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US President to Ask Congress for More Fund to Develop Missile Defense
US President George W. will ask Congress for 7.9 billion US dollars in fiscal 2002 to speed up a controversial missile defense program, Pentagon documents showed Tuesday.
The program would go beyond the limited, ground-based system proposed by former President Bill Clinton, the documents said.
The total is 2.2 billion dollars more than the figure included in an earlier "placeholder" defense budget, according to a memorandum approved Friday by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
Under a Clinton plan, funding would have been closer to 5 billion dollars in the fiscal year starting October 1.
The documents showed the Pentagon would scrap Clinton's more cautious approach, which centered on using interceptors to be based in Alaska to try to smash missiles in mid-course.
Instead, the Bush program will explore "to the fullest extent possible" land, air and space platforms to thwart missiles in all flight stages: boost, or liftoff, midcourse, and terminal.
Arms control experts said that the US 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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