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New York Times, March 1, 2003 President Bush's passion for a missile defense system is now a well-established, heavily budgeted priority despite the fact that the technology remains far from developed or proven. Claims thus far of missile test success have been marginal in highly controlled experiments. That would seem to argue for more testing before the new weapons are fielded at great cost. Not so at the Pentagon, which is pressing to suspend the defense law requiring thorough testing before the nation can commit to major new weaponry. Mr. Bush plans to begin the installation of missile defense bases in California and Alaska next year. He would legalize this by means of a mere paragraph in an appendix to the $9.1 billion requested for the system in the coming year. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld blithely told Congress it was not a good idea to "have everything perfect, every `i´ dotted, every `t´ crossed" before fielding the system, however doubt-ridden it is. He indicated that experimentation once the missiles are in place would serve, particularly considering the threat of North Korea or some other nuclear rogue nation attacking this country. The Korean threat is serious, especially now that Pyongyang seems intent on expanding its nuclear arsenal and assembling missiles capable of spanning the Pacific. But it makes no sense to build an antimissile system before the technology has been perfected. The latest finding of the Pentagon's own office of test evaluation is that the antimissile system has "yet to demonstrate significant operational capability." The shortcomings include such basics as the need for better radar to deal with decoy missiles and stronger rocketry to achieve the bullet-hitting-bullet precision of planners. Alarmed critics like Senator Carl Levin view the abrogation of the testing law as a potentially devastating and costly precedent. It might lead not only to the expenditure of billions of dollars on bases that ultimately prove worthless but could also open the door to hasty action on other military projects. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company |
