22 October 1996
Missile defense fails to take
spot among campaign issues
In polls, 60 percent agree with Dole on need for system
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The question of whether to de ploy a national defense against
missile attack has received little
attention during the presidential
campaign.
The issue was once slated to be a top campaign theme for Republican nominee Bob Dole. Mr. Dole refers in his stump speech to the need for a missile defense system, but he has not made it a center- piece of his campaign.
Control over the vast Russian nuclear arsenal is growing weaker as turmoil within the Russian military is spreading to the nuclear forces, according to a classified CIA report obtained by The Washington Times.
The report, stamped "top secret:'states that even Russian of- ficials are worried about the security of their nuclear arsenal of 28,000 strategic and tactical weapons.
Despite the mounting political turmoil within Russia, the issues of missile defense, national security and foreign policy have re- ceived scant attention in the presidential campaign.
One Dole aide said internal campaign polling shows 60 percent of Americans support building a missile defense. Nevertheless, Mr. Dole has sought to highlight other issues, mainly his pledge to cut taxes.
In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in San Diego, Mr. Dole criticized President Clinton's opposition to deploying a ballistic missile defense system.
"On my first day in office I will put America on a course that will end our vulnerability to missile attack and rebuild our armed forces," Mr. Dole said.
Building missile defenses has been a bread-and-butter issue for Republican conservatives who view the United States as vulnerable to a missile attack from Rus- sia, China or possibly a rogue nation.
While in the Senate, Mr. Dole joined House Speaker Newt Gingrich in supporting a bill that would have required the Pentagon to deploy a limited defense against long-range missile attack by 2003. Senate Democrats derailed the measure.
Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican and a key Senate backer of the issue, said Mr. Dole remains committed to a missile defense system and had been prepared to make it a major campaign issue.
But Mr. Kyl said he believes the Dole campaign moved the issue to the "back burner" because it decided vowing to cut taxes and Questioning Mr. Clinton's ethical conduct would prove more effective.
The administration, fearing missile defense would undermine the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, opposes deployment of a national system.
Instead, the Pentagon launched a three-year program research and development that could lead to deployment of a system in three years of a decision do so.
Generally, Mr. Clinton has skirted the issue of ballistic m sile defense. His only statement about the potential threat of i clear attack came in the first presidential debate on Oct. 6.
"There are no nuclear missiles pointed at the children of the United States tonight and have not been in our administration for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age:'Mr. Clinton said.
Bruce Blair, a Brookings Institution specialist on Russian i clear arms, said the president statement is misleading because Russian ballistic missiles can retargeted in 10 seconds.
Worse, he said, the missile computers retain their "wartime target" coordinates as a default setting. If a Russian missile was fired accidentally or launched a rogue soldier its aim would automatically revert to its prima Cold War target, Mr. Blair said.
"In short, Russia did nothing
diminish its missile threat to the
United States;' he said.
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