Missile Defense System

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates took the Bush administration's campaign to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe to the highest levels Monday, meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin, the plan's fiercest opponent.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Wednesday that it is sending a mobile missile defense system to Guam as a "precautionary move," as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea posed a "real and clear danger" to the U.S. military base on the western Pacific island, as well as to allies and other U.S. territory. North Korea has named Guam and Hawaii as potential targets in a series of bellicose statements in recent weeks that have raised tensions on the Korean peninsula and prompted a series of military moves aimed at beefing up the U.S. military presence in the region and reassuring allies that the U.S. will come to their aid in case of attack The decision to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to Guam comes after Pentagon officials were questioned in recent days about whether the island -- which is a U.S. territory -- has been covered by the U.S. missile defense system.

Re "Crucial Radar Failed Missile Defense Test," July 18: So, the recent test of the missile defense system, while "[meeting] all of its test objectives," actually didn't go quite so perfectly, according to Raytheon spokesman Mark Day. "We learned that there were some minor problems." It turns out that Raytheon's own radar system failed to confirm the kill assessment, prompting former Pentagon chief for testing and evaluation, Philip E. Coyle, to comment, "It's going to take a long time to sort through all this stuff."

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Wednesday that it was sending a mobile missile defense system to Guam as a "precautionary move," as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea posed a "real and clear danger" to the U.S. military base on the western Pacific island, as well as to allies and other U.S. territory. North Korea has named Guam and Hawaii as potential targets in bellicose statements in recent weeks, which have increased tension on the Korean peninsula and prompted a series of U.S. military moves aimed at beefing up the American presence in the region and reassuring allies that the United States will come to their aid in the event of an attack.

The House gave final congressional approval Thursday to legislation that would commit the United States to a national missile defense system. President Clinton was expected to sign the measure, which the Senate had modified after administration objections. The legislation, passed 345 to 71, states that it is the policy of the United States to deploy, as soon as technologically possible, an effective system capable of defending U.S. territory against limited ballistic missile attack.

The location is possibly the worst kept secret in town. As night darkened the Mediterranean waters Tuesday, commuters cruised to the beach to gawk at the sudden outcrop of portable army headquarters, olive tents and trucks. Floodlights split the twilight, Arabic music spilled from open car windows and women stood whispering. Locals dubbed this beach "mountain of rubbish," a scenic stretch of sand that was smothered long ago by garbage.

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin proposed Thursday that an existing missile defense radar system in Azerbaijan be used to protect Europe from a possible attack by Iran, and President Bush said the United States and Russia would begin talks to find areas of potential strategic cooperation. The surprise proposal from Putin, and the reaction from Bush and other American officials, suggested that the two leaders were seeking ways to step back from their heightening confrontation over a U.S.

The military plans to conduct the first full flight test of its national missile defense system in nearly two years, with the test coming possibly as early as tonight, officials said Wednesday. Weather conditions at an Alaska launch site will determine when the test will go forward, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency.

The Defense Department won't know whether its multibillion-dollar missile defense system will be able to accomplish its mission when it becomes operational in Alaska in September, the Pentagon's chief weapons tester said Wednesday. In a report to Congress, Thomas P. Christie said that because of a limited testing schedule that had been hampered by engineering setbacks, "it is not clear what mission capability will be demonstrated prior to initial defense operations."

President Bush and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin sought to cement their personal bond during an evening barbecue Wednesday, but they made no discernible progress toward settling a post-Cold War dispute over U.S. plans to build a missile defense system. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said there appeared to be little chance that Bush and Putin would be able to resolve their differences on the issue before the summit ends today.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon plans to add 14 missile interceptors to a problem-plagued anti-missile system in Alaska aimed at North Korea, which has issued increasingly bellicose threats since it tested an underground nuclear device and launched a small satellite. The upgraded ground-based interceptors would augment 26 interceptors already deployed at Ft. Greely, part of a multi-layered missile defense system that includes up to five Navy Aegis cruisers with tracking radars and their own interceptors in the northern Pacific.

BioWatch, the Homeland Security-led effort to provide early warning if biological pathogens are released against the American people, has fallen into disfavor in some corners. The Times produced a series of highly critical articles, and the editorial board has chimed in , suggesting that the program be "squashed. " But calls to bag BioWatch, while well intentioned, are frankly ill-advised. Yes, BioWatch is far from perfect. The program has problems and needs to improve.

GAZIANTEP, Turkey - An uneasy truce held in the Syrian town of Ras Ayn on Tuesday, one day after at least 18 combatants were reportedly killed in clashes between Kurdish militiamen and Syrian rebels. The fighting, which added fresh ethnic dimensions to Syria's bloody 20-month-old rebellion against President Bashar Assad's regime, began Monday after Kurdish protesters demanded that opposition forces leave the town and intensified after the killing of a local Kurdish leader, reports indicated.

A day after President Obama's hushed remarks to a Russian leader sparked outrage from GOP circles, House Speaker John A. Boehner backed off the criticism, and suggested Mitt Romney should do the same, while the president is traveling abroad. “While the president's overseas, I think it's appropriate that -- that people not be critical of him or of our country,” Boehner said Tuesday. Obama was captured on a live microphone telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev he would have “more flexibility” to negotiate on a missile defense system in Europe after the fall elections.

While campaigning in California Monday morning, Mitt Romney pounced on President Obama's offhand comments to Russian leaderDmitri A. Medvedev - calling the conversation caught on a hot microphone “an alarming and troubling development.” During a nuclear security summit meeting in Seoul, Obama was captured on tape telling Medvedev that after the November election he would “have more flexibility. " The remarks were interpreted by some as a suggestion that Obama plans to delay discussions with Russian leaders about a missile defense system based in Europe that has been a source of tension between the two nations.

Iran unveiled what it described as a new air defense system during an annual military display Sunday as policymakers in Washington confronted new reminders about their limited range of options for responding to Tehran's apparent arms buildup. The new system, which Iran said is designed to defend against attacks by missiles and high-altitude planes, was introduced as the government awaits delivery of sophisticated missile defense batteries it has bought from Russia but which have been delayed because of Israeli pressure on Moscow.