DATE=7/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S/MISSILE DEFENSE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264234
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Key U-S senators are urging President Clinton
to let his successor decide whether to build a
proposed U-S anti-ballistic missile system. The calls
follow the failure Saturday of the latest test of the
anti-missile system, which advocates say could protect
the United States from missiles fired by countries of
concern, like North Korea or Iraq. VOA's David Gollust
has more from the White House.
TEXT: The latest test of the missile intercept system
over the Pacific was a rather abject failure, with the
so-called missile "kill vehicle" failing to separate
from its booster rocket and thus missing the target
warhead.
Administration officials say it is too early to say
how this will affect the deliberations of President
Clinton, who has promised a decision this summer on
whether to proceed with the controversial program.
Appearing Sunday on the C-B-S television network's
"Face the Nation" program, White House National
Security Adviser Sandy Berger said the President will
balance cost, technical and diplomatic factors in
making his choice, and is still awaiting assessments
from top advisers.
///Berger act///
I'd rather not prejudge the decision. Obviously
this does go to the question of technical
feasibility, or how far along the system is.
But we need an assessment from the Pentagon, and
we need a recommendation of the Secretary of
Defense, the Secretary of State, and other of
the President's national security advisors and
he will look at all of those factors that I
mentioned and make a judgement as to whether we
should proceed or not.
///end act///
An anti-missile program is popular in Congress, but it
is opposed by Russia and China and even some U-S
allies, who say it will violate the 1972 Anti-
Ballistic Missile Treaty and upset the status-quo of
nuclear deterrence.
Appearing on the same program, Republican Senator
Chuck Hegel said that while he supports missile
defense in principle, Mr. Clinton should leave a
decision to the President who takes office next
January so there can be a more deliberate examination
of the issue including its foreign policy
implications.
///Hegel act///
I probably was the first United States senator,
who strongly supports a national missile defense
system, to come out six months ago and suggest
that any final decision should be held over
until we have a new administration next year. I
think the technological piece of this is not yet
in place. I think we have some evidence of that
over the last 48 hours. The cost obviously is
not in place. I don't think we've brought our
allies on, and I don't think we're handled that
very well. And how we're dealing with the
Russians and Chinese on this are important.
///end act///
Mr. Hegel's Democratic Senate colleague Joseph Biden
also supports deferral of the issue, though he told C-
B-S the threat to the United States from a so called
"rogue state" missile attack is questionable - while
the nuclear proliferation danger inherent in the
system is already clear.
///Biden act///
Right now, you have China with 18 (one-eight)
intercontinental ballistic missiles. What do
you think happens if we break the A-B-M treaty?
They're going to go to 250 to 500 overnight.
What pressure is that going to put on Japan to
become a nuclear power? The South Korean
ambassador told me that he believed that would
nuclear-ize North and South Korea. India and
Pakistan would move. Are my grand-daughters in a
better circumstance in that world than we are
with the A-B-M treaty and this alleged
vulnerability?
///end act///
Another Democratic Senator, Joseph Lieberman, said
Sunday that Mr. Clinton should authorize the start of
ground-work for an anti-missile radar complex in the
U-S Aleutian Islands near Alaska. But he says the
overall decision on whether to build the missile
defense system should be deferred to the next
President.
Some defense experts say the act of preparing the
Aleutian site would not violate the 1972 treaty, but
it would keep open the possibility that the proposed
U-S anti-missile system could be operational by the
year-2005 target envisaged by Congress. (Signed)
NEB/DAG/KBK
09-Jul-2000 18:19 PM EDT (09-Jul-2000 2219 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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