-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Defense Secretary: U.S. Will Build National Missile-Defense System Friday, January 26, 2001 The United States will forge ahead with plans to build a national missile-defense system, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday. Hillery Smith Garrison/AP Friday: Rumsfeld gestures to reporters at the Pentagon during his announcement about the missile defense system. The Bush administration's controversial move comes despite objections by Russia and other countries. "The president has not been ambivalent about" following through on his campaign pledge to build a shield to protect against limited attack from ballistic missiles, Rumsfeld said. He would not say when the decision to actually deploy such a system would be made. As to the landmark 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty that rules out such defenses, Rumsfeld said, "we are in a very different world" than when the treaty was signed. "It was a long time ago that that treaty was fashioned," he said. "Technologies were noticeably different. The Soviet Union, our partner in that agreement, doesn't exist any more." Russia, under democratic rule since 1993, sees the matter differently. Along with Beijing, Moscow opposes the system, saying it could re-ignite the arms race. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would scrap all existing arms control agreements if Washington backs out of the treaty. In Moscow on Friday, Putin insisted Russia expects the United States to adhere to the ABM treaty. "Russia is actively working with our partners" and "counts on joint work" to preserve the ABM treaty, Putin said. Rumsfeld, a strong advocate of the system, has said the shield would defend against states seen as a threat, such as North Korea and Iran. Many conservatives, however, contend the ABM treaty is no longer in force. Rumsfeld stopped short of expressing such a sentiment, but said, "It ought not to inhibit a country, a president, an administration, a nation from fashioning offensive and defensive capabilities that will provide for our security. The Russians know, they have to know, that the kinds of capabilities that are being discussed are not capabilities that threaten them in any way." Rumsfeld plans to travel to Munich, Germany, next week to attend an annual European conference on security issues, where he will have his first chance to raise the missile defense issue with European allies, some of whom are antsy about the repercussions Friday's decision may have. Former President Clinton delayed a decision on whether the nation should move ahead with a missile defense system, leaving the issue for Bush. — The Associated Press contributed to this report *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <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
