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American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC
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WHITE HOUSE SETS DATE FOR DEPLOYMENT... In an unprecedented move, the Bush administration has announced its decision to imminently deploy preliminary missile defenses. In a December 17th statement carried widely in both the national and international media, President Bush unveiled plans for an “initial set of missile defense capabilities” in 2004 and 2005. According to the president, these defenses will serve as “a starting point for improved and expanded capabilities” as U.S. NMD evolves. The limited near-term system will include 10 ground-based interceptors located at Fort Greely, Alaska by 2004, with an additional 10 interceptors planned by 2006, as well as the deployment of the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) on U.S. naval cruisers equipped with the Aegis battle management system. ...AND OUTLINES PLANS FOR SECONDARY SYSTEM By all indications, the White House is also eyeing a secondary NMD architecture to supplement the limited system outlined in the president’s landmark December 17th announcement. Citing administration officials, the December 19th Washington Times reports that plans for a broader missile defense system, complete with an additional missile interceptor site in Maine, are gathering steam. Unlike the primary system outlined by the president, which is oriented primarily against ballistic missile threats from North Korea and China, this program would be designed to counter potential missile strikes from Europe and the Middle East. NEW MOMENTUM FOR ALLIED COOPERATION The president’s announcement appears to have re-energized Washington’s dialogue with international allies. The British government is confirming consultations with Washington about active participation in American missile defense plans, London’s Guardian (December 19) reports. According to Whitehall sources cited by the paper, unofficial discussions are underway between the White House and Downing Street concerning the basing of interceptor missiles in England, as well as the use of the Fylingdales radar station in North York for greater early warning and missile tracking duties. Tokyo is also planning to intensify NMD cooperation with Washington, the December 18th Daily Yomiuri reports. Meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, General Shigeru Ishiba, head of Japan’s Defense Agency, officially confirmed that Japan is ready to intensify joint missile defense efforts from research to active development. The move constitutes a significant step forward; the Pentagon views Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force as an important component of its planned sea-based Asian missile shield. Tokyo, however, has long hedged on intensifying its dialogue with Washington, citing a lack of domestic consensus regarding the need for NMD. According to the Yomiuri, the Japanese government’s about-face reflects growing worries over the threat from North Korea. FRESH WORRIES FROM RUSSIA The Kremlin has expressed “regret” over U.S. plans for near-term NMD, Pravda (December 18) reports. Responding to President Bush’s deployment decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning that efforts to protect the United States against ballistic missile attack have “moved into a new destabilizing phase” – one that could lead to “strategic destabilization and a new senseless arms race.” Nevertheless, Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov has affirmed the Putin government’s intention to continue “positive” cooperation with the White House. “Both countries intend to work on cooperation programs which Presidents Vladimir Putin and George Bush have agreed upon during their meetings,” Mamedov was quoted by Itar-TASS (December 18) as saying. Russian parliamentarians, however, are taking a different tack. According to Itar-TASS (December 18), Russian legislators have commenced efforts to craft an “antidote” to American NMD. Lawmakers in the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, are reportedly urging amendments to the presidential bill ratifying the new U.S.-Russian Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) inked by Presidents Bush and Putin this past year. The proposed changes would classify American deployment of NMD and assistance to missile defense allies abroad as treaty violations and “a menace to the national security of Russia.” |
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