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U.S. Senators Question Rumsfeld on Missile Defense
U.S. Senate Democrats sharply questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Thursday about the high cost and unproven effectiveness of a national missile defense (NMD) system, the New York Times reported Friday.
They raised deep concerns about the George W. Bush administration's threats to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty if the Russians refused to amend it, the paper said.
During his first hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee since his confirmation, Rumsfeld met a surprisingly unified skepticism from liberal and centrist Democrats regarding missile defense, signaling the difficulties Bush is likely to face when he tries to sell a plan to Congress later this year.
Senator Max Cleland questioned Rumsfeld's suggestion that the Defense Department would consider deploying an antimissile system before it had finished testing if the threat of an attack seemed imminent, the New York Times said.
Noting that the Defense Department failed in several recent tests to shoot down ballistic missiles, Cleland said, "I have serious doubts and reservations that the issue of NMD has been given too great a priority in your calculations."
"NMD is an uncertain trumpet at this point," Cleland said. "We ought not to blow it before we test it and fully make sure it is deployable. It doesn't make sense to deploy this system without that guarantee," he added.
Senator Bill Nelson repeatedly asked Rumsfeld to explain which upcoming tests on antimissile technology would violate the ABM treaty, but Rumsfeld said that he was not sure which tests might violate the treaty, the paper said.
Bush has asserted that the treaty must be amended or abrogated to allow testing of promising technologies which allow antimissile weapons to be fired from ships, planes and possible space vehicles.
Arms control experts have said that the U.S. missile defense plan, opposed by the international community, will not only spark a new arms race, but also threaten world peace and security, and stimulate nuclear proliferation.
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