#3
Izvestiya Views US Skepticism About 'Symbolic' Start of
NMD Work
Izvestiya
18 June 2002
[translation for personal use only]
Report by Yevgeniy Bay: "Missile Defense Zero
Cycle"
Washington -- Construction of the first launch positions within the framework
of President Bush's missile defense project has begun in Alaska. Military
contractors have begun earthworks on the territory of Fort Greely, 160 km
southeast of the city of Fairbanks.
The Pentagon hopes to complete construction of six missile silos, each 35
meters deep. They could hold up to 100 interceptors -- by September 2004. Time
is at a premium, since all work under Arctic conditions can only be carried out
during the brief summer period. As is well-known, the antimissile system
proposed by the Republican administration is aimed against possible nuclear
attack using ballistic missiles by so-called "rogue states" --
primarily North Korea and Iran. Alaska has been chosen because, from there,
interceptors would have the shortest trajectory to shoot down missiles if they
were launched, for instance, from the Korean Peninsula.
Many experts doubt that the Pentagon will succeed in creating an effective
antimissile system within such a short space of time. Philip Coyle, the former
head of missile testing programs in the Clinton administration, is convinced
that a land-based antimissile system in Alaska will not have been completed not
only by fall 2004, but even by the end of the decade. Coyle believes that the
Pentagon has been unable to elaborate an effective plan to develop other very
important components of the system -- namely, a modern radar on the Aleutian
Islands and a new satellite guidance system for interceptor missiles. It has
become known that "only" $325 million is to be spent on building the
six silos -- whereas the entire system will cost the Pentagon $64 billion.
Another expert -- Daryl Kimball, who heads the Arms Control Association -- is
even more skeptical. "This is a symbolic deployment," he said.
"At best it will provide protection for President Bush personally against
attacks by the right wing of the Republican Party."
At the same time, experts admit that the administration is very serious and
is unlikely to revise its plans. The White House has only just warned Congress
that it will veto the $393-billion military budget approved by both houses
unless the Capitol returns the $814 million that was removed from the estimates
for the development of the antimissile program.
The House of Representatives obediently approved the $7.8 billion requested
by the Pentagon for next year to create an antimissile shield. The Senate Armed
Services Committee, which is dominated by Democrats, has insisted on cuts -- it
has decided that the program's goals have not been spelled out sufficiently
clearly. Nonetheless, Congress intends to reach agreement with the
administration on all parameters of the military budget before the summer
recess, which begins 4 July. A tough confrontation with the White House is not
part of its plans.
Supporters of the antimissile program say that it would be completely absurd
to provoke confrontation between the two branches of power for no reason at a
time when America has managed to persuade even Russia not to oppose the Bush
initiative.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz wrote a rather unusual article in the
latest issue of the conservative Wall Street Journal. Considered the leader of
the political group that used to call for Russia to be treated in the toughest
tone possible, Wolfowitz has suddenly turned into a dove, billing and cooing
about "fruitful strategic relations" with "new friends such as
Russia." In Wolfowitz's opinion, now that the ABM Treaty that had shackled
the two countries is a thing of the past, nothing prevents America and Russia
from "building a relationship aimed not at mutual destruction but at
developing cooperation in the sphere of the economy, politics, and
security."
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