from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Space Weapons Everybody's Happy the Missile Missed But you just wait till we spend a few more hundred billion dollars . . . THE technical failure of a test of America's National Missile Defence system was welcomed in London, Moscow and most of the world's other capitals yesterday. However, it has prompted a litany of soul-searching in Washington. Miles above the Pacific Ocean, a ground-launched interceptor failed to separate from its booster rocket and destroy an incoming dummy nuclear warhead early on Saturday. It had been designed to provide evidence that would ease a decision by President Clinton this autumn on whether to order deployment of the NMD system. Whitehall officials admitted to profound relief at the failure of the American test. They expected it to persuade the President to delay his decision. Deployment would cause a deep split within Nato and raise a serious threat to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty which underpins nuclear arms control. But the relief may be short-lived. If Mr Clinton defers the decision to his successor, the issue will become a subject of debate in the run-up to November's presidential election. That means that sensitive strategic decisions may well become straws in the wind of electioneering. A former administration official said: "Anyone who thinks that having this test go wrong was a good thing for world peace is deluding himself. It would have been so much better to have this decided by someone, like the President, who is not standing for office and can be genuinely statesmanlike." Congress had set an extremely tight deadline on the NMD decision by its bipartisan vote in 1998 to deploy such a defence against "rogue states" following the test firing of a long-range missile by North Korea in August of that year. Intelligence reports in America concluded that Pyongyang would be technically capable of launching an attack on America by 2005, meaning that building work on radar sites for NMD would have to get under way by the end of this year. British sources pointed out that the test failed despite efforts by the Pentag on to "fix" it to ensure success. One source said: "This was not just a failure. It was a failure in the most idealised conditions." It is an open secret that there has been considerable disquiet within the State Department, as well as in Whitehall, at the Pentagon's enthusiasm for a project that would cause enormous diplomatic headaches, threaten all existing arms control agreements and risk a rash of new arms races in return for an expensive system that shows no sign of working. The consensus by foreign affairs analysts remains that the threat of an attack by a "rogue state" remains minimal and can be countered by conventional deterrence - the threat of massive retaliation. The only circumstances in which Britain would be relaxed about the NMD proposal is if the Russians agreed to it. But at his first meeting with Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, last month, Mr Clinton spent hours on the issue yet made no headway. George W Bush, the favourite to succeed Mr Clinton in the White House, would like to see a considerably larger NMD than that proposed even if it meant abandoning the ABM treaty. Meanwhile, Britain does not want to be forced to choose between its American ally and its European partners, some of whom oppose NMD on principle and all of whom oppose scrapping the ABM treaty. The London Telegraph, July 10, 2000 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
