missile tests.
During his scheduled visit to Brussels next week, U.S. President George W. Bush is also expected to continue lobbying about the American missile defense plans.
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