ABC Radio - The World Today February 27, 2003
Australia geographically important for US missile shield plans
This is a transcript of The World Today broadcast at 1200 AEST on local radio.
JOHN HIGHFIELD: Well, one of America's most senior former military commanders, General Joseph Hoare, says Australia's role in any "Star Wars" weapons program is critical for geographic reasons.
General Hoare held the position of chief of the US Central Command whose current chief will lead any US military strike on Iraq.
General Hoare though is sceptical about the missile defence shield as an effective counter to anything but the most rudimentary of missiles, and those could include those being developed by North Korea.
As Rafael Epstein reports for us, one of the concerns is what would happen to the potentially deadly nuclear remains of an incoming missile, once it's been destroyed.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: In the 1990s, General Joseph Hoare commanded the entire American military machine through the Middle East and much of Asia. He's had a very senior inside view of "Star Wars" as it's been in development for decades. He says Australia has a special role in those plans.
JOSEPH HOARE: Oh, I think geography plays a big role in it, just as Alaska is key, I think some place in the Southern Hemisphere is going to be equally important. Yeah.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: So Australia's contribution could actually be crucial?
JOSEPH HOARE: Well, I would say that it is. I think, you know, geography really defines so much of this stuff.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: But General Hoare is not a "Star Wars" fan. He says many in the US military fear it will distort America's defence priorities, diverting resources away from weapons that actually work. He believes "Star Wars" will only be effective against primitive missile systems like North Korea's and that terrorists are much more likely to use means of delivery other than missiles.
JOSEPH HOARE: I think, I think that's a pipe dream, frankly. That terrorists are going to have missiles. You know, I, I think it depends on who, who you're fighting. If you're, if you're fighting, let's say, 'cause this is an easy one, North Korea, a country that only has a limited amount of missiles and probably not a very sophisticated system, and you're sure that they're all going to launched from Korea, you probably could be pretty successful.
I think a more sophisticated system, the one that the Soviet Union had, would be much harder to defeat. I think it's going to be much harder to defeat a Chinese system that doesn't exist today but almost certainly will exist 15-20 years from now.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Globalsecurity.org is one of America's leading think tanks on missile defence. Associate, Patrick Garrett, is also sceptical.
PATRICK GARRETT: Quite frankly, they've been working on this system longer than I've been alive and they can't get it to work yet. At some point somebody needs to make the decision that maybe we need to rethink this. And maybe not pursue this as America's, you know, primary national defence policy.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Patrick Garrett says the military has not solved a crucial problem. What happens to the debris left over from an incoming missile, particularly a nuclear missile?
PATRICK GARRETT: It strikes it just as it's lifted off, then the radioactive material could quite frankly fall back to the earth, or fall back, you know, into the water or wherever. If it strikes it as it's left orbit and is in the process of coming back down, then the, the nuclear weapons would burn up in re-entry.
I think that that's part of the dilemma that the United States faces in its weapons system, especially if they're looking at point defences. There is the possibility that some radioactive material might rain down below where the explosion took place. And I think that that's part of the task for the US is to create a weapons system that would, you know, destroy everything where you don't have to worry about a great deal of debris.
JOHN HIGHFIELD: Defence analyst Patrick Garrett. Rafael Epstein speaking to him.
Copyright © 2003, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
