Missile Defense

Wolfgang Panofsky's article on the Strategic Defense Initiative (Editorial Pages, July 11), "Star Wars Isn't a Science Yet," is remarkable, not for its insight, but rather for the lack of memory Panofsky displays. Panofsky's article criticizes SDI as the catalyst for a new arms race. Moreover, he says, it is technically dubious, economically ruinous, and a violation of the ABM Treaty. His opinion on the subject, however, has not always been so negative. The signing of the 1972 ABM agreement was the culmination of a furious strategic and scientific debate in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Re "Charm, Fear May Help China Lure N. Korea Back to Arms Talks" and "Interceptor Missile Test Fails," Feb. 15: Isn't it strange that the fate of the world may hang on the U.S. not talking to North Korea? The refusal of the Bush administration to talk one on one with North Korea is not only arrogant but may well further the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It would appear that the genie is already out of the bottle and that further containment is not possible. The number of nations that already have or are in the process of acquiring nuclear weapons is growing, making it clear that nonproliferation is already dead.

Easing the U.S. push for a European missile defense system, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told NATO allies Thursday that the Obama administration was reviewing plans for the controversial program and hoped to reopen talks with Moscow, which is bitterly opposed to the project. Gates, echoing views of other top administration officials, said the U.S. would consider whether the system was affordable and technologically feasible as plans move forward.

SEOUL — President Obama has said he plans to continue negotiations with Russia this year involving a U.S. missile defense system to protect Europe and is not trying to "hide the ball" in dealing with the matter. Obama said Tuesday that he wants to spend time this year working through technical issues with the Russians. In a private conversation made public by a live microphone, President Obama on Monday appeared to be putting off diplomatic talks with Russian leaders about the controversial missile defense system until after the November election, prompting quick attacks from the president's Republican rivals.

Boeing Co. has won a $928-million contract to field the ground-based component of a planned U.S. missile defense shield, the Pentagon announced Monday. The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said the cost-plus-award fee would cover construction and non-construction efforts at a missile defense site in Huntsville, Ala., in fiscal years 2005 through 2007. The Pentagon this weekend scrapped the first flight test in nearly two years of the planned missile defense shield because of bad weather.

Australia is hoping to sign an agreement soon to join the controversial missile defense shield being developed by the United States, after talks with the top U.S. military officer. Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Australian Prime Minister John Howard at the end of a four-nation Asian tour, primarily to thank him for sending troops to the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Re "Missiles, Missteps Take Spin," May 7: Why are other countries so worried about the U.S. creating missile defense systems? We are just protecting ourselves from potential danger. Other countries such as Russia or China should not feel threatened if they are not planning to launch a nuclear attack any time soon. And what is all this talk about the Antiballistic Missile Treaty created decades ago? That treaty was signed during a period of slow advancement in technology. What are we supposed to do with all this technology just lying around waiting to be used?

Re "Bush Makes His Case for a U.S. Missile Defense," May 2: By moving the arms race into space, the Bush administration is making sure that its friends in the aerospace industry will make hundreds of billions of dollars at the expense of further militarizing our fragile planet while dumping the bill on unknowing taxpayers. How can you "maintain peace" through domination? Haven't we learned yet from our sordid military past that more nuclear weapons only mean more instability and a greater chance for nuclear annihilation?

The Bush administration is right to want a missile defense system for the United States and its allies. The gradual spread of long-range missiles makes it desirable, and improvements in technology should soon make a limited capability possible. In addition, the end of the Cold War means that Moscow and Washington should no longer cling to the 1972 ABM treaty to constrain what is left of their nuclear rivalry.

Defense Secretary Les Aspin was told here Tuesday that Japan faces possible policy roadblocks in joining with the United States to develop an anti-missile defense system but wants to start consultations on the project as soon as possible. Keisuke Nakanishi, director of Japan's Defense Agency, made the statement to Aspin shortly after the secretary arrived for a 24-hour visit. He added that Japan is "deeply interested" in a system to track and destroy missiles in flight, a U.S. official said.