PRESS RELEASE

1 September 2000

Clinton Defers Decision on
National Missile Defense

LONDON, 1 SEPTEMBER – Sources in the White House indicate that President Bill Clinton, who will speak at Georgetown University this morning at 11am Eastern time (4pm UK time), will defer any decision on deployment of a National Missile Defence (NMD) system to his successor. Clinton will stress the need for continued research and development into ballistic missile defences, but construction contracts for the Shemya radar site in Alaska will not be let before next year, making the projected deployment date of 2005 highly unlikely.

The decision, made in part on the basis of recommendations from the Pentagon’s Defense Readiness Review, as well as from assessments of cost, technical viability and the effects on international arms control agreements, should ensure that the next US President will have the time to conduct a complete review of the ballistic missile defence programmes.

"President Clinton seems to be bowing to international and domestic pressure and making it possible for the next president to conduct a more sober and clear-headed review of ballistic missile defences without the distractions of electoral politics," said Tom McDonald, an analyst at BASIC.

Clinton’s delay of NMD decisions constitutes the most prudent step that he could make at this time and recognizes that the unresolved technical, strategic, and diplomatic obstacles of the NMD programme make it unwise to proceed. The fact that construction contracts at Shemya now seem unlikely reflects the fact that no agreement has yet been reached with Russia over any amendment of the ABM Treaty, despite months of negotiations.

Global criticism of NMD from allies and rivals alike has been strong and vocal. The current plan includes the use of radar sites in Britain and Greenland, which has raised concerns in those countries about their involvement. An August report on weapons of mass destruction from the UK’s Parliamentary Committee stressed, "We are not convinced that the US plans to deploy NMD represent an appropriate response to the proliferation problems faced by the international community." Maliianguaq Marcussen Moelgaard, Greenland’s head of the parliamentary committee on foreign & security policy reiterated its November 1999 decision that, "Greenland would not accept the NMD project if it violated the ABM treaty signed in 1972 between Russia and the U.S. and if it opens the way for a new 'Cold War' which we will be the victims of."

However, the Clinton decision still leaves the status of the international arms control in limbo. "Deferring the decision allows Clinton’s successor to reassess the US role in international arms control regimes, especially considering international concern over NMD. Hopefully the next president will choose to strengthen, not threaten, strategic stability," said Christine Kucia, BASIC nuclear analyst.

For more information, please contact:
Tom McDonald on +44 20 7407 2977
or Christine Kucia in Washington on +1 202 785 1266

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